Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe addresses supporters on Nov. 8, two days after firing his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mugabe's decision changes the trajectory of Zimbabwe's political transition.
(JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)
What Zimbabwe lacks in a functional and sizable economy, it more than makes up for in palace intrigue. The country's potential presidential succession was jolted Nov. 6 when longtime President Robert Mugabe sacked his vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who then fled into exile. Arriving five weeks before the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front is scheduled to hold an extraordinary party congress Dec. 12-17 to "harmonize" party divisions, Mugabe's decision changes the trajectory of Zimbabwe's political transition as the country moves inexorably beyond the only post-independence president it has known....
