The president of Tunisia has sought to further tighten his grip by calling for a month-long curfew and banning public gatherings, days after firing his prime minister as well as his ministers of justice and defense. Kais Saied, who is not aligned with a political party, threatened that anyone protesting his rule of law would be met with force. The situation is particularly poignant in that similar protests sparked the Arab Spring uprisings in 2010 that spread across the Middle East, killing thousands and setting off the Syrian war and led to the rise of the Islamic State terror group.