With purpose to target smart - The EU's political strategies towards Zimbabwe

Abstract: Derived from theories of hard- and soft power, sanctions and constructive engagement, the thesis analyses the effect and interplay of targeted sanctions and political dialogue, by highlighting the political strategies that the EU conducts towards Zimbabwe. Based on semi-structured interviews with six influential officials in the EU, the thesis explains and describes the tensions of the foreign policy instruments through the Zimbabwe case, in order to better understand their complexity. The EU’s stance, in form of targeted sanctions and political dialogue towards Zimbabwe, have so far not turned out to be successful since no fundamental political change has appeared in the country. The work concludes that the EU’s member states to some extent needs to be more engaged and coherent on how to deal with Zimbabwe. In order to help the Zimbabweans to help themselves the EU has to respect and understand Zimbabwe’s cultural, historical and political conditions better. More generally, the thesis suggests that the future sanctions research should focus on the unexpected implications of targeted sanctions but also under what conditions and perceptions the sanctions are implemented on those targeted.