PBS高端访谈:中东巨变! 多国和卡塔尔断交!

 　　For more than 35 years, the so-called Gulf¹ Cooperation Council, or GCC, has united the nations of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman,

　　the goal, to put the wealthy, predominantly-Sunni nations of the Persian Gulf behind common cultural, political and military objectives.

　　But, overnight, long-simmering tensions between Qatar and several of its fellow members, and other regional states, burst into full-fledged diplomatic crisis.

　　Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt, among others, broke off diplomatic contact and suspended commercial ties with the Qatari government.

　　For more on these dramatic developments, I'm joined by Joyce Karam, the Washington bureau chief of Al-Hayat. It's an international Arabic daily newspaper.

　　Joyce, thank you very much for being with us. Why did this happen?

　　Well, as you said, Judy, this is a very dramatic escalation².

　　We have been covering tense relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the UAE for a while, but it hasn't ever gotten to the point where they're not only closing embassies.

　　They're sealing off the border. They're blocking airspace and maritime³ access to Qatar.

　　Qatar, as you know, is a country smaller than the state of Connecticut.

　　It's completely dependent for its food supplies, for — 40 percent of its food supplies come from Saudi Arabia. So, this is dramatic, unprecedented⁴ escalation.

　　It comes at a time where we are told that both the Saudis and the Emiratis have had enough.

　　There is — almost every alignment⁵ in the region, there's two camps today, if you want to say.

　　There's the pro-Islamist movement camps, where Qatar is now boxed in, and the more closer to this administration,

　　the Saudi and the Emirati and the Egyptian camp, and this is where things are going from here.

　　So, among other things, we're hearing that these five countries are saying Qatar is too extremist, that it's been sponsoring terrorism.

　　The Qataris are saying — say that's not true. What's really going on?

　　Well, it's, again, this different alignment in the region post-Arab Spring of 2011.

　　Qatar is seen today as a host leaders from Hamas, from Taliban. Actually, just tonight,

　　the Qatari emir will be hosting Sheik Kardari, who is well-known extremist in the region, for an iftar. So … That's an Islamic … Islamic cleric.

　　So, in that sense, Qatar is seen as very closed, has boxed itself in with these Islamist movements.

　　And this has been a problem with its relations with Egypt, with Saudi Arabia and with the Emiratis.

　　And what we're seeing unfold is a clash, is a rift⁶ within the GCC on the direction forward, whether it's in counterterrorism or other.

　　But we know that some of these countries that are accusing Qatar have themselves at times supported some of the extremist opposition⁷ forces in Syria, for example.

　　So is it so clear that Qatar is doing something different from what these other countries have been doing?

　　It's — I think Syria is a very complicated battleground, but, if you look at Syria itself,

　　the main group that is affiliated⁸ with al-Qaida, formerly⁹ known as Jabhat al-Nusra, is — it's supported by Qatar.

　　It's — the head of a group, Julani, gives interviews on Al-Jazeera.

　　There was a Financial Times story today that Qatar might have indirectly¹⁰ paid a ransom¹¹ of $1 billion that went to extremists on both sides in Syria.

　　So, this has become problematic within the GCC. And I think they do feel bolstered¹² after the Trump¹³ visit to do more on that front.

　　The countries that have — because it's true that this has happened just a week or two after President Trump was there in Saudi Arabia.

　　But — so, let's quickly talk about — Joyce, about how this affects the region and relations with the U.S. going forward.

　　I mean, this is a very tense time in the region.

　　This is an almost Arab cold war happening within the Gulf Cooperation Council. I think the U.S. tried to distance itself today a bit.

　　The Pentagon reiterated¹⁴ its defense¹⁵ relations with Qatar. Al Udeid Air Base continues to be active, that the counter-ISIS effort will not be impacted by this.

　　As we speak also, Judy, I think the Kuwaitis are trying to mediate¹⁶, to find a common ground in the coming hours.

　　The emir of Kuwait will be heading to Saudi Arabia tomorrow.

　　If they can achieve a breakthrough, you know, given the list of demands that Saudi and the UAE have put together, that means maybe the citizens of Qatar will not be expelled from these countries.

　　Unfair to ask you this question and ask for a quick answer, but is there fear this could lead to all-out war?

　　I don't think any side at this point is interested in a military confrontation¹⁷.

　　And I think Qatar, given that it's a small country, and most of Qatar's strategic depth is within the Gulf region,

　　I don't think Qatar has an alternative but to fix this with its neighbors.

　　A Saudi official tells me that the only way this is — there would be an exit is if Qatar went away and, you know, forgot its old habits.

　　So, we're looking — they're looking at a change of behavior from Qatar, not just demands, as it happened in 2014.

　　Joyce Karam, tough subject. Thank you very much, with Al-Hayat. Thank you. We appreciate it Thank you so much. undefined

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

3 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

4 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

5 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。

6 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

7 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。

8 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

9 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

10 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

11 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

12 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

14 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

15 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。

16 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

17 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。