Roger Bate

The Fate of Africa

SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI has finally conceded that his "quiet diplomacy" with Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, has failed, and that more aggressive negotiations are required. Although he has yet to make a public announcement to this effect, he has made such statements in private and…

A DRAFT AGREEMENT between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the Chinese government which would have handed over large chunks of Zimbabwe's mineral rights in exchange for a billion dollars was torn up last week. Mugabe's desperate cling to power requires hard currency to purchase much needed…

ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE IS a man of contradictions. He held an election to show the world that Zimbabwe was a modern democracy but sent his army to run the polling stations and make sure everybody voted the right way. He fancies himself a hero in the continuing struggle against Western…

ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT ROBERT MUGABE has signed a deal with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing. The details have not been made public but sources say that China has been given mineral rights to platinum and other minerals. A land deal for tobacco may also be included. Mugabe requires…

IN RECENT TIMES the United Nations has seemed a sclerotic bureaucracy mired in corruption and pointlessness. But now President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has presented U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with a golden opportunity to reestablish the reputation of the organization. Mugabe has invited…

The End of Poverty

London

THE G-8 MEETING is over, tragically overshadowed by the atrocities in London. And while Londoners demonstrated their resilience, G-8 leaders have followed the path of least resistance, again. The notion that more aid to Africa will help this poorest of continents ignores the likely entrenchment of…

London

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

DID LAST WEEK'S Blair-Bush aid commitment "do enough" for Africa? The question posed by media commentators, is answered by campaigners, notably rock stars like Bono, in the negative. And they may be right, but for entirely the wrong reasons. For while humanitarian assistance undoubtedly saves lives…

AFTER THE CELEBRITIES AND GOODWILL ambassadors have gone home, the campaign to bring low-priced drugs to HIV/AIDS sufferers in poor countries has met unexpected resistance: Governments receiving discounted essential medicines are taxing these products before selling them to the individuals for whom…

Harare

Harare

AS WESTERN NATIONS SHUN THE Robert Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe, less scrupulous nations are filling the void. China, North Korea, and Iran are lending financial, military, and commercial support. Two weeks ago, Zimbabwe announced the purchase of six fighter aircraft from China with another six on the…

Blink

FRESH FROM THE CHARADE OF his latest rigged reelection, Robert Mugabe, dictator of the disintegrating country of Zimbabwe, had the effrontery to show up in Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Mugabe was raised a Catholic and still sometimes is seen at Mass, though his record as a political…

Where We Have Hope

SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE has identified Zimbabwe as one of six "outposts of tyranny." She is certainly right. What remains unclear is what immediate steps Washington is prepared to take to oppose the regime of Robert Mugabe and address the consequences of its misrule--a collapsing…

Harare, Zimbabwe

WHILE THE WORLD understandably focuses on AIDS in Africa, malaria continues to devastate the children of that continent. Dr. Wenceslaus Kilama, a Tanzanian malaria specialist and head of Malaria Foundation International, alarmingly explains that every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies from the…