Hanène Tajouri Bessassi, Tunisia’s ambassador in Washington for the last three and a half years, is leaving at the end of July.

She arrived in October 2021, just as the pandemic was winding down, and witnessed not only Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but also catastrophic flooding in Libya, a horrific civil war in Sudan, an explosion of violence between Israel and Hamas—and, of course, Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

But perhaps the biggest crisis facing Tunisia is the lack of real democracy in her North African country as well as continuing economic strife. Tajouri Bessassi addressed both issues during the Washington Diplomat’s latest Ambassador Insider Series event on April 3.

The gathering, hosted by the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Dupont Circle, was moderated by Jihan Abdalla, Washington correpondent for The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi. It attracted about 120 people including fellow ambassadors Hilda Suka-Mafudze of the African Union, Fatoumata Kaba of Guinea, Sékou Berthe of Mali, Jovan Mirković of Montenegro, and José Luis Guterres of Timor-Leste.

“Before becoming an ambassador, I served as diplomat within the embassy here. And when I left in 2018, I said that it was a life-changing experience for me—without having any idea that I would soon come back to DC as an ambassador,” she said, adding that she feels a huge responsibility as Tunisia’s first female envoy to the United States.

A career diplomat, Tajouri Bessassi earned a master’s degree in law in 1995 from the Faculté des Sciences juridiques, politiques et sociales de Tunis (FSJPS), and a graduate diploma in 1998 from Tunisia’s National School of Administration (ENA).

Among other things, from 2005 to 2010, she was deputy chief of mission at the Tunisian Embassy in Portugal; deputy director in charge of the Tunisia-EU relationship (2010-13); head of congressional affairs and later deputy chief of mission at the Tunisian Embassy in Washington (2013-18), and Tunisia’s ambassador to Germany (2020-21).

She noted that her 10-year-old daughter Fatima, who was born in Washington, has now spent more time here than in Tunisia.

“I was supposed to stay for five years in Germany as ambassador there, but after less than one year, my government decide to move me here,” she said. “Since my arrival to Washington it’s been a marathon—really nonstop meetings with the administration, Congress and think tanks to reassure our friends about the future of democracy in Tunisia.”

US tariffs, if enacted, could upend Tunisia’s economy

Barely 24 hours before our event, Trump shook the world with an announcement that he’d impose sweeping tariffs on all countries—in Tunisia’s case, 28%. Trump later decided to pause those tariffs for 90 days, though the initial announcement clearly caught the ambassador by surprise. She warned that they’d have an immediate, detrimental impact on Tunisian exports of olive oil, dates and handicrafts.

“These are products which used to enter the US market without any tariffs under the generalized system of preferences. Unfortunately, this mechanism was not renewed since 2020. All the countries under the GSP tried to advocate its renewal in Congress, but we didn’t succeed during the Biden administration,” said the ambassador.

Asked about the Trump administration’s claim that Tunisia levies 55% tariffs on US imports, the ambassador called the accusation “a little bit bizarre.”

“For me, it’s unusual to hear. We’re trying to understand what was included in this rate,” she said. “That’s why I’m reaching out to the administration, to have more clarification about it. Of course, we are for a balanced and win-win relationship.”

Tajouri Bessassi, who in 2024 was named Ambassador of the Year by the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, noted her country’s 228-year ties with Washington.

“Tunisia was the second Arab Muslim country to recognize the independence of the United States, after Morocco, and the United States was the first superpower to recognize Tunisia’s independence from France in 1956,” she said. “This friendship is worth preserving, and I’m confident the tariffs will not harm our relationship.”

A bigger issue is the waning hopes for democracy in Tunisia, birthplace of the Arab Spring more than 14 years ago. In July 2022, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional referendum that gives even more power to President Kais Saied—centralizing executive control while removing checks from the legislative and judicial branches.

The referendum sailed through with 94% of Tunisians voting yes. But only 30.5% of eligible voters cast ballots, mainly because most of those opposed vowed to boycott the exercise altogether, in order to avoid lending legitimacy to the much-criticized process.

Economic reforms more urgent than democracy right now

Abdalla asked the ambassador if she’s concerned about Saeed’s recent attempts to consolidate power by arresting his critics—including opposition candidates as well as journalists and activities.

“I can say openly and proudly that the only gain after the revolution in Tunisia is freedom of speech, and we will continue to have it,” she said. “There’s a lot of criticism—sometimes an overdose of criticism. Sometimes we need to be respectful of high officials. But in Tunisia, you can say anything without restrictions. People continue to trust the president.”

She urged other countries to “respect the choice of the Tunisian people, because we, as Tunisians, respect the choice of people in those countries. We don’t interfere in their internal affairs or their choice of president.”

Tajouri Bessassi insisted that US-Tunisian defense cooperation—particularly joint counterterrorism efforts—are not threatened in any way.

“We have a very strategic military partnership with the United States, with tangible results that serve the interest of both countries,” she said. “This administration asks three questions when talking about this partnership: does it make America safer, more prosperous and stronger? I think the partnership with Tunisia perfectly aligns with these three priorities.”

Yet she agrees that economic prosperity among Tunisia’s 13.2 million people has not kept up with expectations.

“Our economy was really impacted by the pandemic and then by the war in Ukraine. But the Tunisian economy showed resilience, and there is some also improvement of macroeconomic indicators,” she said, adding that strong tourism arrivals and remittances from Tunisians living abroad are also helping significantly.

Even so, she noted, Tunisia has chosen not to implement reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund because the social impact would be too great.

“Our president even said it openly: we agree on the goals, but not on the way to implement them. So we have chosen not to conclude an agreement with the IMF, and we continue to survive without the IMF.”

The Arab Spring and ‘solidarity with Palestine’

Tajouri Bessassi noted that Tunisia’s presidential elections are set for this October—but that in the last election, voter turnout was only 28%.

“It’s sad to say, but many Tunisians are aware that previous governments who ran the country after the revolution didn’t focus on their immediate, basic needs. They focused only on their very narrow political interests and neglected the economic part—and we paid the cost,” she said. “People are fed up with political disputes. They feel no connection with the political class, so they don’t believe they’ll have any impact through elections.”

Before opening the floor to questions from the audience, Abdalla asked the ambassador what she would do if—like journalist Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic—she was inadvertently added to a Signal chat that was discussing sensitive information.

“I’d be aware that I was added by mistake,” she said. “So as a diplomat, I would leave without even saying that I was added—because if you are honest, you don’t have to spy on people.”

One member of the audience asked Tajouri Bessassi if the so-called “Facebook revolution” did in fact drive Tunisia’s Arab Spring. She replied that said she’s not a fan of conspiracy theories.

“Social media did play a role, but I think it was a spontaneous movement of the Tunisian people who were looking for more dignity and liberty under the previous regime.”

Before wrapping up, Tajouri Bessassi made a point of criticizing Israel over the ongoing war in Gaza, though she never mentioned the Jewish state by name. Unlike several other Arab countries—including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates—Tunisia has never had diplomatic relations with Israel.

“I want to pay special tribute to all people struggling for freedom, and specifically in Palestine, because they suffered a lot,” she said. “The whole world is witnessing really an open genocide. They’ve suffered for more than 75 years, and I think it’s time to have a serious discussion about a lasting and fair peace in Palestine. We cannot have any prosperity in the Middle East without it.”

Photography by Patricia McDougall.