The Zimbabwean crisis and international response

Zimbabwe has been in economic, political and social crisis since the turn of the21st century. The crisis is the result of the combined effects of misgovernment,political intolerance, economic mismanagement by the ruling elite, a virulent HIVAIDSpandemic and a severely deleterious economic meltdown. Internationalostracism of the country in the wake of Zimbabwe's controversial "fast track" landreform since 2000 and the human rights abuses accompanying it precipitated theeconomic collapse. Meanwhile, shortages of foreign currency and the disruption ofthe country's agricultural industry led to a collapse of the local manufacturingindustry, high levels of unemployment and inflation, estimated at the beginning of2006 at 80 and 780%, respectively, and severe shortages of basic necessities of life.