Tunisia's revolution and its aftermath show how rapid technological change has altered economic, diplomatic and political dynamics worldwide. But outdated American notions of power - particularly in Congress - are preventing the United States from keeping pace. A decades-long American practice of spending vastly more on military efforts than civilian ones is handicapping a vital attempt here to create a democratic, free-market country that is a model for the Arab world.

The United States' strongest weapons against Islamic militancy are not CIA operatives, drones or infantry battalions. They are the modern, new high-tech office buildings that Hewlett-Packard, Fidelity, SunGard, Microsoft and Cisco have opened here in recent years. In the wake of the revolution, Tunisians dream of their country becoming a hub for cloud, big-data and open-government computing in the region.

"The revolution was through the Internet," said Leila Charfi, a Tunisian who runs the Microsoft Innovation Center here. "People are hungry to use new technology and develop a new country with IT."

To be sure, the fate of Tunisia rests in the hands of Tunisians. The country's first democratically elected government since independence from France in 1956 is being criticized for indecisiveness. The economy is slowing in many areas for local reasons, not foreign ones. And the United States is providing $300 million in assistance to Tunisia, including $100 million announced on Thursday.

And while Washington is influential here, Europe is and will be the dominant foreign player. France, the former colonial power, is the country's largest foreign investor. European countries provide the bulk of aid. And traditional exports to Europe are vital to Tunisia's economy, particularly agricultural products, clothing and auto parts.

But Tunisians - justly proud of their revolution - insist they are eager to serve as a model for the region. With little oil, they realize that economic innovation is the only way ahead. And they are looking to America's high-tech industry for inspiration and training.

A closer look at the Silicon Valley executive's visit revealed a well designed State Department program with too few resources. Ben Romdhane, the executive, traveled to Tunisia under Partners for a New Beginning, an initiative launched by the Obama administration after the president's 2009 address in Cairo. The program is designed to increase business, cultural and educational exchanges between the United States and the Arab world.

In conversations, Tunisians generally praised Obama's approach. They clamored for American business investment, tourists and exchange programs but said they opposed unilateral U.S. military interventions or American meddling in their domestic politics. At the same time, they disparaged radical Islam and said they yearned for prosperity, modernity and a place in a high-tech global economy.