Guy Beres

One of the most exasperating issues out there in the world of foreign policy today is what is still going on in Zimbabwe. The election that did not deliver acceptable results to the redoubtable Robert Mugabe and is now being re-run so that it does, seems to have been dragging along dishearteningly for almost longer than the U.S presidential primaries. In Mugabe, of course, we have a dictator who is doing his darnedest to subvert democratic processes in order to stay in power, terrorising his opponents and refusing to accept the voice of the people. I know that the armies of the oh-so-brave liberal interventionist West are still somewhat occupied in Iraq and Afghanistan, but surely the world can do better than this:

Britain and its international allies indicated yesterday they would urge South Africa to cut off electricity supplies to Zimbabwe if Mugabe rigged the June 27 presidential runoff to stay in power.

Plans are being drawn up to persuade Zimbabwe’s allies to mount an economic blockade and diplomats are considering a ban on the children of the elite going to school in Europe if Mugabe loses the election but refuses to step down.

From what I hear from my unofficial and entirely non-existent Downing Street sources, the next planned step for Prime Minister Gordon Brown in relation to the crisis in Zimbabwe is to threaten to pull Robert Mugabe’s hair. Likewise, the “increasingly hawkish” Bush Administration reportedly plans to thwack its fist into its palm in a menacing fashion from another continent and wait quietly for Mugabe to slink away; lest it entangle itself in another military debacle with just a few months remaining on the shot clock.

Whatever your political stripes, it’s hard not to be hopeful that Robert Mugabe’s long and more recently disastrous reign as President of Zimbabwe is finally over. While the electoral commission in Zimbabwe takes a disturbingly and worryingly long time to announce the defeat that practically all other observers have already suggested is the case, reports suggest that behind the scenes talks are progressing with Mugabe himself to facilitate an orderly transition. It would be a brave soul to suggest at this early stage that this troubled African nation has finally made a transition back towards open and transparent democracy, but we realistically could have some good news from the country at any time. One just hopes that the election result does not turn into another excuse for Mugabe to exert his brutal political will on the public.

I for one will be going to sleep tonight hoping for a new and peaceful political dawn for Zimbabwe.

ELSEWHERE: Larvatus Prodeo have an open thread on developments in Zimbabwe. Mark’s comment on international aid is a prescient one; if the MDC manage to successfully oust Mugabe, it will be a wonderful opportunity for the international community to give the country a hand-up so that it can get back on its feet again.

Michael McKenna also has an excellent piece in the Australian on trade unionist, father of six children and Harvard graduate Morgan Tsvangirai. Will he prove to be the inspirational Nelson Mandela-like figure that so many in Zimbabwe have needed to break free of the Mugabe era?