As recently as December, the outlook for Tunisia remained grim. However, on Friday, French President Francois Hollande and other world leaders attended a ceremony for the formal adoption of a document being praised as one of the most progressive constitutions in an Arab nation.

What a turnaround.

After overthrowing their dictator in 2011 and launching what became known as the Arab Spring, Tunisians brought a moderate Islamist party into power allied with two other secular parties.

"By adopting the constitution, Tunisia celebrated a triple victory — over dictatorship, over terrorism that seeks to spread chaos and block our path to democracy and over our own divisions," said President Moncef Marzouki in an address before Tunisia's parliament.

(READ the AP story in the Montreal Gazette)