2006年VOA标准英语-US Push for Democracy in Middle East Going

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington, DC
19 April 2006
 
watch Democracy report

President Bush has urged the broader Middle East countries to embrace democracy and free elections. Several months ago, there was optimism about that policy. But now, some analysts¹ say, the political rise of Islamists, the inability of Iraqi factions² to agree on a new government, and concerns about Iran's influence in the region may have taken the pressure off Middle Eastern rulers to institute democratic reforms. 

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President Bush believes the spread of democracy will lead to a more peaceful world. But in Egypt, one of the United State's closest allies, the government of Hosni Mubarak has delayed municipal elections by two years after the Muslim Brotherhood³ made big gains in parliamentary elections late last year. 

 

 
Gamal Mubarak
  

The delay is widely seen as an effort to maintain the ruling party's monopoly and pave the way to power for Gamal Mubarak, the son of the president. Hosni Mubarak's government continues also to restrict the creation of secular⁴ opposition⁵ parties. 

 

Ayman Nour   
  

Opposition leader Ayman Nour, who finished second in the first-ever contested presidential elections in Egypt, remains⁶ in jail.

Tom Malinowski, the Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch, believes Egypt is the real test of the policy promoting democracy.

"The U.S. has called for Ayman Nour to be released, it has called on Mubarak to hold free and fair elections, but when Mubarak has failed to heed⁷ these calls, the relationship has not suffered in a way that I think would say to the Egyptian government: ‘This is important to America’."

Malinowski believes the U.S. has to use more leverage⁸ and influence to promote positive change. But changes in the Middle East have not always gone the way the U.S. would have preferred. Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections. It is considered by the U.S. and others to be a terrorist organization. 

In Egypt, the Islamists did much better than expected in parliamentary elections.  Iraq's efforts to form a new government have been unsuccessful.

Nathan Brown, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, thinks the U.S. may have eased up on democracy. 

Nathan Brown  
  
"I think there is some diminished enthusiasm in the U.S. push for democracy in the Arab world. It has not completely disappeared, but after the elections in Iraq and the strengthening of the Islamic parties there, after the strong show of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, there is a little bit of hesitation,” says Brown. “And after the election of Hamas in Palestine, there is a big problem for American policy. They still seem to be trying to push for democracy and democratization, but I think it is probably came down a notch⁹ in their list of priorities." 

That could be why Saudi Arabia refused to have an election for its consultative council. It does not have a parliament.

In Yemen, the government has restricted the freedom of the news media ahead of presidential elections this year.  Parliamentary elections in Qatar were postponed¹⁰ again till next year.

Arab leaders may be assuming they can outlast¹¹ the Bush administration and its democratization efforts.

Tamara Cofman Wittes   
  
Tamara Cofman Wittes, a Research Fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, says the push for democracy will not end. "The U.S. can't take a neutral stance on the future of this very important part of the world. The U.S. is going to be engaged in one fashion or another. Given that, I think it is important, it is wise for the U.S. to have put itself on the side of democracy and freedom in this region rather than on the side of maintaining what in the long run is unsustainable status quo."  

Alberto Fernandez  
  
State Department Spokesman Alberto Fernandez says the United States continues to make democracy a priority.  " We need to embrace change, we need to embrace democracy as a country and this is what we are doing in the region."

Fernandez says democratic development is not always linear, and takes time. Some political analysts believe that there is a sense of urgency, however.  They say many of the incumbent¹² regimes in the Middle East have been repressive and corrupt¹³, and their peoples are looking for alternatives -- if not democracy, then perhaps Islamism.

1 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。

2 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

8 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

9 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

10 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

11 outlast   

v.较…耐久

参考例句：

• The great use of life is to spend it doing something that will outlast it.人生的充分利用就是为争取比人生更长久的东西而度过一生。
• These naturally dried flowers will outlast a bouquet of fresh blooms.这些自然风干的花会比一束鲜花更加持久。

12 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

13 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。