08 December 2007
Intervening in Zimbabwe
The Arthur Mutambara interview article by John Fund in the December 8, 2007, Wall Street Journal reminds us of the catastrophes caused by the failure of civilized man to intervene in the disorders of Somalia, Rwanda and Afghanistan in the1990s, Darfur the past two years, and others. As Paul Collier explains in his book, The Bottom Billion, economic intervention, or foreign aid, is not enough to bring order to the world’s failed states. The repentance payments of rich remorseful Western societies are so easily diverted to corruption and military protection racketeering.
Successful use of external force always depends on there being a well-organized indigenous movement to spearhead and carry on the repair of the upended regime. The rivalry between Mssrs. Mutambara and Morgan Tsvangirai, the other leading resister to the Mugabe regime, could vitiate the effect of a global military or economic intervention, or a combination of the two. Public or private resources in the West should first be devoted to helping build a unified domestic coalition in Zimbabwe that can lead the subversion of the Mugabe regime and constitute an orderly successor that will be able to manage both the disorientation that will be caused by a military intervention and the ensuing influx of economic and technical aid from the West.
The Arthur Mutambara interview article by John Fund in the December 8, 2007, Wall Street Journal reminds us of the catastrophes caused by the failure of civilized man to intervene in the disorders of Somalia, Rwanda and Afghanistan in the1990s, Darfur the past two years, and others. As Paul Collier explains in his book, The Bottom Billion, economic intervention, or foreign aid, is not enough to bring order to the world’s failed states. The repentance payments of rich remorseful Western societies are so easily diverted to corruption and military protection racketeering.
Successful use of external force always depends on there being a well-organized indigenous movement to spearhead and carry on the repair of the upended regime. The rivalry between Mssrs. Mutambara and Morgan Tsvangirai, the other leading resister to the Mugabe regime, could vitiate the effect of a global military or economic intervention, or a combination of the two. Public or private resources in the West should first be devoted to helping build a unified domestic coalition in Zimbabwe that can lead the subversion of the Mugabe regime and constitute an orderly successor that will be able to manage both the disorientation that will be caused by a military intervention and the ensuing influx of economic and technical aid from the West.
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