On Crossroads: Reflections on Zimbabwe’s Relations with Britain at the New Millennium (original) (raw)

The Lancaster House Agreement and the post - independence state in Zimbabwe

1991

Every colonisation and decolonisation process must of necessity be fraught with antagonistic contradictions which may differ in terms of their character and depth (the form) but not their essence. The class contradictions which were perhaps necessarily hidden in the Zimbabwean decolonisation process-but which now have become more open-need to be examined and laid bare by an objective social science. For, never is a social system in a state of permanent rest. So, the constant motion, its driving force and its direction need to be understood and used for the continual and betterment of the condition of human existence. This essay which characterizes the post-independence state in Zimbabwe as a neo-colonial one par excellence, holds that the armed struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe was led by a militant nationalist petty bourgeoisie whose material objective was to set itself up as a local dominant bloc presiding over a capitalist social economy dominated by imperialism. The question of a profound transformation of the society-sometimes, many times, articulated in the discourses of these nationalists and some social scientists as "a socialist transformation"-was never seriously on the agenda. The consequent Lancaster House Constitutional Conference of 1979, which brought about the Lancaster House Agreement, was simply the climax which started the "sealing" of an important class alliance that would ensure the reproduction of the heavily imperialist dominated socioeconomic structure and that would demobilise any popular-based attempt at a profound transformation of the society. This process-of course-is still fraught with deadly contradictions.

On Crossroads: Zimbabwe's Foreign Policy and the West

Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 2007

Zimbabwe at the turn of the new Millennium has received widespread condemnation particularly with the implementation of the controversial land reform. The image portrayed abroad has been tattered because of reports of violence, instability and abandonment of the rule of law, which has created a serious challenge to modern developments on democracy and human rights. Zimbabwe has seemingly lost many friends especially those from the West and/or West controlled institutions, through suspension from, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Commonwealth; the US and the European Union has applied targeted sanctions; Scandavian countries which have supported Zimbabwe’s social services, especially health, have cut aid and have threatened to close their missions. From such a standpoint the paper seeks to examine the causes behind this strain in relations between Zimbabwe and western global actors. It will also analyse the extent to which Zimbabwe as an actor in the International System...

British Party Politics and Foreign Policy: The Case of Zimbabwe

2012

The basic tenets of International Relations have become subject to uncertainty and debate. The academic consensus that dominated the field has cracked with further questions arising on the conventional assumptions' claim to universality. Post-modernist thinkers, who have challenged its foundation on structured thinking, affirm that normalising discourses within traditional foreign policy position restricts academic advancement in the area. They challenge the notion that geopolitics and national politics are mutually exclusive. They argue for an interpretive approach of IR, which could show that some principles and understanding that shape domestic policymaking may affect foreign policy positions. Their interpretation of politics, including IR, is that, its fundamentals require an interpretive review of actions and their consequences. These reveal the socio-political and environmental influences that help shape policy, which traditional approaches to foreign relations fail to reveal. In over a century, the political situation in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe tilted towards the ideological position of the party in Britain. A debate about the nature of government, human rights, economics and Britain's role in these, has characterised the foreign policy debate between the two states. The definition of these concepts has depended on the party running Downing Street. The emphasis on similar issues in the 1970s and 1980s differed to that of the late 1990s, indicating divergent interpretations of national interests, which most scholars regard as causal of the apolitical nature of IR. The high levels of public interest Rhodesian/Zimbabwean interests pushed foreign policy into the ideological field of domestic politics. This challenges the IR premises established by convention IR approaches. Thus, using the case study it is clear that dominated views of foreign relations are unable to verify the whole picture of what transpires in a political field.

Zimbabwes Post Independence Foreign Policy Trajectory in a Transforming International System

Zimbabwe, formerly known as Southern Rhodesia, gained its independence from British colonial rule on 18 April 1980. The key principles guiding Zimbabwe's foreign policy after independence were national sovereignty and equality among nations, attainment of a socialist, egalitarian and democratic society, rights of all peoples to self-determination and independence, non-racialism at home and abroad, positive nonalignment and peaceful coexistence among nations. This guiding framework focused on Pan –Africanism, reordering of the international economic order, exchange of ideas, culture and trade. The fall of the Berlin wall and the subsequent conclusion of the cold war in 1989 ushered in a unipolar order and culminated in the warming of Zimbabwe's relations with the global North. Conversely, the failure of neo-liberalism, Britain's abrogation of its responsibility for compensation of resettled white farmers, implementation of the chaotic and contested Fast Track Land Reform Programme, economic demise, disputed elections and growing authoritarianism culminated in the escalation of acrimonious relations between the Southern African country and the West. The shifting global balance of power is creating new centres of power and transforming the international order, particularly, the rise of China, India and Brazil and the resurgence of Russia. It is thus, the aim of this paper to analyse the effectiveness of the adoption of the Look East Policy by Zimbabwe amidst shifting global power dynamics. The guiding questions include the following; to what extent has the global financial crisis eroded the West's hegemonic dominance in international economic relations? What are the implications of Zimbabwe's Indigenous Economic Empowerment Policies on its East – West relations? What are the prospects of normalisation of relations between Zimbabwe and the West? Is Zim – West Rapprochement a viable foreign policy option? What should be the guiding framework in the formulation and implementation of Zimbabwe's foreign policy in a transforming international system? Triangulated qualitative methods including inter alia, documentary review and key informant interviews were utilised. Data were analysed through thematic and discourse analysis. It is imperative to note that both the internal and external environment have a plausible impact on Zimbabwe's foreign policy choices. Zimbabwe

Tortuous Decolonization: The Process, Nature & Character of Decolonization of Zimbabwe

Like Apartheid South Africa, Zimbabwe is one of the Southern African countries that were characterized with a history of White settlement, White minority rule and historical antecedents of racial segregation. In 1997 Mugabe announced a controversial program of land redistribution. Hundreds of white-owned commercial farms, making up nearly half of Zimbabwe’s total commercial farmland, were designated to be seized without compensation and divided among landless blacks and blacks with only small landholdings. Consequently, international reactions had greeted this policy with frenzy and controversies and it had since been seen as an anti-western policy. Coupled with this is the fact that Zimbabwe had since gone through serious economic instability accentuated by economic sanctions imposed by western countries and tumultuous domestic politics. Thus, many have argued that the problem of the country laid at the feet of its foundation vis-à-vis its struggle for independence and black majority rule. This paper shall attempt to trace the nature and character of the decolonization process of Zimbabwe. Attempts are made to consider the country’s historical background; transformation from Southern Rhodesia to Zimbabwe; the establishment of White Minority rule, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) by Ian Smith in 1965, Britain’s reaction and ambivalence to UDI, Africans’ reactions to White rule, Internal Settlement orchestrated by Ian Smith, Lancaster House Agreement and the emergence of Mugabe as the Prime Minister.