A Failed State

I've been doing a lot of failing recently. I ran a terrible marathon time. I had an idea to get a large amount of people to write their senators and representative about bringing home the troops from Iraq. That plan fell flat (although if you read this and believe the troops should go home, go ahead and write your reps). My failed state is almost as bad as Zimbabwe.

According to Michael McFaul and based on revolutions in Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan, the list of conditions for a democratic breakthrough include:
1. a semiautocratic regime
2. an unpopular leader of the ancien regime
3. a strong and well-organized opposition
4. an ability to create the perception quickly that election results were falsified
5. enough independent media to inform citizens about the falsified vote
6. a political opposition capable of setting in motion tens of thousands of demonstrators to protest electoral fraud
7. a division between intelligence forces, the military, and the police

Zimbabwe contains 1-3; 4-6 will be the challenge after the next round of fraud; and I must plead ignorance, but I don't believe Zimbabwe benefits from 7. The essential aspects of a coming revolution in Zimbabwe include the courage of the Zimbabwean people first and foremost, the ability of the opposition to disseminate information and mobilize non-violent protesters on their behalf, and the role of Western election observers, who have thus far been banned by President Robert Mugabe. In the 2004 Ukrainian election, 13,644 foreign observers made sure that the re-run of the second round of elections were free and fair.

I didn't do a good job integrating Zimbabwe into this post at all. Damn, I need to try harder. At least I've kept up my goal of making a reference to the situation in Zimbabwe in every post until the run-off election. Stand up Zimbabwe!