Keywords: Tunisia, Russian-Tunisian relations, ideological confrontation, formation of image stereotypes, propaganda press

Modern imagological studies recognize the periodical press as the most important tool that influences public consciousness, especially when it comes to shaping the image of other countries. An adequate and objective image of the "other" has scientific, cognitive, ideological, political, cultural and practical significance for interstate relations.

The magazine "Asia and Africa Today" (hereinafter - AiAS) (from 1957 to 1961 - "Modern East") was created during the active development of the anti-colonial movement on the African continent as an information, propaganda and ideological publication. This is a source that allows us to trace the evolution of ideas about the countries under study.

Fulfilling the ideological task set by the party and state leadership of the USSR, the magazine was aimed at creating a positive image of those countries in Asia and Africa that developed along the same path as the countries of the socialist camp. The" progressive "countries that chose the path of a socialist orientation were significantly outnumbered by the" reactionary " countries that were oriented towards the West in terms of the degree of coverage in the magazine. This specific feature was a natural consequence of the East-West confrontation and the Soviet Union's desire to strengthen its geopolitical position in Asia and Africa. Using its vast technical and economic capabilities, the USSR tried to change the balance of power in the world in favor of the socialist choice of the "only right path" and pursued a policy of supporting national liberation movements that had anti-imperialist potential.

THE" YOUNGER BROTHER " OF THE SOVIET UNION

The proclamation of Tunisia as an independent state in 1956 was welcomed in the USSR, and bilateral contacts were established in all areas. While successfully developing in the economic, commercial, and cultural spheres, Soviet-Tunisian cooperation was still limited by the ideological positions of the leaders of these two countries, who adhered to different social ideologies. In the USSR, it was considered that the Tunisian Republic belonged to the so-called Western camp.

Tunisia in AIAS publications in the first five years of its independence is an image of a young, "inexperienced" republic, which has "many unresolved problems and insurmountable difficulties" ¹, the culprit of which is the former metropolis-France, and even more broadly - the world imperialist system. "France has turned the trust territory into a raw material appendage and a market for finished products. The imperialists artificially preserved Tunisia's medieval backwardness and hindered its economic development. Primitive agriculture and the absence of any developed industry, unemployment and illiteracy, poverty and disease, " - this is how the situation in Tunisia was assessed by the magazine AiAS ² at that time.

The main idea of almost every publication of those years can be reduced to the formula "the sprouts of a new life overcome the heavy legacy of colonialism"³. Measures taken by the Tunisian government, such as the expropriation of land from French colonists, the creation of a public sector in industry, and measures to improve the social status of women-to "make the downtrodden and illiterate slave a full and active member of society" ⁴-were approved and supported by Soviet publicists and were described as steps in the "right" direction.

When the crisis over the Tunisian Bizerte began in 1961, due to France's refusal to evacuate the naval base, the Soviet press devoted a number of publications to these events. Describing in detail both the military actions themselves and the diplomatic struggle over the Tunisian issue at the UN, the magazine certainly condemned the French aggression and expressed support for the struggle of the Tunisian people. When describing the" bloody drama in Tunisia", the journalists contrasted the"abomination and barbarity of French colonialism" with the "abomination and barbarism of French colonialism".⁵ to the heroism and self-esteem of ordinary Tunisian people.

But the main leitmotif of all publications was the exposure of the "true face of the West", the practical confirmation of the correctness of the anti-imperialist postulates of Soviet ideology. Analyzing the position of the United States and the NATO bloc during the Bizert crisis, AIAS magazine concludes that NATO, which had " 30 military bases in different parts of Africa, is a serious obstacle to the path of African peoples to freedom and independence."⁶. The aggressive policy of Western countries is contrasted with the peace-loving policy of the USSR: "The USSR does not seek any privileges or special rights for itself in Africa. The Soviet Union does not need military bases on the African continent and does not covet the riches of this continent, as the imperialist powers do," the magazine quotes the words of the USSR's Foreign Minister A. A. Gromyko7. The Soviet Union's friendly position during the Bizerte crisis contributed to further rapprochement between the two countries.

But already in 1963, the first crisis in relations between the USSR and the Tunisian Republic occurred, the reason for which was the ban of the Tunisian Communist Party due to the internal political struggle in the country. It was from this time that Moscow began to talk about the "anti-communist orientation" of the regime of then President Habib Bourguiba. The collapse of the short-lived socialist experiment in 1969 and the Tunisian authorities ' conversion to economic liberalism further cooled bilateral relations.

