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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Alchemy of Robert Mugabe's Alliances |
Author: | Moore, David |
Year: | 2000 |
Periodical: | Africa Insight |
Volume: | 30 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 28-32 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Zimbabwe |
Subjects: | heads of State Politics and Government |
About person: | Robert Gabriel Mugabe (1924-2019) |
Abstract: | This article takes a look at how Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's current president, has manoeuvred his way out of past situations in which his back has been against the wall. Historically, as in the present, Mugabe and his closest allies have been adept at alchemy. They have put together short-lived alliances and created uneasy amalgams of ideologies and practices to firm their hold on the national mettle. A brief excursion into the history of Mugabe's road to power reveals that he alienated many guerrillas on his route to the Presidency, and simultaneously marshalled the British to his cause when he had the need. It is just as likely now as then that a good proportion of ex-soldiers would support the broadest range of allies as the 'national democratic revolution' would allow. Mugabe has skewed the coalition so many times in the past that its alchemy - a precarious one at any time - has just about given up the ghost. Notes, ref. |