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MARCO WERMAN: Zimbabwe was on President Obama's mind this week. Mr. Obama phoned the president of South Africa to discuss the situation. There's some hope that the new administration in Washington will be open to new strategies. It's a hope fueled by President Obama's own inaugural address.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: To those leaders around the globe who seek to sew conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history but that we will extend a hand if you're willing to unclench your fist.

WERMAN: Andrew Meldrum thinks that comment was significant. He reported from Zimbabwe for The Economist magazine and Guardian newspapers for 23 years before being expelled by the government there in 2003. He's now Senior Editor at GlobalPost.com in Boston. Andrew, what did you hear in that passage from President Obama's inaugural address?

ANDREW MELDRUM: Virtually, each point that Obama was making could be drawn back to Robert Mugabe. “Those who have destroyed rather than built” – Mugabe has taken his country backward. “Those who have blamed their ills on the West.” Robert Mugabe blames everything on Britain and the United States. “Those who rule by deceit and by fear.” Robert Mugabe is widely accused of having stayed torture. So these all drew back, and then Obama said he'd “extend a hand if you would unclench your fist.” Robert Mugabe has used a clenched fist as a symbol of his power. And when I spoke to friends and journalists and contacts in Zimbabwe, they all said, “Oh, everybody is talking about this ‘unclench your fist.'” There they thought it was directed directly to Robert Mugabe.

WERMAN: And so since the inauguration, what other signals have you been picking up from the Obama administration that suggest to you that they're serious about playing a role in resolving the crisis in Zimbabwe?

MELDRUM: First of all, this phone call that Obama made to the South African interim president, Kgalema Motlanthe, he voiced – he wasn't speaking about US-South African relations, he was talking about the situation in Zimbabwe. Also, the new Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has said specifically to the Senate that she wants to have Zimbabwe be at the top of their agenda. And there's a lot of talk that Susan Rice, the new US representative to the United Nations, she also has been following Zimbabwe for some time and has a very strong feeling that vigorous smart power is needed, and that Zimbabwe should be an issue brought up before the United Nations.

WERMAN: So for Zimbabwe watchers, these are all sort of hopeful signs. But will they translate into sort of a tougher stance, tougher posture towards Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe from the Obama Administration?

MELDRUM: I think it will. And I think it will be more pressure on Zimbabwe itself, but also significantly more pressure on South Africa. The Bush administration had left the Zimbabwe question up to South Africa, and they took direction from South Africa which, the previous president, Thabo Mbeki, really was an enabler to Robert Mugabe, a supporter and a protector of Robert Mugabe. Now what we're seeing is new pressure on a new government in South Africa saying, “Look. It's not enough to leave things as they are. We can see that Zimbabwe is becoming not only a humanitarian crisis, but a crisis that is threatening the stability of South Africa itself and other countries in southern Africa.”

WERMAN: What about Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State? What can she practically do at this point?

MELDRUM: Well, Hillary Clinton has been to Zimbabwe. When she was the First Lady, she made a trip on her own, and she spent a few days going around and she studied things very carefully then. And so she does have an interest in Zimbabwe. She knows that it can work. And we have to all remember that Zimbabwe was, not very long ago, one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. It was held up as a model for good health for third world countries. It had the highest level of literacy in all of Africa. And, you know, it can be brought back to that.

WERMAN: Andrew Meldrum is Senior Editor at Globalpost.com in Boston. Andrew, as always, thank you.

MELDRUM: Thanks, Marco.

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