2006年VOA标准英语-The US is Gauging Islamist Organizations'

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington, D.C.
30 March 2006
 
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With the recent victory by Hamas in the Palestinian territories, and the success of the Muslim Brotherhood¹ Movement in the Egyptian elections, the Bush administration wants Islamist organizations to demonstrate their commitment to the democratic process.

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Nathan Brown, Carnegie Endowment (file photo)  
  

During the last decade, Islamist movements have established themselves as major players in the Middle East. They have shown popular appeal, a result of their combination of religious ideals, and practical social programs. They set up networks of service organizations in many countries. The social trust or social capital they generated translated over the years into political capital.

Dr. Nathan Brown, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, says it's a lesson the regions' secular² parties have failed to learn.

"Their big problem is: although they have respect often in their societies, they are not able to organize people to turn out and mobilize them at the polls, organize them as constituencies, and this is something that the U.S. can't really help with,” says Dr. Brown. “What they have got to do is to stop debating the government and debating each other, and get out and organize people"

An Egyptian demonstrator waves Egypt's flag in front of anti-riot soldiers during a protest by Muslim Brotherhoods³ and others, in front of Egypt's lawyers union in Cairo Aug.14, 2005, demanding political reform, release of detainees   
  
Since they have not, some political analysts⁴ say, the greatest impact on the political evolution of the Middle East will come from what they consider mainstream⁵ Islamist organizations. Those are defined as groups without militias⁶; that do not resort to violence. Neither Hamas in the Palestinian territories nor Hezbollah in Lebanon meet those criteria⁷ and the U.S. does not talk with either, considering them terrorist organizations. 

Brown says the United States has little choice but to work with the mainstream Islamists, within the context of a general promotion⁸ of democracy in the region:

"I don't think it would be effective to try to pick particular Islamist leaders and say these are the ones that we want. That might be even counterproductive,” says Brown. “I think what the U.S. can do is basically foster democratization more generally, and then allow these Islamic movements to take advantage of the opportunity and respond to the signs that opens up by the political system." 

Participants in a recent panel at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington D.C. said that there are several areas to watch to judge whether Islamist movements they consider mainstream, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, are committed to the democratic process. 

Amr Hamzawi (file photo)  
  
Dr. Amr Hamzawi, a senior associate at Carnegie, outlined several indicators⁹: "[The] first one pertains¹⁰ to the implementation¹¹ of Shari'a -- the Islamic law. [The] second one is violence, not that they practice violence, our mainstream movements do not practice violence, but they do have different ambiguous perceptions of whether to legitimize violence in specific contexts like Palestine or the case of Hamas or Hezbollah. So when we say violence, we basically mean their perception on violence and whether they legitimize it or not. A third gray zone is political pluralism and their perception of political pluralism."

Other indicators which Islamists are still ambiguous about include civil and political rights, women's rights and the treatment of religious minorities.

Scott Carpenter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, says U.S. diplomats¹² have spoken with Islamists about these issues.

"On specific things like protection of minorities and protection of women's rights, that is something that in our discussions with Islamists parties we have to continue asking them: what is your position? What is your position? Do you protect women's rights?  What about the Coptic (Christian) community in Egypt? It is important that we retain our clarity even as these groups struggle to come to a conclusion within the gray zones," said Carpenter.

The U.S. has held talks with individual candidates in Egypt but not with the Muslim Brotherhood as a party because Egyptian law still bars parties based on religion. But some analysts believe that will change. They say a policy of engagement with Islamist organizations, is the only constructive¹³ option open to those who believe democratic development in the Middle East is in everyone's interest.

1 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

2 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

3 brotherhoods   

兄弟关系( brotherhood的名词复数 )； （总称）同行； （宗教性的）兄弟会； 同业公会

参考例句：

• Clubs became more like brotherhoods for the jobless and fans would do anything for them. 俱乐部变得更像是失业者协会，球迷愿意为其做任何事情。

4 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。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

7 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

8 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

9 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

10 pertains   

关于( pertain的第三人称单数 )； 有关； 存在； 适用

参考例句：

• When one manages upward, none of these clear and unambiguous symbols pertains. 当一个人由下而上地管理时，这些明确无误的信号就全都不复存在了。
• Her conduct hardly pertains to a lady. 她的行为与女士身份不太相符。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

12 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》

13 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。