July 27, 2016
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
As you consider the legacy of your presidency, we urge you to make an official visit to Tunisia, to demonstrate concretely the commitment you made during President Essebsi’s visit in May 2015 that “the United States believes in Tunisia, is invested in its success, and will work as a steady partner for years to come.”
Your visit to Tunisia would energize and reassure Tunisia’s citizens and political leaders, sending a powerful signal of American support as the country struggles with the enormous challenges of building accountable institutions and a democratic society.
In 2009 in Cairo, you inspired citizens across the Middle East and North Africa by declaring a commitment to “common principles — principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” In the Arab world today, Tunisia stands alone as the one country where those principles of justice, progress, and tolerance have prevailed against all odds over the past five years.
Your Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes said in January that you would seek to consolidate your foreign policy legacy this year by traveling widely and by working with allies to combat extremism and foster the rise of emerging democracies.
There is no more important example of an emerging democracy in the world today than Tunisia, which has achieved historic progress through compromise and consensus-building. It is impossible to overstate the value that a successful transition to democracy in Tunisia could have for the entire region.
In addition, Tunisia is both the newest major non-NATO U.S. ally and an important partner in the counter-ISIL coalition that, with U.S. support, is demonstrating increasing effectiveness at fighting extremism at home and across its borders.
A visit to Tunisia would allow you to highlight a rare example of progress in countering extremism in a region too often defined by rising extremism and violent conflict.
Finally, Tunisia presents a unique opportunity in a difficult election-year climate here at home, as a positive story that enjoys bipartisan support in Congress and as a North African country where both the government and the people want greater U.S. engagement. We strongly urge you to travel to Tunisia to demonstrate the depth of U.S. support for its historic democratic transition and to underscore your administration’s commitment to its success as a model in the Arab world.
Sincerely,
Stephen McInerney
Executive Director, POMED
Ambassador Gordon Gray, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, 2009-2012
Ambassador Rust Deming, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, 2001-2003
Ambassador John T. McCarthy, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, 1991-1994
Joseph Lieberman
U.S. Senator, 1989-2013
Jane Harman
U.S. Congresswoman, 1993-1999, 2001-2011
Jim Kolbz
U.S. Congressman, 1985-2007
Nancy Johnson
U.S. Congresswoman, 1983-2007
Jim Moody
U.S. Congressman, 1983-1993
Anne-Marie Slaughter
Director of Policy Planning
U.S Department of State, 2009-2011
Amb. Frank G. Wisner, Ret.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy 1994-1997
J. Brian Atwood
Administrator, USAID , 1993-1999
Ambassador Michael McFaul, Ret.
Special Assistant to the President & Senior
Director National Security Council, 2009-2012
Amb. Richard Murphy, Ret.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
and South Asian Affairs, 1983-1989
Patricia Dennis
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, & Labor, 1992-1993
Lorne Craner
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, & Labor, 2001-2004
Michael Posner
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, & Labor, 2009-2013
Amb. William Taylor, Ret.
Special Coordinator for Middle East
Transitions, 2012-2014
Amb. Ronald L. Schlicher, Ret.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 2008-2011
Amb. Edward William Gnehm, Jr., Ret.
Deputy Asst. Secretary of State for
Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs
1989-1990
Amb. David Mack, Ret.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 1990-1993
Allen Keiswetter
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 2000-2001
Tamara Cofman Wittes
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 2009-2012
Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
2007-2009
Ambassador Robert Ford, Ret.
U.S. Amb. to Algeria, 2006-2008
Amb. Thomas Nassif, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Morocco 1985-1988
Amb. Kurt Volker, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO, 2008-2009
Jennifer Windsor
Deputy Assistant Administrator and Director, Center
for Democracy and Governance, USAID, 1998-2000
Joel Rubin
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
Legislative Affairs, 2014-2015
Ambassador Mark P. Lagon, Ret.
President
Freedom House
Elisa Massimino
President & CEO
Human Rights First
Christopher J. Griffin
Executive Director
Foreign Policy Initiative
Michele Dunne
Director & Senior Associate, Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Francis Fukuyama
Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow
Freeman Spogli Institute, Stanford University
Marwan Muasher
Vice President for Studies
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Ellen Laipson
President Emeritus & Distinguished Fellow
Stimson Center
Alfred Stepan
Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Wallace Sayre Professor of Government,
Columbia University, Emeritus
Steven Heydemann
Janet W. Ketchum Prof. of Middle East Studies
Smith College
Perry Cammack
Associate, Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Caroline Freund
Senior Fellow
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Charles Dunne
Non-Resident Scholar
Middle East Institute
Stephen Grand
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Project on U.S. Relations
with the Islamic World, Brookings Institution
Paul Salem
Vice President for Policy and Research
Middle East Institute
James Denton
Publisher and Editor
World Affairs Journal
Daniel Brumberg
Assoc. Prof., Department of Government
Georgetown University
Sarah Yerkes
Visiting Fellow, Ctr. for Middle East Policy
Brookings Institution
Mohamed Malouche
Chairman of the Board
Tunisian American Young Professionals
Radwan Masmoudi
President
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy
Neil Brown
Nonresident Fellow
German Marshall Fund
Alexander M. Djerassi
Former Nonresident Associate
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
John Entelis
Professor of Political Science
Fordham University
Karim Mezran
Senior Fellow, Rafik Hariri Center
for the Middle East, Atlantic Council
Daniel Serwer
Professor, School of Adv. Int. Studies
Johns Hopkins University
Hardin Lang
Senior Fellow
Center for American Progress
Juan Cole
Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor
of History, University of Michigan
Amaney Jamal
Director, Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for
Peace and Justice, Princeton University
Anouar Boukhars
Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Eva Bellin
Myra and Robert Kraft Professor of Arab
Politics, Brandeis University
Daniele Moro
Executive Director
U.S.-Italy Global Affairs Forum
Monica Marks
Ph.D. Candidate
Oxford University
Radwan Ziadeh
Fellow
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
Ambassador William J. Burns, Ret.
