As usual, we are getting some fairly mixed messages on Zimbabwe. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai continues to put a positive spin on the situation for reasons that I have pointed out before (namely that he has few options, that he knows Robert Mugabe may not be a legitimate president but the facts on the ground are that he is unyieldingly president, that he needs to draw investment and other support, etc.).
Meanwhile signs point to continued western concern with the still intermittently tyrannical policies emanating from Harare, including the recent arrest of two journalists, which has roused considerable concern. Among the western observers who has expressed their interest in Zimbabwe? Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama’s Secretary of State, who was none too subtle in her assertion that it “would be in the best interests of everyone” if Robert Mugabe stepped down.
Whether this is a sign of greater American engagement on the issue of Zimbabwe remains to be seen. But unlike Tony Blair or George W. Bush, two of Mugabe’s favorite whipping boys when he has needed to play the anti-imperialism card in the face of western challenges, President Obama is very well respected in the world and might well be able to convince more African leaders than could Bush (who, to be fair, was not actually as unpopular in Africa as he was in the rest of the world, though admittedly one could interpret this as damning with faint praise) that Mugabe’s time to go has come.
