If bravery shaped reality, Zimbabwe would be starting a new era. In the face of thuggery and in defiance of years of state intimidation, the country’s opposition has swept the election board. But it would be premature to celebrate the political demise – and foolish to underestimate the resolve – of the 84-year-old Robert Mugabe, the man who has led Zimbabwe from independence in 1980 and who has since delivered it into the abyss.