PBS高端访谈:为对付共同的敌人,俄罗斯能否和西方国家在叙利亚合作?

 　　GWEN IFILL: We return now to the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria.

　　As we reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian military forces to cooperate with the French military, as both countries bombed targets in Syria today. But what are the prospects¹ of cooperating with Russia to end the Syrian conflict?

　　We get two views.

　　Evelyn Farkas was deputy assistant secretary of defense² for Russia and Eurasia from 2012 to earlier this year. And Vali Nasr is the dean of the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

　　Vali Nasr, let's talk about timing³. Why the stepped-up action by Russia now?

　　VALI NASR, Johns Hopkins University: Well, they had the attack on their plane in Sinai and the attack in Paris. It actually gives them an opportunity to argue that ISIS should be the top priority for the international community in Syria.

　　Putin has been arguing this all along. He doesn't have many people actually taking this at face value. Now he sees an opportunity, given what's happened in Paris, to align⁴ European positions with himself. So he's stepping up pressure.

　　GWEN IFILL: But Putin didn't acknowledge until today that there was even terrorism involved in the shoot-down or whatever happened to the Metrojet plane over the Sinai. Is he to be trusted on this?

　　VALI NASR: Well, what we can see is that Paris has been a game-changer.

　　It has shifted the focus in Europe and potentially the United States on ISIS. This actually gives Russia an opportunity to align its Syria policy with that of the West, so let's say to find a common ground.

　　So it makes sense for him, ahead of meeting with President Hollande, to say, we're both facing the same problem. This happened to me in Sinai. This has happened to you in Paris. Let's coordinate⁵ and cooperate on this.

　　为对付共同的敌人,俄罗斯能否和西方国家在叙利亚合作?

　　GWEN IFILL: So, Evelyn Farkas, we have common interests, theoretically, and, therefore, strange bedfellows can get together. Is this a brand-new day when it comes to the U.S.-Russia-France relationship?

　　EVELYN FARKAS, Former Defense Department Official: Sadly, Gwen, I don't think so.

　　I think it is an opportunity for the Russians to acknowledge that we have a shared foe⁶, if we will, in ISIS, Da'esh, ISIL, whatever you want to call it. The Russians have been saying that rhetorically for quite some time. In fact, they have been talking about combating terrorism with us for years now.

　　But I think the proof will really be in what they hit and not just tonight, but moving into the weeks and the next couple of days.

　　GWEN IFILL: What should be the United States be doing with this, what feels not quite like an olive branch but at least a reach-out from Russia?

　　EVELYN FARKAS: I think we should try. We should always try to cooperate with Russia, but I'm skeptical⁷, because essentially⁸ our objectives in Syria and actually beyond Syria are not aligned⁹ with Russia'sAnd until they're aligned, until one side or other or both sides can compromise, I think there will be limits to any kind of cooperation we can have with Russia.

　　GWEN IFILL: In fact, Vali Nasr, Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. in the past of playing a double game when it comes to the Middle East. What's changed?

　　VALI NASR: Well, nothing has changed, in the sense that our position, as Evelyn says, is very different from Russia's, not only in the Middle East, but beyond.

　　But there is a lot of pressure now on European governments and also on the U.S. government to find a way to address the ISIS problem. We're seeing the receding¹⁰ of the importance of Assad in resolution of the — the immediate¹¹ resolution of the Syria crisis and addressing U.S. and Europe's security problems compared to ISIS.

　　So, in the military arena¹², we have one set of problems actually working with the Russians, in that we don't know what they're hitting, what they will do. But then there is the diplomatic front in Vienna. And I think Putin is counting on the fact that the Europeans now feel pressure that this war has to end more quickly or we should get to a cease-fire.

　　That is not going to happen by insisting on Assad going. It will happen by creating some common ground around ISIS.

　　GWEN IFILL: Have we reached a point where any road to peace or at least road to cooperation has to run through Moscow?

　　VALI NASR: Well, I think that's what they want. They want to position themselves in there. They're in Syria.

　　They can provide underground military operations, which the U.S. and the Europeans don't want to do right now, but also getting a common language on ISIS helps the Russians to isolate¹³ Turks and Saudi Arabia, which still are insisting that the problem is Assad, not ISIS.

　　A lot of this is basically positioning. And not much may happen in the actual fighting, but I think Putin finds a lot more room to argue that I told you so two years ago, this is about terrorism, you wouldn't believe me, it's not about Assad, and if you want this thing to go away, we should all focus on ISIS.

