ABSTRACT:
Discourses on the politics of sanctions continue to be lauded in Zimbabwe and even beyond, largely because of the contentious land reform programme which has sent diplomatic shockwaves across the globe. The ‘Zimbabwe crisis’ that ensued after 2000, and that manifested itself through economic meltdown, social misery and political instability, has also made the quintessential thrust and goals of sanctions prickly to understand to many people of different political and ideological across the divide inside Zimbabwe. This study examines the ZANU (PF) and MDC perceptions on the politics of sanctions in the light of the international (western) responses to the Fast-Track Land Reform programme in Zimbabwe. In essence, the study is addressing whether the issue of sanctions is real or is a matter of mass deception. Accordingly, the study posits that the subject of sanctions warrants serious examination as it may offer practical insights for the prospects of political reconciliation and economic reconstruction in Zimbabwe. In our conviction, the study recommends that the government, in full faith, must engage the international community in effort to restore durable peace and justice which will sustain integral development for Zimbabweans.
