There is something very revealing about this year's Nobel Peace Prize because it recognises, perhaps by default, a rare combination of forces. The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet which received the prize for its contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia following the upheaval of the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, is a combination of labour, industry, human rights activists and lawyers. Tunisia led the Arab spring which spread to Libya, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen with varying levels of success. Libya is still in a state of unrest, Egypt is ruled by a dictator and civil war rages in Syria. In comparison, Tunisia has progressed to a more stable democracy even though it was rocked by two assassinations and a terror attack in March. The interesting aspect of the quartet is that it had representation from labour as well as industry, which are two sides of the same coin and placing the interests of one over the other will release the forces of unrest. The Nobel committee has sent a strong signal that human rights and law should be the bedrock of a democracy, a lesson for India where communal extremists are gaining ground.
