Unemployed in Gafsa (August 2010)A few weeks before the month of Ramadan sets in, Tunisia faces the economic fallout of two very different recent events. The first happened nearly five months ago and swept General Zine el Abidine Ben Ali from power in a popular uprising which wrought minimum damage on the fabric of Tunisian farming, manufacturing and tourism infrastructure - indeed there were numerous instances of workers defending factories against marauders or Ben Ali's militia. The second has been in Libya, where the three month UN-authorised military intervention, formally led by NATO, in what had already become a civil war, has inflicted considerable damage to the country's infrastructure. The instability attendant to a prolonged military campaign in Libya presents a serious strategic threat to its northern neighbour, Tunisia.