中东—伊朗新总统：保守政治与传统价值观

Iran's New President: Conservative Politics and Traditional Values

伊朗新总统：保守政治与传统价值观

 

Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is largely unknown outside of his country. He is also not someone within the visible internal circles of clerics and reformers. Despite that, Iranian voters chose him on June 24th in a nearly 62 percent landslide¹ against former president Hashemi Rafsanjani. Most observers say Mr. Ahmadinejad's campaign shrewdly mixed populism and values honored in Iranian society. Now, many eyes are upon him to see where his presidency² may take the nation both internally and in the international community.

 

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born in 1956 in a town near the capital, Tehran. He earned a doctorate³ degree in transport engineering from Iran's University of Science and Technology, and began teaching there. This was shortly before Iran was transformed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ended the monarchy⁴ and swept into power clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

 

Mr. Ahmadinejad joined the Islamic Revolutionary Guard in 1986 and took part in the 8-year-long war between Iran and Iraq. He then served in a series of government positions until he was elected mayor of Tehran in May, 2003. He was still Tehran's mayor when he won the presidency.

 

Shaul Bakhash, an Iranian teaching at George Mason University near Washington, DC, says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by appealing to common people and supporting their aspirations⁶.

 

Shaul Bakhash: Mr. Ahmadinejad's principle focus, has been on domestic issues, on opening up opportunities for, as he puts it, 'for the little man, for the forgotten man', not Iran's international relations -- certainly [not] relations with the West.

 

Analyst⁷ Patrick Clawson at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's campaign for the presidency also reflected and spoke⁸ to a group within Iran that became a political force after the revolution.

 

Patrick Clawson: Mr. Ahmadinejad, in many ways, is a representative figure for the veterans who fought the Iran-Iraq War, who think that they saved the country and that they're the ones who have the right values for preserving the revolution. This is the second generation of hard-line conservatives.

 

William Beeman at Brown University in the northeastern U.S. state of Rhode Island, who was in Iran for the presidential election, adds there was another component⁹ to Mr. Ahmadinejad's victory - how his image tapped into powerful social values.

 

William Beeman: Mr. Ahmadinejad doesn't live in a big palace like a lot of these folks do. He lives in a very humble¹⁰ house. Also, he has credentials¹¹ as an engineer, one of the more revered¹² professions in Iran. So the idea that an engineer would be living in this simple way -- it just made people's hearts melt.

 

Professor Beeman says there was another factor in Mr. Ahmadinejad's presidential victory -- a perception held by some Iranians that the clerics who led the 1979 revolution have become an elite¹³ who enjoy a privileged life and do whatever it takes to preserve their status. Mr. Ahmadinejad's opponent in the runoff election, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, is a prominent cleric.

 

Along with Mr. Ahmadinejad's concentration on domestic rather than foreign policy issues, Shaul Bakhash at George Mason University says the new president's economic ideas go against free market principles and appeal to nationalism.

 

Shaul Bakhash: He seems to be much more an advocate of state control or state involvement in the economy. He has expressed skepticism regarding the benefit of foreign investment in Iran, and has said that Iran's resources should be exploited by Iranians.

 

The new president's focus on domestic affairs instead of foreign policy, according to analyst Patrick Clawson at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, means that a major issue to other nations may not be addressed.

 

Patrick Clawson: Mr. Ahmadinejad's background, suggests that he doesn't care very much about the outside world, and he doesn't care very much if they [other nations] don't like him and they don't like Iran. And that's discouraging, because there were hopes that it would be possible to have a breakthrough with Iran about their nuclear program.

 

After his election victory, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made it clear that Iran's nuclear development would continue.

 

Brown University's William Beeman says that during his visits to Iran, he has heard from many people about outside efforts to halt Tehran's nuclear program.

 

William Beeman: Iranians say, 'It's not that they're [the West is] trying to protect the world against us being a dangerous power who wants to drop bombs on Tel Aviv, it's that they want to put us down. They want to hold us back. They want to make sure that we're a backward nation.' This makes the Iranians absolutely seethe¹⁴ with resentment¹⁵.

 

Analyst Gary Samore at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London says the incoming president will not be the key decision maker¹⁶ regarding Iran's nuclear program and other major foreign policy matters.

 

Gary Samore: The president of Iran has very little authority over crucial foreign policy issues. Those are in the hands of the Supreme¹⁷ National Security Council, which is dominated by the Supreme Leader, [Ayatollah] Ali Khameni. So from that standpoint, Ahmadinejad's election won't have a direct impact on foreign policy decision making because he's not likely to be a decisive voice.

 

Iran-watchers say predicting the future of Iran in the hands of its new president is difficult because Mr. Ahmadinejad has never held a national office. His past statements suggest, however, he will govern based on what he perceives the needs and desires of his country, especially the common people, to be rather than the opinions of outsiders. And most analysts¹⁸ say it is now up to other countries and international bodies to accept Mr. Ahmadinejad's election and fashion their strategies accordingly.

 

For focus, I’m Jeffrey Young.

 

注释：

landslide [5lAndslaid] n. 压倒性的胜利

shrewdly [Fru:dli] adv. 精明地

Populism [5pCpjulizEm] n. 人民党主义

monarchy [5mCnEki] n. 君主制，君主政治

aspiration⁵ [7AspE5reiFEn] n. 热望，渴望

humble [5hQmbl] adj. 简陋的

elite [ei5li:t] n. 精英

privileged [5privilidVid] adj. 享有特权的

runoff election 决定性竞选

skepticism [5skeptisizEm] n. 怀疑态度

exploit [iks5plCit] vt. 开发，开采

seethe [si:T] v. 骚动，激昂

resentment [ri5zentmEnt] n. 怨恨，愤恨

dominate [5dCmineit] v. 支配，控制

1 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

4 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

5 aspiration   

n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出

参考例句：

• Man's aspiration should be as lofty as the stars.人的志气应当象天上的星星那么高。
• Young Addison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.年幼的爱迪生渴望成为一名发明家。

6 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

7 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。

8 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。

9 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

10 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

11 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

12 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

13 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

14 seethe   

vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动

参考例句：

• Many Indians continue to seethe and some are calling for military action against their riotous neighbour.很多印度人都处于热血沸腾的状态，很多都呼吁针对印度这个恶邻采取军事行动。
• She seethed with indignation.她由于愤怒而不能平静。

15 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

16 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

17 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

18 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。