Since the days when Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia, the Southern African nation has had troubled relations with the international community. On November 11, 1965, the white minority government of Rhodesia, led by Ian Smith, declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the colonial power of Great Britain.

UDI led to sanctions against Rhodesia from the international community, violence within the country, and veritable global political and economic isolation. While the sanctions and isolation ended for a period following Zimbabwean independence in 1980, they have remained the mainstay of Zimbabwe's global interactions due to the oppressive regime of Robert Mugabe.

Recently, however, there has been a call to remove sanctions from leading members of the international community, highlighting a changing global attitude toward Zimbabwe.

One of the biggest changes in attitude toward Zimbabwe has been regarding its economy since the adoption of the U.S.dollar as a legitimate form of currency in 2009.

By 2008, hyperinflation in Zimbabwe had reached some of the highest levels ever seen in history. It cost hundreds of millions of Zimbabwean dollars to buy a loaf of bread, and the black market exchange of goods from neighboring countries became the only option for sourcing necessities.

However, in January 2009, the government made it legal to use foreign currency, and while several were adopted, including the South African rand, the U.S. dollar has become the country's main trading currency.

The use of the U.S. dollar has increased both consumer, including tourist, and investor confidence in Zimbabwe. Tourism jumped 47 percent in 2010, to $770 million, just a year after the currency change, with increasing numbers of Europeans and Americans.

Attitudes are also changing toward the use of sanctions, especially as Zimbabwe approaches its next election, which has been bumped up and is to be held sometime in 2013. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, on her first visit to Zimbabwe in May 2012, argued that the sanctions by the international community are not having the desired effects, but rather are hurting the poor.

In the first visit to Zimbabwe of a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a landmark event in and of itself for the nation riddled with human rights issues, Pillay acknowledged that there were still hurdles for Zimbabwe to overcome.

"I urge those countries that are currently applying sanctions on Zimbabwe to suspend them, at least until the conduct and outcome of the elections and related reforms are clear," urged Pillay.

The European Union has already lifted some sanctions, most recently against 20 entities and 52 people, including the foreign and justice ministers, in February 2012. However, Human Rights Watch disagrees with this action, saying that the sanctions should stay until there is a visible improvement in human rights violations. Therefore, although attitudes are slowly changing, Zimbabwe still remains in large part economically isolated.

Despite its isolation, however, Zimbabwe has historically had a long time political and economic partner in China. Even during the days when Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia, China supported nationalist resistance against the white minority regime.

China has continued its support of Zimbabwe, even during the era of Mugabe when it became unpopular internationally to do so. Chinese exports, including finished consumer products, such as electronics and appliances, as well as generators and engines, help meet consumer demand, and China gives loans for the development of infrastructure and invests in sectors such as diamond mining and agriculture.

China has also been a champion for the lifting of sanctions, arguing, as usual, that the international community should follow a policy of noninterference in the internal affairs of sovereign nations.

It seems likely that the international community will continue to grow in its acceptance of Zimbabwe into world affairs. What is still uncertain is who will eventually follow Mugabe as president. This is the final question that leaves many international investors, and even international tourists, wary of the country.

China, however, seems poised to continue to strengthen its relationship with Zimbabwe. This provides a foreign trading and investment partner that the nation desperately needs and despite much of the international community viewing China's relationship with Zimbabwe as one of accepting a dictatorial regime, China's noninterference policy holds true.

Therefore, while the situation in Zimbabwe is changing, and it seems in many ways for the better, there is still a long way to go for this Southern African nation.

(The author is a historian, writer, and editor who divides her time between Lusaka, Zambia and Suzhou, China.)