On December 17, 2010, Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid, set himself on fire to protest the seemingly impossible odds facing the working class.

So sparked the Jasmine Revolution, which ultimately toppled the government, opened democratic elections, and led to one of the few true success stories of the Arab Spring (perhaps one could argue this depends on how success is ultimately measured; but as a matter of debate, that's another topic).

On October 10, Oslo announced that the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet was the winner of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. It was an award that rightly put the spotlight on a country and the independent actors therein who have turned the tide of a history too often tainted.

There are, of course, many details missing from this timeline. Tunisia's recent story has been one of assassination, terrorist activity, soaring unemployment, and general unrest. A visit to the country last year during Ramadan left me with an impression of a disenchanted populace. The fact that things inevitably get worse before they get better is little consolation when you are having difficulties feeding your family, when on the surface people are becoming more extremist and not less so, when the promises of a better future seem much further than a past seen through pink-tinted glasses.

The Economist's assertion that the Arab region "deserves encouragement" is accurate, to say the least. Nearly five years after the initial flashpoint of the Arab Spring, 2015 was seemingly on record to be the bloodiest yet in a region that has had little respite through the years. Many of the conflicts fomented in the years following Bouazizi's self-immolation have either been squashed, squandered, or are continuing to escalate. But the Nobel Prize turns our attention squarely on a country that has continued to push forward, in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds, and the story is indeed a bright spot to which we must return. I spoke with a Tunisian businessman based in Dubai recently about the positive changes emanating from Tunisia. His face lit up as he told me that some years ago, he was wanted in his own country, blacklisted for political reasons. This year his whole family was together in Tunisia at his mother's house for the first time in many years. There was no denying his belief that things were improving rapidly; the worst seemed behind them, the best seemed yet to come.