The Politics of Educational Aid in Tunisia: Fighting Jihadism and Islamic Extremism Through Educational Diplomacy

Drawing on the concept of ’educational diplomacy’ tavis d. jules shows how soft power is being used as a diplomatic tool in the Middle East to deal with the post-revolutionary fallout in Tunisia.

Using a comparative-historical approach jules illustrates how soft financial gifts and lending by industrialized countries, multilateral agencies, and other aid donors for educational programs are being used a preventative measures against Jihadism. The book explores how educational aid is used to influence local policies and politics and reveals the multifaceted nature of educational aid in Tunisia and neighboring countries by exploring the ways in which it affects national educational reforms. It examines why countries give assistance in education and what they expect in return, asking: How is education aid promoted? How is educational aid done? and How does educational aid work? The book concludes by suggesting new ways in which the educational economy could reshape aid in a time of crisis. Finally, the book brings together international development theories and the field of comparative and international education to better understand how educational aid functions.

tavis d. jules is Professor of Cultural and Educational Policy Studies and Higher Education at Loyola University Chicago, USA. He is co-editor, with Robin Shields and Matthew A.M. Thomas of The Bloomsbury Handbook of Theory in Comparative and International Education (Bloomsbury, 2021) and co-editor, with Florin Salajan, of Comparative and International Education (Re)Assembled (Bloomsbury, 2022)