The number of publications in the Soviet press on Tunisian topics has been sharply reduced in these years, and their tone has also changed. Thus, covering such a serious, chronic Tunisian problem as unemployment, the authors of AIAS emphasized that this situation with employment is a consequence of the" capitalist choice " of Tunisia: "The so-called liberalization of the economy, which provides for the activation of private capital, largely makes the country's development dependent on the elements of the capitalist market" ⁸.

The financial policy of Tunisia, which was experiencing difficulties in finding funds to finance accelerated industrialization, is also being criticized. In search of a way out of this situation, the Tunisian authorities resorted to loans from the IMF, the IBRD, and its largest creditors were the United States and Germany.

This fact did not go unnoticed in Moscow, Soviet authors warned and advised: "Foreign aid, no matter how large, always carries with it unprofitable obligations... Material resources for financing national economic plans should be accumulated primarily by reducing the high incomes of the big bourgeoisie and foreign businessmen. " ⁹

A really serious problem for the Tunisian economy, when "half of capital investment is provided from external sources of financing and payments on loans and credits absorb a fifth of foreign exchange earnings"¹⁰, Soviet publicists were always accompanied by comments such as:" Tunisians are concerned about the increasing penetration of foreign capital into the country... such policies create social tensions and often lead to clashes between workers and entrepreneurs. " ¹¹

The magazine contrasted the experience of this kind with the example of the Soviet Union. Economic cooperation of the USSR with the liberated countries was considered by Soviet ideologues as

It is an important part of supporting the national liberation struggle of peoples, in which a new stage has begun, with the main goal of achieving economic independence, liberation from the dominance of foreign capital. "We sincerely want to help the liberated countries get back on their feet, achieve economic liberation, and create a strong public sector-a reliable lever in the fight against the dominance of foreign monopolies," N. S. Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR, put it this way in an interview in 1964. ¹²

It was emphasized that the Soviet Union bases its assistance on the principles of respect for the sovereignty of these countries, full equality of the parties, without stipulating it with any political or military conditions. In 1964, the total amount of Soviet loans and other appropriations for the economic development of the liberated countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America reached almost 3 billion rubles, where 500 industrial facilities were built with the help of the USSR.¹³

Tunisia was no exception. Soviet journalists were proud to report on the concrete and visible results of Soviet aid. The main directions of economic and technical cooperation between the USSR and Tunisia were hydraulic engineering construction and personnel training on the basis of the National Engineering School built by Soviet specialists in Tunis. The facilities built in this North African country with the assistance of the USSR played an important role in increasing agricultural production and in training national engineering and technical personnel. In 1976, in an interview with "Soviet-Tunisian relations at a new stage" at AIAS, M. Mestiri, the Tunisian Ambassador to the USSR, called the Engineering School "a symbol of Soviet-Tunisian cooperation"^.14 Cooperation in the field of health care was also an important direction by sending Soviet doctors to Tunis to work in local state hospitals and hospitals under contracts. It also made a great contribution to the development of Soviet-Tunisian relations and contributed to the improvement of mutual understanding between the peoples.

TUNISIA - "THE WHITE BRIDE OF THE MAGHREB"

By the mid-1970s, the Soviet press was forming the image of Tunisia that still exists today with minor adjustments: a country with a rich historical past, Westernized but preserving its national identity, pro-Western but with a moderate political course, predictable and calm.

The new modern image of Tunis, noted by Soviet journalists in the 1970s, testified to the economic success of the republic, correctly chosen development priorities. "Since independence until 1976, Tunisia's GDP has tripled. In the early 1970s. Tunisia was the first country on the African continent to pass the $ 500 threshold of annual income per capita. At the same time, it entered the top ten developing countries in terms of GDP growth. " ¹⁵

Tunisia achieved impressive results in the field of education: 9% of the national income and more than a quarter of the State budget were spent on this area. Over 20 years of independent development, the number of people with higher and secondary education has increased fivefold, primary school has become universal, 80% of students received state scholarships, and almost one in four Tunisians studied.¹⁶

"Along the Mediterranean coast in recent years, many beautiful, well-maintained, multi-storey hotels have grown with swimming pools (in winter the water in them is heated), extensive terraces running down to the very edge of the surf...", - this is how the author of the article" In Tunis " N. Lutskaya begins the story about the leading role of the tourism industry in the structure of the Tunisian economy ¹⁷.

In line with the success in domestic development, the role and authority of the Tunisian Republic in world and regional politics has increased, which has been repeatedly noted on the pages of the magazine.

