Predictable Tragedy

Daniel Compagnon is Professor of Political Science at the University of Bordeaux and coauthor of Behind the Smokescreen: The Politics of Zimbabwe's 1995 General Elections.

• Introduction1 Authoritarian Control of the Political Arena2 Violence as the Cornerstone of Mugabe's Strategy of Political Survival3 Militant Civil Society and the Emergence of a Credible Opposition4 The Media Battlefield: From Skirmishes to Full-Fledged War5 The Judiciary: From Resistance to Subjugation6 The Land ''Reform'' Charade and the Tragedy of Famine7 The State Bourgeoisie and the Plunder of the Economy8 The International Community and the Crisis in ZimbabweConclusion: Chaos Averted or Merely Postponed?List of AcronymsNotesIndexAcknowledgments

"Compagnon's devastating analysis of the regime argues that the country's collapse was in fact the predictable outcome of the methods and approach Mugabe has always followed. . . . Compagnon¹s book stands out as the best account of the crisis to date." (Foreign Affairs) "A masterpiece that will have a dignified shelf life in Zimbabwean studies. The book is well researched and detailed. Its arguments are convincing without being overly polemic. It leaves readers with no doubt about the culpability of Mugabe in the collapse of Zimbabwe." (African Studies Review) "In this passionate book, Daniel Compagnon delivers an unrelievedly withering indictment of Zimbabwe's post-independence political regime. . . . Wide-ranging and detailed, the analysis is illuminating and provocative." (International Journal of African Historical Studies) "Daniel Compagnon's book succeeds in its fundamental task: it describes in great detail how Robert Mugabe destroyed Zimbabwe. Indeed, it is highly unlikely that we will see a more comprehensive description of the Mugabe regime. While the exact endpoint of that regime remains to be determined, Compagnon's book will be seen as an authoritative account of how it wrecked a once-vibrant country." (Jeffrey Herbst, President, Colgate University) "A Predictable Tragedy provides a comprehensive historical analysis of the nature of Robert Mugabe's rule. This is an important contribution because it shows that post-2000 Zimbabwe politics are not 'new' but the product of an authoritarian political system that began in 1980. Mugabe's regime is, and always has been, one of personal rule, Compagnon argues. Academics and domestic opponents were taken in by the regime's rhetoric of reconciliation, democracy, and socialism, failing to understand the true character of the regime. Only after 2000 did they begin to comprehend, and then very slowly and perhaps not yet fully, the Mugabe regime's commitment to hold power at all costs." (Norma Kriger, author of Guerrilla Veterans in Zimbabwe: Symbolic and Violent Politics, 1980-1987)