Archive forNovember, 2014


  • Tunisian new rendez vous with history

    On Sunday October 26, Tunisians voters headed to the polls for the second time to elect their first post revolution parliament.  The first election being for electing a constitutional assembly tasked with drafting the country constitution. The elections procedures and results were seen as fair and transparent by both local and international observers, despite the […] Read More
  • No Longer in a Temporary or Transitional State, Can We Now Get to Work?

    I was in China during the run-up to the legislative elections and couldn’t fulfill my civic duty. I made it back to my home in Los Angeles Saturday evening and was seriously considering flying to San Francisco (the closest polling center) to vote. Little did I know that while living in Chicago in 2011, voting […] Read More
  • It’s time for the rise of Private Equity industry in Tunisia

    By Michael Blummer Distortions, defaulting on loans, deflating dinar and lack of liquidities are characterizing the economy during the transition period in Tunisia. This makes the access to finance, through the traditional banking sector which still widely dominant, extremely challenging for the SMEs who have the possibility of expanding their businesses. So what can SMEs […] Read More
  • Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2014 – a preview

    The Kingdom of Morocco will host the fifth Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Marrakesh from November 19th trough the 21st of 2014.  The summit is designed to provide support to innovators and entrepreneurs and enable them to unlock their economical and developmental potential.  The intended outcome is to spur growth, youth employment and economic prosperity through […] Read More
  • The Tunisian American Young Leaders Initiative

    By Hamouda Chekir At the last annual TAYP gathering in Tunis, Mohamed Malouche gave a presentation on the future areas of development for TAYP, in which he put a strong focus on initiatives aiming at strengthening partnerships between Tunisia and the United States. Building on this guideline, a group of TAYP members under the leadership […] Read More
  • Afkar – Thought Leaders Forum

    As Tunisia navigates the transition from dictatorship to democracy, leaders of all backgrounds have come forward to demand and implement change. Too often, however, change has failed to take permanent root due to a breakdown at the macro level: from broken systems, corrupt practices, out-of-date policies, etc…. These structural problems can frustrate even the most […] Read More
  • My Journey with The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

    360° Tour of The Chicago Council on Global Affairs. In 1922 in response to the isolationism in the United States after World War I, twenty-three men and women founded The Chicago Council as an independent forum to discuss foreign affairs and enhance public awareness on world events. Since then, the Chicago Council has become one […] Read More
  • Peace Symposium – TAYP at the World Affairs Council in Washington DC

    The World Affairs Councils of America based in Washington, D.C.  is part of a national network of influential councils dedicated to educating and engaging the residents of our region in global issues. The Peace Symposium is an annual daylong conference featuring internationally recognized experts as well as local community leaders working to bridge differences, promote […] Read More
  • Bridging the Gap between Arab and Western Cultures: The role of the Tunisian diaspora

    With many of the Arab Spring experiences failing (with the notable exception of Tunisia), it is becoming an even greater responsibility for a diaspora group like TAYP to bridge the cultural gap between the Arab world and western culture. Arab diaspora that live in western countries has a duty to explain, educate, sometimes correct assumptions […] Read More
  • Strategic Planning for Diaspora Organizations

    The International Diaspora Engagement Initiative, a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Calvert Foundation organized a webinar on diaspora strategic planning. Organizations working with and serving diaspora communities, such as TAYP, are often small and staffed by volunteers. Growing an organization, enhancing its financial resources […] Read More
  • TAYP November 2014 Editorial

    Dear TAYP members and friends, The definition of “progress” per the Oxford Dictionary is a forward or onward movement toward a destination.  Progress inherently has elements of incremental success, celebrated advancement as well as the occasional missteps and miscalculations. All Tunisians and the rest of the world have been witnessing the substantial progress in Tunisia’s […] Read More