Rafik Bouchlaka
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
20 December 2011 – 14 March 2013
Prime MinisterHamadi Jebali
Preceded byMouldi Kefi
Succeeded byOthman Jerandi
Personal details
Born1967 (age 56–57)
NationalityTunisian
Alma materMohammed V University

Rafik Bouchlaka is a Tunisian politician. He served as the minister of foreign affairs under Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali.[1][2][3]

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 in 2003.[4]

Career

From 1987 to 1990, Bouchlaka was a member of the executive office of the Union Générale des Etudiants de Tunisie (UGET).[2][3] In London, he founded the Maghreb Center for Research and Translation, and chaired the London Platform for Dialogue.[2][3] He was also a visiting scholar at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.[2][3] He worked as senior researcher and head of the Research and Studies Office at the Al Jazeera Center for Studies.[2][3] He is a member of the Centre Union Process.[2][3] He has published two books and many articles in Asharq Al-Awsat.[3]

He is a member of the Ennahda Movement, and the party leader Rached Ghannouchi's son-in-law.[2][5] On 20 December 2011, after former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was deposed, he joined the Jebali Cabinet as minister of foreign affairs from 2011 to 2013 serving the first democratic government of Tunisia.[2][3] 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.[6] Abdessalem was only able to return to his homeland after 21 years following the Tunisian revolution.

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.[7]

He is the founder and Director of the Centre for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies (CSDS) established in 2014.[8][9]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ CIA World Leaders
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Sana Ajmi, Rafik Abdessalem Archived 11 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Tunisia Live, 17 December 2011
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Biographie de M. Rafik Abdessalem, nouveau ministre des Affaires étrangères, Business News, 25 December 2011
  4. ^ "4th International Conference on the Muslim Ummah: Speakers and Moderators". Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  5. ^ Rafik Ben Abdesslem Bouchlaka:'La nomination des ministres dépend de leurs compétences', Mozaïque FM, 14 December 2011
  6. ^ "Rafik Abdessalem". Tunisia Live. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  7. ^ "رفيق عبد السلام". الموقع الرسمي | حزب حركة النهضة (in Arabic). Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  8. ^ "Tunisia moved into new stage of youth entrepreneurship (minister) | Tunisia News Gazette". tunisianewsgazette.com. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Rafik BOUCHLAKA – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
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