In what has to be among the most disappointing news from southern Africa in a long time, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has chosen to acquiesce to Robert Mugabe's rule. A meeting that beforehand was hailed as preparing to take a stance against a regional despot instead ended up asking "The West" to ease sanctions and engage in dialogue with Mugabe. Almost dumbfoundingly, the meeting called "for the lifting of all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe".
Perhaps most disturbingly, SADC also appointed as mediator South African President Thabo Mbeki. Implicitly South Africa has continued to advocate a "silent diplomacy" that in the end would result in Zimbabwe's betterment. Instead what we get is a ratification of the same. Let these words ring through your head: "The extraordinary summit reaffirms its solidarity with the government and the people of Zimbabwe." That's right. Given a chance to push change, indeed under circumstances in which they all but promised to do so, SADC has declared its fealty to Robert Mugabe. They stared Mugabe eyeball to eyeball. And somehow they blinked.
Imagine the state of the resistance, however divided, in Zimbabwe today. A dictator was validated while Zimbabweans suffer. A dictator was validated, and in the process SADC has effectively given the go-ahead to the oppression of his opposition. A dictator was validated and so SADC failed. And in so doing, SADC abdicated every claim it might have to reponsibility in Zimbabwe. Catastrophe looms. I think it is safe to say that SADC had its moment to help determine the course of contemporary Southern African history. It failed. And it did so egregiously.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
