TUNIS — After 44 years of a law banning Tunisian women from marrying non-Muslim men (and preventing non-Muslim men from marrying at all), Tunisia ruled this year to usher in yet another piece of progressive legislation. Their new law was eradicated for the first time since 1973, and stated that marriage is no longer governed by a strict adherence to Islamic Law (Sharia). Policy Changes This change, however, is far from singular. Since the country’s Jasmine Revolution — the protests that began the Arab Spring in 2011 — Tunisia has propelled its policy towards women and gendered issues away from…
Author: Katarina Schrag
Katarina Schrag
Katrina lives in Seattle, WA. Her academic interests include international relations, and Near Eastern studies. Katarina grew up in the Pacific Northwest, but since she began university has seized every opportunity to expand her understanding and appreciation of our world. Katarina spent a year studying in France, and was able to volunteer in a refugee camp in Chios, Greece. Since, she has returned for two 3-month stints in the past year.
TUNIS — Following the events of the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, Tunisia has been the focal point of much attention in the world of international development. The young vibrance of the country’s burgeoning democracy, the only legitimate one of its kind in the MENA region, is to Western financers, particularly alluring. Prior to the revolution, the relatively small North African nation sandwiched between Algeria, the Mediterranean and Libya, was governed by Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali. President Ben Ali was notorious for his regime’s corrupt and repressive tactics, not to mention its lack of prudence when it came to the country’s rising…
SEATTLE — Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Turkmenistan has implemented significant changes to its system of education. Beginning in 1991, the country’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, oversaw the implementation of an education policy which required memorization of the only legally allowed textbook, Ruhnama. The textbook was propaganda written by the president to encourage fervent affection from the Turkmen people. President Niyazov’s education policy has been rightfully accused of stunting the educational development of his citizens, and by extension, the economic sustainability of Turkmenistan as it works to extend its trade partnerships. One challenge the country has had to…