Zimbabwe: Operation Murambatsvina: The Tipping Point?

Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order) cost some 700,000 Zimbabweans their homes or livelihoods or both and otherwise affected nearly a fifth of the troubled country's population, says the International Crisis Group in a recent report. "Its impact, as documented in a scathing UN report, has produced a political shock that has returned Zimbabwe to the international spotlight and made the quality of its governance almost impossible for its regional neighbours to ignore, however difficult they find it to be overtly critical." Effort on three parallel tracks is required to resolve the crisis - the maintenance of overt international pressure, support for building internal political capacity and active regional diplomacy to facilitate political transition.