Not many would connect Wyoming with Tunisia, an African nation situated on the northern part of the continent. Yet the Cowboy State and the country have had a relationship for over 20 years.
In 2004, the Tunisian military was paired with the Wyoming National Guard as part of a U.S. Department of Defense program. The recent 20th anniversary has sparked renewed interest in the relationship, as U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia Joey Hood explained to Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska. But first, Hood answered how exactly the defense program partnership benefits both Wyoming and Tunisia.
Editor’s note: This interview was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Joey Hood: Every program that we engage in, especially now under the Trump administration, has got to answer at least one of three questions: Does it make America stronger, safer and more prosperous?
I think that is certainly true of this. It provides the Wyoming National Guard vital opportunities for using their skills out in the field in real world situations.
It also benefits Tunisia because it helps them train and receive equipment and learn how to take care of everything from natural disasters to responding to terrorist threats. That has helped keep Tunisia stable, more secure and prosperous, which is important. and a benefit to us.
Kamila Kudelska: So in the past 20 years, have Wyoming National Guard members been stationed in Tunisia? Have Tunisian military members been stationed in Wyoming? How does this physically work?
JH: The exchanges go back and forth. There are always a couple of liaison officers that are stationed at the embassy that coordinate the activities. But these things can range from everything from officers and enlisted people going to training academies to organizing exercises together. They could be flying C-130s together, learning how to load and unload C-130 cargo aircraft more efficiently, and learning how to provide humanitarian assistance together.
KK: You've been the U.S. ambassador to Tunisia for two years. During that time, what stands out the most to you about this 20 year long partnership and why?
JH: I think what stands out most for me now is the potential that we've got. We're trying to expand beyond just the successful security partnership to include education and private sector development. That's already off to a great start. Just a couple of months ago, representatives of the University of Wyoming (UW) were in Tunisia to sign MOUs, memorandum of understanding, with four Tunisian universities. So there can be exchanges of faculty and students, joint research projects and lots of other activities.
My experience from spending a day here at the University of Wyoming, I can tell that there's a lot of excitement from all across the disciplines, from archaeology to agriculture to business development, to work together with very smart and motivated Tunisians to bring lots of great benefit to the University of Wyoming, but in a way that also benefits the universities in Tunisia.
KK: As you mentioned, UW signed four new agreements with Tunisian universities just last year. [The] challenges that I read that the partnerships will try to address are water scarcity, sustainability and productive use of land, conservation and tourism. Can you go into more detail on how these issues are important to both Tunisia and Wyoming?
JH: Both Tunisia and Wyoming have to deal with producing more agricultural products with less water. Water management is incredibly important to both. Tunisians may be developing new technologies and new techniques in very arid environments that could be useful here and vice versa. Likewise, in terms of animal husbandry, this is a very important sector for both Tunisia and Wyoming.
But there's an added possibility there, at least in my mind, where you could see perhaps Wyoming beef or bison exported to Tunisia for further processing and then export to Europe, taking advantage of those free trade agreements. For example, you could see research taking place with Sub-Saharan African faculty and students and research centers in Tunisia because they've got the security and the stability and the infrastructure. Those relationships going back decades with these Sub-Saharan African institutions, you can see Tunisia becoming the platform for that training and education and that research, together with the University of Wyoming.
I think there's a lot of possibilities for both sides to benefit from this engagement. I think there's a lot of areas where both Tunisia and Wyoming have challenges that they need to address. Sustainable tourism is one that you mentioned. Tunisia gets about 10 million tourists every year. Unfortunately, most of them just go to the beach and don't spend a whole lot of money. They don't benefit from the great cultural richness that Tunisia has to offer. So the University of Wyoming, I think, can help small and medium enterprises in Tunisia figure out how to create more experiential tourism and more niche markets that they can attract higher spending tourists to come to Tunisia to take advantage of.
KK: You might have answered this already, but I'm going to ask it specifically. What's something you think Wyoming could learn from Tunisia?
JH: You know, diplomats love to repeat themselves. But I'll try not to here. I think that there's a lot of different areas where Wyoming could learn from and gain experience from Tunisia.
There's a lot of smart faculty and students here. For example, I was talking with a dean today who was asking about archaeological developments, archaeological research. Because Tunisia has such a long history of being the crossroads of so many major civilizations, there are thousands of archaeological sites waiting to be explored.
That would be a great experience for archaeologists from the university, for people interested in cultural tourism development, for people interested in history, people learning about how society works – you know, you name it. There's a lot to be gained there for the Wyoming side.
KK: Is there anything else you'd like to add that we haven't mentioned yet?
JH: I think that Tunisians really have had to hustle over their history. They don't have major reserves of oil and gas like most other countries in the region. And so they're private sector is small, but extremely dynamic. And as I said, it provides a platform for trading, for education, for research, going all the way into Sub-Saharan Africa and also into Europe and especially for export into Europe.
What I would love to see is Wyoming faculty and students working together with Tunisian counterparts to develop new technologies, new things that can be exported and produced there or processed there in Tunisia, and then exported out to different countries.
