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LONDON: There is a gaping hole in international diplomacy and it is called Africa, analysts say.
Open divisions between the white West and black African observers over Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s controversial victory this week in violence-marred elections have highlighted the problem.
“Africa is a gaping hole in international policy. They all talk about it a lot, but this shows they can actually do little about it,” said Jonathan Stevenson, a regional expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank.
The United States, which under former President Bill Clinton took close interest in Africa but under current President George W. Bush has largely ignored it, rejected the Zimbabwe election result.
Britain, the former colonial power in Zimbabwe, has taken a keen interest in Africa and welcomed its recent advances towards democracy but become increasingly frustrated at the seeming paralysis caused by Mugabe.
Non-African election observers accused Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF of having clubbed their way to electoral victory. South Africa and Nigeria — both key players in pan-African reconstruction plans — called the result legitimate.
“This will confirm the international community’s view that Africa is a collective basket case,” said Jesmond Blumenfeld, researcher at the Royal Institute for International Affairs.
“There will continue to be rhetorical support for the various African initiatives, but little practical support,” he added.
RACIAL FRACTURE: An election observer mission from the Commonwealth of 54 mainly former British colonies had been deeply divided over the blatant violence ahead of the poll, then unexpectedly came off the fence and accused the government of gross intimidation.
But the weapons available to the Commonwealth — assuming it decides to take any action at all against Zimbabwe — are limited to wholesale trade sanctions or suspension from the organization.
The former would hurt ordinary Zimbabweans, already facing economic catastrophe and famine. The latter measure has been proven in the past to be ineffectual.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said leaders at the European Union summit which opens in Barcelona on Friday would look at ways of strengthening sanctions against the leadership of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party.
“There is total widespread condemnation of the way Mugabe stole this election and a readiness to continue with the humanitarian assistance we are providing to the people of Zimbabwe because of the way Mugabe has impoverished his nation,” Straw said.
But if the discord over Zimbabwe leads to a fracture along racial lines it could have dire consequences for a continent which is at the epicentre of the world’s AIDS epidemic and is home to some of the world’s poorest people and bloodiest conflicts.
An exasperated British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned that if African nations failed to deal with Mugabe, the plan would be put in jeopardy.
NO MAGIC WAND: “The opportunity that NEPAD presents will not recur if the Africans as a community mess this up,” Simon Maxwell, director of the independent think-tank Overseas Development Institute said.
“What would be a great tragedy for Africa would be if the G8 leaders and others looked at the result of the Zimbabwe election and said we are going to wash our hands of the whole continent,” he added.—Reuters
