R.W. Johnson on Zimbabwe

R.W. Johnson explains the Zimbabwean situation in the London Review of Books. The article clears up two of the weirder things about the latest crisis: (1) how Mugabe managed to almost lose an election despite massive rigging, and (2) why Thabo Mbeki has spent so much political capital on Mugabe. The answers he offers are both pretty interesting (assuming you believe them, and I'm inclined to).