In the second half of the 1970s, favorable conditions for the development of relations between the Soviet Union and the Tunisian Republic emerged as a result of the exchange of high-level official visits: in 1975, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR A. N. Kosygin visited Tunisia, and in 1977, Prime Minister of Tunisia H. I. R. Tolkien visited Tunis. Nuira paid a visit to the USSR. As Tunisian Ambassador M. Mestiri noted in the above-mentioned interview, " contacts at the highest level should become the driving belt of Soviet-Tunisian cooperation."¹⁸. The positive effects of the exchange of high-level visits can also be attributed to the mutual understanding established in the second half of the 1970s between Tunisia and the USSR in the field of information.

In 1979, AIAS magazine's own correspondent, M, first started working in Tunis. Pavlov, whose essays were regularly published on the pages of the publication. In general, when Soviet publicists objectively covered Tunisia's "balanced and stable"foreign policy, ¹⁹ successes and difficulties in the country's economic development, and tangible progress in education and the status of women, they allowed elements of criticism only when it came to "Tunisia's predominant orientation to the West."²⁰

Thus, when Tunisia signed an indefinite agreement with the European Economic Community (EEC) in April 1976, which provided for broad cooperation, Soviet publications published a lot of criticism of the EEC's policy towards this North African country, which remained an "unequal partner" for Europe, and to which the non-disinterested "Common Market" constantly applied discriminatory measures. measures, especially if it was the main product of Tunisian exports-olive oil ²¹. In general, in Moscow, in the period from the late 70s to the early 80s of the last century, a much more flexible approach was taken to

assessment of Tunisian domestic policy.

A distinctive feature of magazine publications on Tunisian topics is the friendly tone and friendly attitude towards the inhabitants of this country: "The Tunisian character is very open and gentle, completely devoid of fanaticism... Tunisians are polite, sociable, hospitable. They welcome tourists from all over the world with cordiality and gentle humor..."²², "it is not surprising that the number of tourists visiting the country has increased by more than 20 times since the beginning of the 60s, because Tunisians are hospitable, responsive, attentive and kind..."²³." A foreigner feels free, comfortable and confident in Tunisia. There are practically no language problems for a person who knows at least one of the "big" European languages. Tunisians are equally welcoming to their fellow Muslims, Europeans, and Americans. They are not interested in nationality as such - only in personality... Pragmatism and pluralism do not fail Tunisians, and when it comes to the names of streets and squares of the city, they include almost all countries of the world and their capitals, the names of famous statesmen of all times and peoples. There are, for example, Lenin, Rossiya and Moscow streets " ²⁴.

A significant amount of the magazine's materials from this period, devoted to Tunisia, are of a country-specific nature, tell about the country's tourist and natural beauty, national crafts and folklore, rich festival and exhibition activities in the country. Thus, the "cultural" theme becomes a convenient tool for creating a diverse, positive and benevolent image of Tunisia.

Since the early 1980s, the influence and authority of the USSR in the "third world"began to weaken due to internal factors. In Tunisia, as in all Muslim countries, the reaction to the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan was unequivocally negative. Statement by President X. Burghibs on the Afghan theme in Moscow were assessed as "anti-Soviet and anti-socialist propaganda." It was against this tense background of information that an attempted mutiny took place in the Tunisian city of Gafsa in January 1980, when an armed group of up to 100 Tunisians recruited in Libya arrived by plane from this neighboring country and attacked the National Guard barracks in the hope of gaining the support of the population.

The Tunisian-Libyan conflict also cast a shadow over the Soviet Union as an indirect participant in the Libyan aggression against Tunisia. This was facilitated by the provocative confessions of the Libyan " commandos "that they were trained in Libya by" Soviet and Cuban instructors", as well as the demonstration of captured Soviet weapons to the public.²⁵ The Soviet press's coverage of the Gafsa events looked different: the Tunisian government, powerless to defuse the social tension in the country caused by the" liberalization " of the economy, allegedly attributed the organization of the armed action to "certain external influences" ²⁶.

PERESTROIKA AND ZINESTROIKA

Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power in the USSR in April 1985 and the beginning of perestroika led to fundamental changes in Soviet foreign policy. The policy of de-ideologizing international relations has helped expand ties with moderate and conservative regimes.