　　GWEN IFILL: Evelyn Farkas, do you agree that we have now moved past the argument about Assad and that, even though the U.S. and France are on one side and that Russia is on the other side, that there has to be some other pathway?

　　EVELYN FARKAS: I mean, I don't think that we're aligned with Russia yet. We really have a disagreement, a fundamental disagreement on Assad.

　　So until that bridge is — until that gap is bridged, which will happen through diplomacy¹⁴, we won't see real change. We can bomb ISIL, Da'esh, et cetera. The Russians can bomb them. But it's still not going to change the ultimate outcome.

　　And the other thing is that, right now, Russia wants a resolution, because, right now, they're probably at the peak of their military engagement. I don't know, quite frankly¹⁵, how much longer they can sustain this.

　　GWEN IFILL: It wasn't long ago that we were talking about a proxy¹⁶ war in Syria with the U.S. on one side, Russia on the other, and the potential, I don't know, for us shooting each other out of the sky and the whole thing escalating¹⁷. Has that now gone away if we sit down at the same table?

　　VALI NASR: No, I mean, on the military arena, there are certain things have to happen about deconflicting and then getting our at least targets aligned.

　　I think it's in Vienna that we might see the greatest amount of movement. Namely, if the Europeans and the Americans come with an attitude of let us try to find a compromise around when will Assad go, how can we bring a certain number of the opposition¹⁸ forces into alignment¹⁹ with the Syrian government to create a united front to fight ISIS, there might be movement there.

　　I think what Russia would like is to move the U.S. and European positions closer to themselves and break them off from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are still, if you want to call it, are holding to the line that this is about Assad, Assad must go before we do anything else.

　　GWEN IFILL: But at what price? This is not the only agreement that the U.S. and Russia have.

　　EVELYN FARKAS: Well, that's what I was going to say.

　　I think he's also trying to very cleverly create a divide between us and our European allies. And that gets to a whole context that's not even being addressed here, which is what's happening in Europe, and Ukraine-Russia, relations, et cetera.

　　So I think that he has cleverly — he used the word treat them as allies to his military folks when he was instructing them about engaging with the French navy. Treat them as allies. Well, the French actually have allies. They have — they're part of a 28-member alliance called NATO. They're part of the E.U. Russia is not their ally.

　　I think that's a little bit of an exuberant²⁰ sort of exaggeration to call the French the Russian allies. But I think this is Putin being very clever and he's trying to create some distance and pull off the French towards himself.

　　GWEN IFILL: And yet, next week, we're going to see Francois Hollande, who you say is not an ally of Vladimir Putin and of Russia, going to Moscow to meet, also coming to the U.S. to meet with President Obama, trying to straddle that difference.

　　VALI NASR: Well, I think there is to be military and intelligence cooperation discussions.

　　But beyond that, I think the key question is Europe — is this, is that you can't really fight ISIS until you end this war, so how are you going to end this war? And I think the proposal Putin is giving everybody is that you're not going to fight — you're not going to get rid of Assad anymore, because I'm protecting him sitting here. And the only way this war is going to end is if we arrive at a compromise.

　　So I think he's going to try to persuade President Hollande to agree to a formula, that then President Hollande when he meets with President Obama will try to sell it to Washington. And if they're successful, then that becomes the position in Vienna around which there might be a compromise.

　　GWEN IFILL: Does that sound reassuring²¹ to — reassuring to you?

　　EVELYN FARKAS: That sounds not reassuring, not reassuring, but it sounds reasonable. It sounds like the course that he would take. And I can't say whether we would compromise or not.

　　GWEN IFILL: But is that worth the paper it's written on, is the question.

　　EVELYN FARKAS: Well, in terms of the Russians, I think you have to be really careful.

　　And, as I said, you have to watch what they're hitting, what they're not hitting and really test them, because, for a long time, they have been talking about cooperating with us, but we have never really seen it in action.

　　GWEN IFILL: Evelyn Farkas, Vali Nasr, thank you both very much.

　　VALI NASR: Thank you.

 

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

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 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

4 align   

vt.使成一线，结盟，调节；vi.成一线，结盟

参考例句：

• Align the ruler and the middle of the paper.使尺子与纸张的中部成一条直线。
• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals.有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

5 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

6 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

7 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

10 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

12 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

13 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

14 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

15 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

16 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

17 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

18 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

19 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

20 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

21 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。