A behind-the-scenes succession battle appears to have begun following indications that senior ZANU-PF officials are exploring retirement scenarios for President Mugabe. Since the rigged March 2002 presidential election, the country has been heading towards state collapse. The economy is imploding, a government-created food crisis is turning Zimbabwe into a beggar nation and deepening state sponsored violence could degenerate into widespread unstructured conflict. At the same time, the international community has become even more divided. A new mediation effort is urgently needed that involves all relevant Zimbabwean stakeholders and aims to restore legitimacy to the government by creating a transitional administration, restoring the rule of law, finding an electoral compromise, reforming economic policies, ensuring genuine land reform, and creating an exit strategy for the president, argues the International Crisis Group.