Deputy Secretary of State, 2011-2014
Ambassador WilliamJ. Hudson, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, 2004-2006
Ambassador Robin Raphel, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, 1998-2000
Ambassador Walter L. Cutler, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, 1982-1984
Howard Berman
U.S. Congressman, 1983-2013
David Dreier
U.S. Congressman, 1981-2013
Lynn Woolsey
U.S. Congresswoman, 1993-2013
Robert “Bud” Cramer
U.S. Congressman 1991-2009
Benjamin Chandler
U.S. Congressman, 2004-2013
Ambassador Melanne Verveer, Ret.
Amb. at Large for Global Women’s Issues,
2009-2013
Amb. Paul Wolfowitz, Ret.
Deputy Secretary of Defense, 2001-2005
Admiral Dennis Blair, Ret.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence, 2009-2010
Ambassador Miriam Sapiro
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative
2009-2014
Amb. Edward S. Walker Jr., Ret.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near
Eastern Affairs, 2000-2001
John Shattuck
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, & Labor, 1993-1998
David Kramer
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights, & Labor, 2008-2009
Brian Hook
Assistant Secretary of State for
International Organization Affairs, 2008-2009
Amb. James B. Cunningham, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan,
2011-2013
Amb. James Larocco, Ret.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for Near Eastern Affairs, 2001-2004
Amb. Philip Wilcox Jr., Ret.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs,
1987-1988
Toni Verstandig
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 1994-2001
Scott Carpenter
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 2004-2007
Nazanin Ash
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Near Eastern Affairs, 2012-2014
Ambassador William A. Rugh, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates
1992-1995
Ambassador Cameron Hume, Ret.
U.S. Amb. to Algeria 1997-2000
Amb. E. Michael Ussery, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Morocco 1989-1992
Amb. Stephen Seche, Ret.
U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, 2007-2010
Jim Phippard
Director of USAID Mission in Tunisia
1982-1987
Benjamin Fishman
Director for North Africa & Jordan
National Security Council, 2012-2013
Ambassador Theodore Kattouf, Ret.
President
AMIDEAST
Richard Fontaine
President
Center for New American Security
W. Bowman Cutter
Director, Next American Economy
Project, Roosevelt Institute
Robert Kagan
Senior Fellow, Project on International
Order & Strategy, Brookings Institution
Thomas Carothers
Vice President for Studies
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Amy Hawthorne
Deputy Director for Research
Project on Middle East Democracy
Haleh Esfandiari
Former & Founding Director, Middle East Program
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Larry Diamond
Senior Fellow
Hoover Institution,
Stanford University
Ted Piccone
Senior Fellow, Project on International Order & Strategy
Brookings Institution
Kate Seelye
Senior Vice President
Middle East Institute
Shadi Hamid
Senior Fellow, Project on U.S. Relations with the
Islamic World, Brookings Institution
Jeffrey Gedmin
Senior Fellow
Georgetown University
Heather Hurlburt
Director, New Models of Policy Change Initiative
New America
Henri Barkey
Director, Middle East Program
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Neil Hicks
Director, Human Rights Promotion
Human Rights First
Andrew Albertson
Senior Governance Advisor
International Peace and Security Institute
Kathy Bailey
Principal
King Street Strategies
Jerry Sorkin
Founder and President
TunisUSA
William Lawrence
Prof. of Political Science and
International Affairs, George Washington University
Ellen Lust
Professor, Dept. of Political Science,
University of Gothenburg
Leila Hilal
Senior Fellow, International Security Program
New America
Ellen Bork
Senior Fellow
Foreign Policy Initiative
Cole Bockenfeld
Deputy Director for Policy
Project on Middle East Democracy
Sarah Feuer
Soref Fellow
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
I. William Zartman
Professor Emeritus, School of Advanced International
Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Nancy Okail
Executive Director
Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
Randa Slim
Director, Track II Dialogue Initiative
Middle East Institute
John L. Esposito
Professor of Religion & International
Affairs, Georgetown University
Joseph Bahout
Visiting Scholar, Middle East Program
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Wayne White
Scholar
Middle East Institute
Nader Hashemi
Director, Center for Middle East
Studies, University of Denver
*All affiliations included for identification purposes only.
