NDN’s MENA Initiative welcomes this latest essay from guest contributor Tristan Dreisbach. Tristan is a Middle East specialist who recently traded in his perch at a think tank in New York City in order to conduct field work in Tunis. He blogs at http://tristanintunis.blogspot.com and lives on Twitter as @theonlytristan. We will be running some of his writings periodically.
Photo by FETHI BELAID via Global Post
On the morning of Wednesday, February 6th, everything changed in Tunisia. Anti-Islamist opposition leader Shokry Belaid was gunned down outside his home in Tunis, introducing brutal political violence to an already tense environment. While much remains unclear, including identities and affiliations of the assassins, the dynamics of a new phase for post-revolutionary Tunisia seem to be taking shape.
The MENA Initiative 