Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, became a self-governing British colony in 1923 after European settlers voted for that status. 1n 1965, white Rhodesians declared their independence from Britain, which refused to recognize the independence because of the white supremacist tendencies in (Rhodesian) Prime Minister Ian Smith's conservative backing. Smith waged a guerrilla war against British troops and black Africans in Rhodesia, until in 1978 he signed an agreement to transfer power to the black majority. In 1980, Robert Mugabe was elected in a landslide, and the country achieved independence and changed its name to Zimbabwe.

Mugabe, once seen as a hero of that anti-colonialist movement, is an authoritarian despot. Since his election in 1990, Mugabe has managed to "win" every election through intimidation and outright fraud, ran the economy into the ground, and saw his country hit hyperinflation of nearly 7,000%.
Mugabe isn't Zimbabwe's only problem. 24.6% percent of adult citizens in Zimbabwe live with HIV/AIDS, and there are 170,000 AIDS-related deaths a year. Zimbabwe's once modern communications system has fallen into disrepair, and the unemployment rate is at about 80%. Additionally, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, and Namibia remain in a dormant dispute over their common borders.

The border dispute is one of the most obvious relics of imperialism. Wherever European's colonized, they also drew maps that combined or separated groups of people uncomfortably, often favoring one group over another and awarding them better natural resources (the border dispute is over a river). Zimbabwe's failing economy is another symptom of imperialism. The little trade that Zimbabwe does is with other former British colonies and with the United Kingdom itself. Although it has abundant natural resources such as coal, gold, iron ore, copper, and platinums, Zimbabwe's dollar is 1/30,000th of an American dollar. This decaying infrastructure stems from the colonizer's disinterest in the well-being of the former colony, and a crippling disinvestment. Additionally, the power vacuum left by the British and years of guerrilla war sowed the right conditions for Mugabe to be as authoritarian as he pleases. Because of its financial woes, Zimbabwe hasn't been able to effectively deal with its AIDS epidemic, worst in the world after neighboring Botswana.

"Zimbabwe." Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook . 20 Mar 2008. Central Intelligence Agency. 1 Apr 2008 .

"Zimbabwe." Infoplease. Pearson Education. 1 Apr 2008 .