The alliance between President Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party and a breakaway faction of the Movement for Democratic Change would restore the control of parliament that Zanu (PF) lost to the MDC in the March election. However, it will do little to help a country saddled with the world’s highest inflation rate and lowest life expectancy after years of grotesque misrule.

A collapse of the talks between ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change could lead to an accelerating implosion of Zimbabwe’s economy and the flight of millions more people from Mr. Mugabe’s increasingly repressive rule into neighboring countries, potentially destabilizing the region.