By the way, I have no more idea what yesterday's Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announcement that ZANU-PF lost parliament, as most assumed, mean any more than anyone else does. Robert Mugabe has experienced setbacks before (think of the hair-breadth 2000 Parliamentary election or the 1999 defeat of Mugabe's proposed constitutional changes) but never have the vultures […]
Is Zimbabwe on the brink of a civil war? Has the military engaged in a secret coup? Is Zim a police state? (To this last, at least, we say: “yes.”) The sad state of affairs is such that these questions are not only viable, they are necessary. Even with the United States putting the sort of […]
Walid Jumblatt was the first of the March 14 group to give one more chance to Nabih Berri's call for yet another round table discussion. They did not stop talking, mind you, just that they failed to agree on a solution. Walid Jumblatt did well for accepting Berri's call, which most likely is a bluff. […]
The news is not getting any better in Zimbabwe. Police have arrested hundreds of individuals seeking shelter in the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). many of them were seeking safe haven from ZANU-PF's ominously-named “Operation Mavhoterapapi,” which translates to “Who did you vote for?” This does not end well.
Within the past few weeks I had a review of Robert Collins’ book A History of Sub-Saharan Africa, which he wrote with James N. Burns, appear in the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa's (ASMEA) “Current Book Reviews.” I gave the book a very favorable assessment. I was thus saddened to discover […]
A diverse coalition has caused China to recall its arms shipment intended for Zimbabwe. Comparable organizations are emerging to address the domestic crisis in Zim while leading religious figures are calling for change in the country. Pressure from outside countries, including South Africa and the United States, is beginning to increase, though Jacob Zuma has made a […]
The so-called friend states of Lebanon (yes, the ministerial meeting was actually named "Friends of Lebanon") met earlier this week to find a solution for the Lebanese political crisis. They called for the “full implementation of the Taef agreement, all UN Security Council resolutions pertaining to Lebanon, including resolutions 1559, 1680, 1701, and 1757, as […]
1. US/NATO-Kazakhstan Cooperation: NATO's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Robert Simmons recently visited Kazakhstan to discuss the ‘Line Communication‘ project. The project involves the railway transit of non-lethal goods through the territories of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan to Afghanistan by NATO forces. Simmons has reported that Russia and NATO exchanged letters […]
To his credit, Jacob Zuma has positioned himself brilliantly on the Zimbabwe question. While acknowledging Thabo Mbeki as rightful head of state and thus mediator, Zuma wants to see a Pan-African delegation step in and settle the crisis north of the Limpopo. Zuma's clear goal is to see Robert Mugabe's reign of power come to […]
So, how's this for an anniversary that should inspire ambivalence? Zimbabwe is celebrating its 28th year of independence. I know that there are those who argue that things were better under Ian Smith's Rhodesian regime. I am not one of those people, if only because I refuse to grant privileged status to a white-dominated regime in […]
Fred Kaplan at Slate has a great article about the relationship between Iraq and Iran, as well as Iran and the US, especailly relating to the battle of Basra. Here's the money quote. Since the start of the offensive in Basra, Sadr's Mahdi Army has resumed shooting at American soldiers in the Sadr City neighborhood […]
Yesterday, we discussed security progress in Afghanistan and this was led by the words of the NATO commander for the mission, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, who seemed optimistic that the Afghan military could take over security for the country by 2011. However, Gen. McNeill also stated that though "toe-to-toe' battles were on the downswing, the […]
I now have a pdf of my pre-election Zimbabwe Op-ed in the March 25 edition of the Cape Argus in which I argued that it was inevitable that Robert Mugabe would win the election. I was right on much, wrong on some. (Mugabe has not been able to control things as easily as I thought, and I […]
The ongoing Zimbabwe arms shipment fiasco has not seen Thabo Mbeki at his best. At The Mail & Guardian Richard Calland argues that Mbeki's handling of the Zimbabwe crisis has further damaged a reputation that already was on a downward spiral. But he further believes that human rights problems at home undercut South Africa's ability […]