Our role in Libya has been to observe the post-Kaddafi election in July 2012 and prospectively to witness the election this month of delegates who will draft a new constitution. The interim government, expected to function until the end of this year, is weak and unable to administer all regions of the country, especially areas in the east and the southern desert that are controlled by militia factions. This threatens national stability and the oil revenues that fund the state. The delegates will be divided among the country’s three regions, giving exceptional weight to the underpopulated and historically alienated regions — equivalent to advantages that America’s founders gave smaller states in the U.S. Senate and Electoral College, which we have learned to accommodate.

We also observed the orderly post-revolution 2011 election in Tunisia, and our team has monitored closely the constitution-making process, providing input when requested into the anticipated language of the constitution and the new electoral law. We are optimistic about the future of Tunisia, where foreign interference has been minimal and where there is a sharp contrast with Egypt and Libya. The military has remained aloof from the political process, and there has been broad participation of political and religious groups and good progress in engineering a fragile but promising transition. Despite two prominent assassinations last year that triggered political crises — the death of opposition figures Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi — peace has been maintained, and the Tunisian people seem determined to secure stability and prosperity. Success here could provide a strong model for constitutional reform across the region, most immediately in neighboring Libya. The situation in Egypt seems to be resistant to change, with a large portion of the electorate excluded from the political process.