Mugabe Sworn In After Sham Vote

A few days ago, I was dining with some South African friends who told me the sad tale of a friend of a friend in Zimbabwe: He had asthma, like a lot of people live with, but could not afford the simple albuterol inhaler to survive attacks. He died from an asthma attack.

In a country with one of the lowest life expectancies in the world, his story is surely -- and unfortunately -- not unusual. But as of today, Zimbabwe gets a sixth term of the man who has taken his country down the slope of economic ruin. This time last week, when I was writing a column on the situation there, I looked up the exchange rates to see that one U.S. dollar equaled 7 billion Zimbabwean dollars. Just now, I ran the exchange rate again, and it's one U.S. dollar to 10.5 billion Zimbabwean dollars.

Possibly in a wan attempt to ward off international anger -- and likely hoping that will cease if Zimbabwe fades into the background of global consciousness again -- Robert Mugabe, headed to the African Union meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh tomorrow, claims he's developed a new spirit of cooperation. "Indeed it is my hope that sooner rather than later, we shall as diverse political parties hold consultations towards such serious dialogue as to minimize our differences and enhance the area of unity and cooperation,'' he said in his inauguration address. Dialogue might be possible if Mugabe's loyalists weren't conducting orchestrated attacks on Zimbabweans.

But what's really next for Zimbabwe?

(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)