2006年VOA标准英语-UN Security Council Reform May Shadow Annan's L

By Andre de Nesnera
Washington
01 November 2006
 
Kofi Annan steps down as United Nations secretary-general at the end of the year. During his tenure¹, he has pushed for U.N. reforms, including enlarging the Security Council. 

The United Nations Security Council's primary role, as defined be the U.N. charter, is to maintain international peace and security. The Council has five permanent members - France, Russia, China, Britain and the United States - as well as 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms.

 
Kofi Annan speaks at Georgetown University, Oct. 30, 2006, in Washington 
  
Outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is a strong advocate of enlarging the Security Council - a view shared by former U.N. Under-Secretary General Brian Urquhart.

"It is important that the [Security] Council represent the world as it is in 2006, not the world as it was in 1945, which is what it represents. But the difficulty is to get the different continents to agree who is their regional superpower - and none of them can do that," commented Urquhart. "And then to agree on various other matters, such as whether the new permanent members will have the veto or not and so on, and how many will there be?"

For his part, Carne Ross, a former British diplomat² stationed at the United Nations (1998-2002), says many nations perceive the Security Council as being, more often than not, favorable to Western interests.

"And as a result, the authority of the Security Council is, I think, undermined. When it passes resolutions, there is less willingness among the broader membership to implement³ those decisions or support them," said Ross. "That is not a good thing for anybody, including the West. So I think there is a widespread feeling that the Security Council needs to be reformed and expanded."

But Ross and others say, when discussing Security Council enlargement, the question is, who should become a member?

Brent Scowcroft (file photo)   
  
"Because for every country that people think yes, this is a power that should get it, there's Japan, Brazil, India and so forth⁴, there are those around it who think no, it shouldn't get in, because of jealousy⁵ and so on and so forth," noted⁶ former U.S. National Security Adviser⁷ General Brent Scowcroft.

Other experts question whether increasing Security Council membership is a good thing. One of those is Michael Doyle, former adviser to Kofi Annan (2001-03).

"The case against is that the more members you've got of a committee, often the harder it is to get a decision," he said. "And we need an effective Security Council, not just a larger one, not even just a more representative one. And people are worried that a larger, even if a more representative one, won't be able to take decisions."

"And there are places in the world where we needed them, in places like Rwanda and Bosnia, more responsible decisions," continued Doyle. "And they weren't taken. It's not clear that a larger body will be more responsible."

At a U.N. summit in September in New York, member nations discussed a plan put forth by Kofi Annan to enlarge the Security Council from 15 to 24 members. But that effort was unsuccessful.

Nancy Soderberg, former alternate U.S. representative to the United Nations (1997-2001), says the reason for the failure was clear.

"The problem was that the Africans couldn't decide who among them should be represented. They also got their backs up about not getting the veto, so in effect, they scuttled⁸ [destroyed] the deal and said no expansion is better than an expansion that does not give us a veto," she explained. "The competition was between Egypt, which is part of the Africa group, and Nigeria and South Africa. They only had two seats among them and they couldn't decide which two of those three would be on there."

Soderberg and others believe as of now, the question of reforming and enlarging the Security Council will not be resolved anytime soon.

1 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

2 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

3 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

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 scuttled   

v.使船沉没( scuttle的过去式和过去分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• She scuttled off when she heard the sound of his voice. 听到他的说话声，她赶紧跑开了。
• The thief scuttled off when he saw the policeman. 小偷看见警察来了便急忙跑掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》