An indicator of the successful development and prospects of economic relations between the USSR and the Tunisian Republic was the adoption in 1985 of an intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of a permanent intergovernmental Soviet-Tunisian commission on economic, scientific and technical cooperation and trade. Thanks to increased coordination and the introduction of interim meetings of the co-Chairs of the commission, the two countries managed to make significant progress in the development of mutual trade, both in terms of increasing its total volume and improving such an important indicator for the Tunisian side as the ratio of the value of exports and imports from the USSR. ²⁷

Significant changes related to perestroika took place in the Soviet media sphere: glasnost lifted strict ideological restrictions on journalists, which allowed them to talk about problems more freely and openly. Thus, in a long article dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Tunisian Republic in 1986, the then sobkor M. Pavlov spoke for the first time about the serious problems of ^the country28.

The eighties in Tunisia were marked by the strengthening of authoritarian forms of government, the flourishing of the Bourguiba personality cult, the growth of corruption in the highest levels of the party and state apparatus, the increase in social tension, which was expressed, in particular, in the split of the trade union movement, the suppression of legal political opposition. In the wake of popular discontent with the difficulties in the country, religious extremism has increased. The Soviet author did not see the country's future as serene; he refuted "the popular belief that there is peace and grace in Tunisia."²⁹

The peaceful change of power in Tunisia in 1987 was calmly received in Moscow. New President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali expressed his intention to develop relations with the USSR. Thus, in an interview with the Lebanese magazine Al-Sayyad in August 1989. Ben Ali stressed that the ongoing reforms in the two countries will further strengthen Tunisian-Soviet relations.³⁰ The coincidence of perestroika processes in the two countries was repeatedly noted by both the Soviet and Tunisian sides, who emphasized the similarity of the problems facing Soviet and Tunisian societies. It was primarily about democratizing public life, achieving political pluralism, and building a State governed by the rule of law.

By analogy with the Soviet perestroika, the process of renewal in Tunisia was called "zinestra" in some Soviet publications.-

coy "is a term created from two words: the name of the president-Zin and the Russian "perestroika" ³¹.

In the USSR and Tunisia, interest in each other grew, the press of the two countries began to write more and more often on Soviet and Tunisian topics, articles and reviews were mostly friendly. The success of the new government in the political, economic, and social spheres was applauded:" It is no exaggeration to say that the country is thriving thanks to a reasonable and well - thought - out management of the economy; civil peace is preserved; the daily life of people - some faster, some slower-is improving, " AIAS magazine wrote a few years after Ben Ali's arrival to power ³².

In the first half of the 1990s. Tunisia is becoming one of the most" sympathetic " Arab countries for Russians, whose benevolent attitude sometimes sins against objectivity and turns into clearly inflated expectations. Russian experts, somewhat overestimating the country's economic achievements and social progress, tended to assess Tunisia as one of the most promising economies in Africa and the Arab world, predicting its fate as an "African Singapore"³³.

In a special issue of AIAS in 1997, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Ben Ali's coming to power, Russian journalists extol the Tunisian president quite in the spirit of eastern flattery: "President Ben Ali is a man of renewal", "a brave, intelligent and honest politician", assessing the results of his rule as "ten years of stability and prosperity","the triumph of the new president " ³⁴.

For the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that the assessment of Ben Ali's personality was deceived not only in Russia, but also in the rest of the world: for example, in 1988, France recognized him as "person of the year", awarding him the title of laureate of the international prize "Democracy and Human Rights"³⁵. Support in Moscow was also given to Ben Ali's policy of suppressing the protest movement of Islamic fundamentalists. Assessing the actions of the Tunisian president, Russian publicists paid tribute to "the determination and firmness of Ben Ali, who managed to eliminate the danger of Islamization of Tunisian society and save civil peace." ³⁶

During the 1990s. Tunisia has further consolidated its reputation as "the most politically and economically stable country in the Maghreb", which lasted for the republic until the beginning of the"Arab Spring".

* * *

Thus, the publications of the AIAS journal on Tunisian topics for the 1960s-1990s can be assessed as a representative historical source with scientific, cognitive and cultural values. These materials mostly objectively and adequately reflected the Tunisian reality, bearing the imprint of the realities of the socio-political situation in the USSR/Russia.

^{Katin V.} 1 The future of the Republic // Asia and Africa Today (hereinafter referred to as AiAS). 1962. N 7. (Katin V. 1962. Budushchee respubliki // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 7) (in Russian)

² Ibid., p. 53.

^{Lutskaya N., Tairova T.} 3 Zhenshchiny Tunisa [3 Women of Tunisia]. AiAS, 1961, No. 12 (Lutskaya N., Tairova T. 1961. Zhenshchiny Tunisa // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 12) (in Russian)

⁴ Ibid., p. 43.

