http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/08/12/mugabes-machiavellianism/ The largest network of international affairs blogs online Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:44:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.0 http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/08/12/mugabes-machiavellianism/#comment-751 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:38:03 +0000 http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/08/12/mugabes-machiavellianism/#comment-751 [...] The Zimbabwean negotiations continue to provide a constant source of suspense and drama. The recent reports that Mugabe had brokered a deal excluding Morgan Tsvangirai from a new unity government appear to have been the result of confusion (or perhaps represented a trial balloon that lost air quickly upon release). The talks continued through last night, but adjourned with no agreement reached and the most contentious issues still far from decided. It is unclear if or when the negotiations will recommence, and whether the latest impasse represents a failure of either side to blink first in the ongoing stare-down. Morgan Tsvangirai continues to strike a deserved pose of integrity and honor. He continues to speak out against the country’s humanitarian crisis and to insist that any agreement that he and the other parties to the negotiations reach represents the will of the people.  This insistence may well have led to the talk about a deal that excluded his (overwhelming majority) wing of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). But any deal that lacked Tsvangirai’s involvement would have been an utter farce. Tsvangirai also continues to be the consummate politician, asserting that there is no deadlock and that he will continue to work toward a resolution. [...] […] The Zimbabwean negotiations continue to provide a constant source of suspense and drama. The recent reports that Mugabe had brokered a deal excluding Morgan Tsvangirai from a new unity government appear to have been the result of confusion (or perhaps represented a trial balloon that lost air quickly upon release). The talks continued through last night, but adjourned with no agreement reached and the most contentious issues still far from decided. It is unclear if or when the negotiations will recommence, and whether the latest impasse represents a failure of either side to blink first in the ongoing stare-down. Morgan Tsvangirai continues to strike a deserved pose of integrity and honor. He continues to speak out against the country’s humanitarian crisis and to insist that any agreement that he and the other parties to the negotiations reach represents the will of the people.  This insistence may well have led to the talk about a deal that excluded his (overwhelming majority) wing of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). But any deal that lacked Tsvangirai’s involvement would have been an utter farce. Tsvangirai also continues to be the consummate politician, asserting that there is no deadlock and that he will continue to work toward a resolution. […]

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