Robert Mugabe
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South Africa lurches toward uncompensated land seizures

The politically explosive land question has been revived in South Africa at an awkward moment. A motion by the Marxist-Leninist opposition to allow farmland to be expropriated without compensation hit the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as it was beset by corruption scandals, a slumping economy, and widespread voter disillusionment with the vision of a “rainbow” society. Racialized land seizures may serve as a brief political diversion, but as the case of Zimbabwe shows, it will only make the underlying problems worse.

Elections in Zimbabwe: An African tragedy
A richly endowed country, Africa’s former breadbasket Zimbabwe, has become a basket case of a state due to idiosyncratic policies, systemic plundering and violence after 1980, when alleged “liberation” forces, in fact terror groups, took power. The nonagenarian dictator Robert Mugabe was finally removed in a palace coup, but the ...


GIS Dossier: Autumn of the patriarchs
In many parts of the world, the outlook for political stability in 2018 will depend on aging, often long-serving politicians. Some are senescent leaders trying to manage a generational transition, others have caught their second wind and are bracing for a long run. Here is a short list of rulers ...


Mugabe is out, but his power structure remains
Robert Mugabe lost Zimbabwe’s presidency to his former right-hand man Emmerson Mnangagwa in a coup prepared jointly by the military and one of the ruling party’s factions. The new ruling team is more focused on defending its power and privileges in the impoverished country than on addressing its profound problems.


Zimbabwe’s pivotal moment
Zimbabwe’s deepening economic crisis have led to protests of unprecedented intensity against the regime of President Robert Mugabe. However, the opposition is divided, and Mr. Mugabe still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. If the coalition of opposition parties can remain unified, it has a chance of unseating the ...
