美国国家公共电台 NPR--The longer Sudan's violence drags on, the greater the danger for the region

The longer Sudan's violence drags on, the greater the danger for the region

Transcript¹

Sudan's warring generals continue to fight on despite more calls for a cease-fire. Two rival generals are fighting for power and dashing hopes of a transition back to civilian² rule.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For the most part, a cease-fire continues to hold in Sudan. Diplomats³ are struggling to bring the country back from the brink⁴. Two rival generals are fighting for power and dashing hopes of a transition back to civilian rule. The U.S. had to suspend operations at the embassy, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken insists that the U.S. is not giving up on Sudan, as NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE⁵: Amjed Farid has temporarily moved his family out of Khartoum as fighters take over whole neighborhoods and put civilians⁶ at risk. He was an adviser⁷ to the prime minister, who was ousted⁸ over a year ago, and he's looking to the U.S. to do more to get Sudan back on track.

AMJED FARID: The U.S. is claiming to be supporting the democratic transition towards civilian government in Sudan. I'm just calling on Biden administration to walk the talk of what they claim.

KELEMEN: Farid says lots of countries meddle⁹ in Sudan. Russian mercenaries have helped one of the generals. Egypt backs the other. But he's also frustrated¹⁰ with U.S. diplomats who he says should have been much tougher with the generals rather than, in his words, coddling them.

FARID: Coddling those generals too much into the way that it fit their lust¹¹ for power and led to war.

KELEMEN: One former U.S. official who has worked on Sudan, Cameron Hudson, thinks the U.S. miscalculated, putting too much trust in what the generals said about their commitment to restoring civilian control. He says Sudan had been trying to emerge from decades of authoritarian¹² rule when the generals upended that transition.

CAMERON HUDSON: To see it kind of fall apart now and the whole country kind of go up in flames, I think is a - you know, is a real bad signal for the ability of the United States and its allies to help bring about these kinds of transitions not only in Sudan, but all across the region.

KELEMEN: There is a lot at stake in Sudan, says Susan Stigant, who runs the Africa program at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

SUSAN STIGANT: Sudan sits at the crossroads between North Africa, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and into the Red Sea, where I think it's upwards¹³ of $700 billion of economic trade flows. And so having a stable Sudan that looks to the United States as a partner - as a core partner - that's incredibly strategic.

KELEMEN: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have financial interests in Sudan. Egypt shares a long border and a significant source of water, the Nile. And Stigant says the U.S. has to make sure that all the countries are on the same page to get a more permanent cease-fire and get the political transition back on track.

STIGANT: This is not going to work with 17 different initiatives that are going in 17 different directions or where there's just a small amount of agreement. It's really going to require a rethink. And I think that's part of the role that the United States can play, right? Many of these countries are close partners.

KELEMEN: The U.N. secretary general is calling on countries to help bring Sudan back from the brink of abyss. Diplomats are concerned that if the fighting continues, rebels from other conflicts could be drawn¹⁴ in. Cameron Hudson puts it this way.

HUDSON: If you look at where Sudan sits on the map, it is surrounded by a host of highly fragile states which are all either currently in some kind of internal rebellion or coming out of some kind of civil conflict. And so whether that's Libya, Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, these are all highly fragile states.

KELEMEN: The U.S. long considered Sudan a state sponsor of terrorism. Hudson says many of the same actors responsible for atrocities¹⁵ are still on the political stage.

Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 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。

8 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

9 meddle   

v.干预，干涉，插手

参考例句：

• I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
• Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。

10 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

12 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

13 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

15 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》