Western governments and aid agencies are still skeptical of Zimbabwe, not least because Robert Mugabe is still involved in the country’s coalition government. Meanwhile Mugabe and his once-unfathomable partner in that new government, Morgan Tsvangirai, desperately want those western governments and agencies to give Zimbabwe much-needed aid and to end sacntions.
Neither of these positions is irrational. Neither is unjustifiable. But they are, for now, seemingly irreconcilable. And so Mugabe and Tsvangirai have set out to reconcile them and they have set out on a hundred-day plan to convince potential donors to ease up on sanctions, to support the new government, however imprefect they may perceive it to be (and with Mugabe involved, it certainly is imperfect), and to normalize relations with the United States and the European nations. Among the steps they are taking is to loosen up the Mugabe-imposed restrictions on the news media, improve prison conditions, and possibly to enact a new constitution.
It seems to me that Tsvangirai’s presence is the key. Sanctions are only effective if there is a vbiable and substantial force within the country upon which the sanctions are being imposed that embraces the sanctions no matter what the consequences. Sanctions were viable against apartheid South Africa because black South Africans were willing to accept the consequences of those sanctions. Sanctions against Zimbabwe right now make little sense — against whom are they aimed? If the west wants to punish Robert Mugabe, it should figure out a way to do so. But if Tsvangirai is willing to work with Mugabe and reach out to the West, why should the west ignore the entreatments?