Tunisia's Kasserine will be protest flashpoint

Subject

Profile of the Kasserine region.

Significance

Tunisia last month faced its most serious socio-economic protests since the 2011 uprising, when police clashed with thousands of demonstrators in the town of Kasserine and the government imposed a nationwide night-time curfew for two weeks. Kasserine governorate, in Tunisia's north-west region, has emerged as a central site of protest.

Impacts

• National confidence in the political transition will dissipate if instability persists.
• Political parties will become increasingly weak as they avoid structural reforms to the economy.
• New dynamic protest movements will emerge, but are unlikely to shift the status quo in the short term.