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In November 2017, a series of dramatic events in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare culminated in the toppling of longtime dictator Robert Mugabe, then 93. Mugabe had been Zimbabwe's chief executive since 1980, serving as prime minister and then as president. Behind his downfall was unprecedented action by the military—a coup in all but name. On November 14 and 15, units of the Zimbabwe Defense Forces (ZDF) moved into strategic positions in Harare, occupying the premises of the state broadcaster and putting Mugabe himself under house arrest. Mugabe was ousted from the leadership of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) on November 19, and resigned the presidency in the middle of formal impeachment proceedings in the legislature two days later.1
Yet amid this unfolding drama, there were notes of continuity. Stepping into Mugabe's shoes was former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa, a ZANU-PF insider who had long been seen as the nonagenarian president's possible successor. Mnangagwa had headed a succession of ministries in Mugabe's administrations, most recently including defense and justice, and had served a stint as parliamentary speaker. He was tapped as the president's number two in 2014. By 2017 there were two factions vying to succeed Mugabe, one headed by Mnangagwa and another that rallied around Mugabe's young and ambitious wife, Grace (then 52). Mnangagwa's sacking as vice-president shortly before the coup had placed Grace Mugabe's faction in the ascendancy, a development that inflamed Robert Mugabe's relations with the ZDF and helped to prompt the military intervention.2
However much this sequence of events might resemble a coup, those who carried it out were careful to avoid this term, claiming instead to be "restoring a legacy." On the morning of November 15, then–Major-General S.B. Moyo, appearing on television to clarify the "situation in our country," expressly declared that "this is not a military takeover of government" and reassured viewers that Mugabe (still described as "His Excellency") and his family were safe.3 This was clearly in part an effort to avoid condemnation from regional and international peers. Two regional groupings of which Zimbabwe is a member—the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU)—both take a strict stand against unconstitutional changes in government, including military coups. And indeed, the...