^{Lutskaya N.} 5 Reportage from Bizerte / / AiAS. 1962. N 9. (Lutskaya N. 1962. Reportazh iz Bizerty // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 9) (in Russian)

^{Kunin G.} 6 Not a single foreign soldier on the African land! // AiAS. 1961. N 9. (Kunin G. 1961. Ni odnogo inostrannogo soldata na afrikansky zemle! // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 9) (in Russian)

⁷ Ibid., p. 54.

^{Zlatorunskiy A.} 8 Tunis: years of independence / / AiAS. 1977. N 10. (Zlatorunskiy A. 1977. Tunis: gody nezavisimosti / / Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 10) (in Russian)

^{Lubomudrov V.} 9 Pomoshchie i unprofitable obyazatel'nosti [Assistance and unprofitable obligations]. AiAS. 1966. N 10. (Lubomudmv V. 1966. Pomosh i nevigodnie obyazatelstva // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 10) (in Russian)

^{Shelepin V.} 10 Pod olivami Tunisa [Under the olives of Tunis]. AiAS. 1974. N 9. (Shelepin V. 1974. Pod olivami Tunisa // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 9) (in Russian)

¹¹ Ibid.

^{Pravdivtsev A.} 12 Tsel ' - ekonomicheskaya nezavisimost / / AiAS. 1964. N 3. (Pravdivtsev A. 1964. Tsel-ekonomicheskaya nezavisimost / / Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 3) (in Russian)

¹³ Ibid.

14 Sovetsko-tunisskie otnosheniya na novom etape [Soviet-Tunisian relations at the new stage]. Sovetsko-tunisskie otnosheniya па novom etape // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 9) (in Russian)

^Pavlov 15 M. Tunis: uspekhi i zaboty [Tunisia: successes and concerns]. AiAS. 1979. N11. (Pavlov M. 1979. Tunis: uspekchi i zaboty // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 11) (in Russian)

^{Shelepin V.} 16 Decree. op., p. 39.

^{Lutskaya N.} 17 In Tunis / / AiAS. 1971. N 8. (Lutskaya N. 1971. V Tunise // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 8) (in Russian)

^{Mestiri M.} 18 Decree. soch., p. 33. ¹⁹ Pavlov M. Edict. soch., p. 25. ²⁰ Ibid.

^{Pavlov M.} 21 Tunis-EES: partnership with flaws / / AiAS. 1981. N 12. (Pavlov M. 1981. Tunis-EES: partner's izyanami / / Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 12) (in Russian)

^{Shelepin V. S.} 22 Decree. soch., p. 37.

^{Pavlov M.} 23 Tunis: industriya turizma / / AiAS. 1980. N 2. (Pavlov M. 1980. Tunis: industriya turizma / / Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 2) (in Russian)

^{Elizarov Yu., Zhdanov S.} 24 About tourist impressions, and not only about them. 1989. N 8. (Elizarov Yu., Zhdanov S. 1989. О turisticheskikh vpechatleniyakh, i ne tolko о nikh // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 8) (in Russian)

²⁵ Archive of Foreign Policy (WUA) of the Russian Federation. F. 563. Op. 24. p. 25. d. 11. L. 11-20.

^{Pavlov M.} 26 With anxiety and hope / / AiAS. 1986. N 3. (Pavlov M. 1986. S trevogoy i nadezhdoy // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 3) (in Russian)

^{Ganiev A.} 27 Snyat puty s Merkuriya // AiAS. 1991. N 11. (Ganiev A. 1991. Snyat puty s Merkuriya // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 11) (in Russian)

^{Pavlov M.} 28 With anxiety and hope ... pp. 28-31.

²⁹ Ibid., p. 30.

³⁰ WUA RF. f. 563. Op. 33. P. 34. d. 3. L. 5.

³¹ See: Yelizarov Yu., Zhdanov S. Edict. soch. P. 38; Filatov S. V. "3inestroika" v Tunise ["3inestroika" in Tunis]. Za rubezhom, 1989, No. 39 (1524).

^{Kapitonov K.} 32 President Ben Ali is a man of renewal / / AiAS. 1997. N 11. (Kapitonov K. 1997. Prezident Ben Ali - chelovek obnovleniya // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 11) (in Russian)

^{Kukushkin V., Fomenko N.} 33 The first NIS of Africa? // АиАС. 1994. N 1. (Kukushkin V., Fomenko N. 1994. Pervaya NIS Afriki? // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 1) (in Russian)

³⁴ Asia and Africa today. 1997. N 11. (1997. Aziya i Afrika segodnya. N 11) (in Russian)

³⁵ Ibid., p. 12.

³⁶ Ibid., p. 14.

Permanent link to this publication: