Obama Prepares for NATO Summit in Chicago

 　　After hosting the G8 summit at Camp David on Saturday, President Barack Obama will host the NATO summit, beginning Sunday in Chicago.  Mr. Obama is preparing for the NATO gathering¹, which has Afghanistan at the top of the agenda.

　　The United States last hosted a NATO summit in 1999 - two years before the al-Qaida terrorist attacks on the United States that sparked the first use of the common defense² provision in the NATO Charter.

　　The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has expanded since then.  For more than 10 years, it has been focused on Afghanistan since the 2001 attacks.  Last year, it took military action in Libya in support of United Nations resolutions.

　　Under a timetable set two years ago,  the United States and NATO are withdrawing all foreign troops from Afghanistan, about 130,000, by 2014.  The Chicago summit will approve a formal shift to Afghanistan leading its own security, beginning next year.

　　The first meeting President Obama will have on Sunday will be with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.  Mr. Obama spoke³ from Afghanistan earlier this month after he signed a strategic pact⁴ with the Afghan government.

　　"International troops will continue to train, advise and assist the Afghans and fight alongside them, when needed,  but we will shift into a support role as Afghans step forward," said President Obama.

　　U.S. National Security Adviser⁵ Tom Donilon says the NATO summit will focus on how to sustain Afghan forces and at what levels after 2014.

　　"We have made really substantial progress towards burden-sharing, towards a continuing support for Afghan security but with the United States not having to bear the whole load," said Donilon.

　　NATO has identified a figure of $4 billion as an annual support level for Afghanistan.

　　Analyst⁶ Stephen Flanagan is with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

　　"Most allies have not met their pledges to the existing NATO training mission in Afghanistan over the past four years, so their willingness to do so after the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] forces are withdrawn⁷, when they are even more dependent on Afghan forces for their security, particularly given the incidents we have seen of late, that is a key question," said Flanagan.

　　NATO leaders also will discuss funding shortfalls.  The United States has shouldered an increasing share of the costs of alliance operations.  One of the first sessions will be about NATO capabilities⁸ - doing more with less amid budget constraints⁹.

　　On missile defense, leaders will declare what is called an interim¹⁰ capability¹¹ for the NATO missile shield for Europe that is designed to protect against launches from Iran.  President Obama and NATO still face Russian objections to the program.

　　NATO begins its summit amid optimism for resolving tensions with Pakistan over supply routes for Afghanistan that have been closed since a cross-border incident last year that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

　　Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the summit.  National Security Adviser Tom Donilon says there are no plans for a formal bilateral¹² meeting with President Obama, although the two leaders are likely to see each other during sessions.

　　The NATO talks, coming after a G8 summit in the state of Maryland, will mark another appearance on the international stage for French President Francois Hollande.  During his election campaign, he pledged to withdraw French troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year.

　　Donilon says Mr. Hollande will need to make his "national decision" about that issue, but the United States expects it will conform to NATO commitments.

　　"We would look to allies to make their national decisions within the context of the overall alliance approach, which has us in ISAF until the end of 2014," he said.

　　Donilon calls NATO the cornerstone alliance for the United States, saying reinvigorating and revitalizing alliances has been a strategic priority for President Obama.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

8 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

11 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

12 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。