ABSTRACT
Since 2000, Zimbabwe has undergone a precipitous slide. After achieving majority rule in 1980, it initially developed a reputation for stability and pragmatic economic and political policies. Since the late 1990s, however, the country has become identified with economic decline, political violence, and authoritarian crackdowns against political dissent. The country’s education and health care systems have almost completely shut down for a lack of basic supplies and an inability to pay teachers, doctors, and nurses. The annual inflation rate hit 260million percent. The collapse of the public health and sanitation systems gave rise to Africa’s worst cholera epidemic on record. Does this make Zimbabwe a failed state?
