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Submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Abstract: Zimbabwe is currently a country in crisis politically and economically. President Robert Mugabe's extreme policies against the opposition have led to Zimbabwe's international isolation. Within Africa, however, Mugabe has largely been shielded from criticism. The ... read moreframing of his campaign against the opposition within the rhetoric of anti-colonialism has created a veil of legitimacy behind which Mugabe has been free to act. This paper argues that Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party have habitually used ethnic conflict as a self-serving political weapon in Zimbabwe. It first develops a two-tiered theoretical framework within which the case of Zimbabwe can analyzed. It then analyzes three case studies in which Mugabe utilized ethnic conflict to neutralize political opposition: the campaign against the Zimbabwe African People's Union (1982-1987); the legitimization of the seizure of white-owned farms by ex-combatants (1998-2005); and the repression of the Movement for Democratic Change (2000-2006).read less
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