About Jasmine Foundation The Jasmine Foundation for Research and Communications is a multidisciplinary research institute specializing in the human, social and political sciences. Our objective is to contribute to building the foundations of an emerging democratic society in Tunisia through mobilizing the knowledge and tools of human, social and political sciences to advance the deep-rooted democratic restructuring of systems and conditions in Tunisia and other countries of the Arab Spring. The Foundation seeks to fulfill this mission by inviting specialists and experts in various fields relevant to these aims to contribute their knowledge and by connecting with the actors who are directly involved in this critical transitional phase of building democracy in Tunisia, in order to engage in dialogue, achieve a deeper understanding of the issues at play, and contribute to the process of building a democratic society and regime in Tunisia. Our approach seeks to locate Tunisia in its geographical position at the civilizational crossroads between Arab, Muslim, Mediterranean and European civilizations. This position opens up many possibilities of intellectual and cultural dialogue and exchange between different civilizations. These possibilities are today, after the fall of Ben Ali, facilitated by the release of society from the grip of repression and its gradual recovery of its capacity for self-definition and action