Prior to Karlheinz Schreiber becoming a household name, Prime Minister Stephen Harper would periodically seek the advice of former prime minister Brian Mulroney. This was especially true in the area of foreign policy, as reflected in his Conservative government's enhanced focus on Latin America and Canada-U.S. relations.
Given the recent developments in embattled Zimbabwe, Harper may wish to reach out to the former prime minister yet again. To be sure, Mulroney's government in the 1980s had plenty of experience in dealing with southern Africa -- particularly apartheid South Africa.
He was also familiar with establishing close personal relations with the various leaders of the so-called "Frontline States" or those which bordered on South Africa. While he was not the only world leader to press for change in white-ruled South Africa during the 1980s, Mulroney deserves a good deal of credit for focusing the attention of the Commonwealth, the United Nations (UN), the then-G-7, and the Canadian foreign policy establishment on this outlawed country.
In a recent newspaper opinion piece, Mulroney called upon the Canadian government to undertake a leadership role against Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe. He argued that Ottawa should "play the role of reassembleur for a concerted international campaign on behalf of the brutalized people of that country."
Besides taking up the sad case of Zimbabwe at next month's G-8 economic summit in Japan, he also recommended designating former external affairs minister Joe Clark as a "Special Ambassador" on the issue and promptly sending him off to the region to consult with key countries and leaders.
At the moment, Canada has imposed largely symbolic sanctions on the discredited regime of Robert Mugabe -- mostly travel and aircraft restrictions. But if it wants to dislodge Mugabe from power, Canada will need to do more on its own in terms of inflicting punishment, and in working in concert with other like-minded countries to build an international consensus on Zimbabwe.
In a word, Canada will need to replicate what it did against apartheid South Africa during the Mulroney years against today's Zimbabwe. Strikingly, Mugabe will need to become the target of the same kinds of punitive measures that he himself pushed for within the Commonwealth against South Africa in the 1980s.
Ottawa, then, will need to contemplate tougher economic sanctions against Zimbabwe, greater financial assistance for opposition forces within the country, and sharper condemnations of Robert Mugabe in every multilateral forum. And the delicate measure of severing the full range of diplomatic relations with Zimbabwe should not be taken off the table.
But what if Mugabe balks? What if he continues to defy the rest of the international community? What if he spurns the threat of additional global sanctions? Then what?
We need to realize that Canada acting on its own is not going to force Robert Mugabe from office. Nor are international pressures likely to bear fruit in the initial days and months. We need to think of these measures as a process, a work in progress, and a long-term project.
We should also not be under the illusion that these sanctions will not harm the good people of Zimbabwe -- ostensibly those whom we are professing to help.
But we all have to understand that we are punishing Zimbabwe because it is the right thing to do. Of course, it doesn't hurt that singling out this country also serves long-term Canadian foreign policy interests in the region -- namely, stability and order, democratic development, and respect for fundamental human rights.
However, this all needs to be tempered with the possibility that an international sanctions regime may not even work. But Mugabe will surely remain in power if the rest of the world does precious little and looks the other way. Moreover, the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe are counting on our substantive engagement and support.
So, Canada and others need to isolate Zimbabwe politically, punish it for wrongdoing, and deny the Mugabe government the legitimacy that it desperately craves. Simply put, the world needs to turn Zimbabwe into an international pariah state much like apartheid South Africa once was. Accordingly, Mulroney is now urging the Harper government to lead the world in telling Mugabe that he needs to relinquish political power immediately. Learning from past experience, he has deftly offered some suggestions on how to go about accomplishing this goal.
I can only wonder, though, if Prime Minister Harper is willing to listen to a former leader who once made southern Africa a centerpiece of his government's foreign policy universe. Let's hope so.
Peter McKenna teaches Canadian foreign policy at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown.
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