Rafik Bouchlaka is a Tunisian politician. He served as the

minister of foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

under Prime Minister

Hamadi Jebali Hamadi Jebali ( ar, حمادي الجبالي, '; born 12 January 1949) is a Tunisian engineer, Muslim politician and journalist who was Prime Minister of Tunisia from December 2011 to March 2013. He was the Secretary-General of the Ennahda Mov ...

.Sana Ajmi
Rafik Abdessalem
, ''Tunisia Live'', 17 December 2011Biographie de M. Rafik Abdessalem, nouveau ministre des Affaires étrangères
''Business News'', 25 December 2011

Education

Abdessalem received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Mohammed V University and earned a PhD in politics and international relations from the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

in 2003.

Career

From 1987 to 1990, Bouchlaka was a member of the executive office of the Union Générale des Etudiants de Tunisie (UGET). In London, he founded the Maghreb Center for Research and Translation, and chaired the London Platform for Dialogue. He was also a visiting scholar at the

Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) was founded in 1985. It is a centre for the advanced study of Islam and Muslim societies located in Oxford, England, and a registered educational charity. Its Patron is The Prince of Wales. In 2012 it ...

. He worked as senior researcher and head of the Research and Studies Office at the Al Jazeera Center for Studies. He is a member of the Centre Union Process. He has published two books and many articles in ''

Asharq Al-Awsat ''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted ...

''. He is a member of the Ennahda Movement, and the party leader

Rached Ghannouchi Rached Ghannouchi ( ar, راشد الغنوشي, Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 22 June 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, the co-founder of the Ennahdha Party and serving as its intelle ...

's son-in-law. On 20 December 2011, after former President

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...

was deposed, he joined the

Jebali Cabinet The first cabinet of Tunisian Head of Government Hamadi Jebali was presented on 20 December 2011. Jebali has been appointed by interim President Moncef Marzouki, who had been elected by the National Constituent Assembly, a body constituted to ...

as minister of foreign affairs from 2011 to 2013 serving the first democratic government of Tunisia. Similar to Rached Ghannouchi, he was forced into exile during the Ben Ali regime where he became one of the leaders of the party's exiled bureau. Abdessalem was only able to return to his homeland after 21 years following the

Tunisian revolution The Tunisian Revolution, also called the Jasmine Revolution, was an intensive 28-day campaign of civil resistance. It included a series of street demonstrations which took place in Tunisia, and led to the ousting of longtime president Zine El ...

. He is an Executive Bureau member of the Ennahdha Party, in charge of External Relations and a member of its Political Bureau, and has also been serving since 2007 in its Consultative Council, the higher decisional instance of the party. He is the founder and Director of the Centre for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies (CSDS) established in 2014.

Bibliography

*''In Religion: Secularism and Democracy (Book not referred)'' *''United States of America: Between Hard Power and Soft Power (Book not referred)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdessalem, Rafik 1968 births Living people Tunisian Muslims Alumni of the University of Westminster Mohammed V University alumni Al Jazeera people Government ministers of Tunisia Ennahda politicians Foreign ministers of Tunisia