First it was a civil revolt carried out by an unstructured civil society movement, not inspired by any ideology or leader – not even the Islamist agenda. The months following the “Jasmine Revolution”, many were surprised by a colossal Islamist wave crystalized in the Ennahda organization. This wave, with its ferocious and unexpected might, overwhelmed the Tunisian society and institutions as only a tsunami could. Today, Tunisia is set to choose between building an open, pluralistic and a development-driven Arab and Muslim society, or, slipping irreversibly into an Islamist, totalitarian and a backwardlooking model. Only civil society can prevent the latter from happening, and the legitimate and democratic aspirations once thought attainable from evaporating.