Monday, June 23, 2008

The Call For Sanctions

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, the CBC is reporting that western nations from Britain to France to the U.S. are calling for sanctions against Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe. My question though, is about the effectiveness of sanctions in this instance. More specifically, who will really suffer under these sanctions?

I highly doubt that Mugabe and his supporters are going to feel any ill effects of sanctions just as they are not suffering from the 100,000% inflation rate. Rather, it will be the ordinary Zimbabwean who will feel the sting as their already bare shelves become even more empty and the rate of inflation continues to skyrocket.

I have no solutions to the tragedy that is taking place in Zimbabwe, but I do know that sanctions are not the answer. They are nothing more than a way for western governments to say they are doing something about the situation when in fact, they are doing nothing at all.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Africa's Unjust Deserts

An excellent and thought provoking article by Stephanie Nolan in Saturday's Globe questions the effectiveness of the International Criminal Court arguing that the threat of prosecution for crimes against humanity is actually assisting despots to stay in power. The fear of going to trial in the Hague is in fact causing them to hold on tightly to power rather than negotiating a peaceful transition to democracy. If you have an interest in what is happening in Zimbabwe right now, you need to read this article.