AP Photo

This month’s assassination in the Tunisian capital of a senior opposition leader, Chokri Belaid, was regarded by some outside observers as a departure, of sorts, from the country’s recent political trajectory. Tunisia had been viewed as a “bright spot,” relatively speaking, among the post-revolutionary republics—more likely than Egypt or Libya to advance toward sustainable democracy without major reversals or a regression to violence. But for other researchers and observers, the “writing was on the wall” over the past year. For them, and for us, it is questionable in this season of setbacks whether continuing U.S. advocacy for democratization projects in the region is advisable at this time.