Foreign Policy Blogs

Tyranny and Catastrophe: Zimbabwe’s Great Equalizer?

The crisis in Zimbabwe, and especially the economic catastrophe, has proven to have a levelling effect in the country. This is, of course, a levelling in which a draining pool has lowered all inner tubes, and not one in which a rising tide has lifted all boats, and so it is probably of slim solace to the blurring of class distinctions and the loosening of police enforcement of at least some restrictions (since the police themselves have been reduced to engaging in the same illicit activities).

One wonders if this levelling will create political coalitions, radical movements, mass displays of discontent. mugabe relies on a certain level of anarchy to perpetuate control, but that anarchy is, by definition, both difficult to control and as importantly, it may have a tipping point, and if it teeters out of Mugabe's control it might prove to be another potential force for his downfall.