The news that Tunisia's competing political factions have broken months of logjam and appointed a technocrat as interim prime minister sets the stage for a yearend review of the events that have followed the Arab Spring.
Keeping up the seasonal metaphor, one could say Tunisia offers a hint of Indian summer in what is otherwise a chilly autumn. The Tunisian economy is shaky, the public is frustrated, and two prominent leftists have been assassinated by Salafists. Yet democracy is still functioning, and a multiparty deal facilitating completion of a new constitution is within reach.
While Tunisia has followed a slow, unsteady constitutional process, Libya hasn't really gotten started. It's in a holding pattern. A site for constitutional talks has been chosen, but no delegates elected; ethnic minorities threatening a boycott.