Tunisia, under Ben Salah, tried to launch a self-centered development process. The subsequent failure has usually been explained by sociological causes that are not related to central aspects of the experience. The A. brings to light the economic
constraints which deterred the socialist experience. The priority given to heavy industry and the need to build infrastructures created an enormous financial charge. This development thus led to calling for foreign loans and investments. As a consequence
, development was oriented less toward internal growth than toward profitable activities which gradually inserted the country within the international division of labor.