2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Administration Challenged by Multiple Glob

By Leta Hong Fincher
Washington, DC
18 July 2006
 
watch Policy Crises report

The Bush administration is facing a series of simultaneous foreign policy crises from the Middle East to the Korean peninsula. The U.S. military is already heavily committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some foreign policy experts say President Bush has little flexibility¹ to deal with new global challenges.

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From renewed fighting in the Middle East… and worsening security in Afghanistan... to ongoing² violence in Iraq… the Bush administration is caught in a whirlwind of global crises.
 

Ken³ Pollack (file photo)  
  
Ken Pollack is a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institution research group in Washington D.C. He says, "I think there's no question that the whole series of foreign policy problems that the Bush administration is confronting, coupled with the ongoing war in Iraq and the troubles it's creating, is limiting the freedom of maneuver⁴ [movement] of the Bush administration."

Pollack and other foreign policy experts say the Bush administration faces such a long list of world problems that it has lost the leverage⁵ it once had in foreign policy.

Israel and the militant⁶ group Hezbollah in Lebanon are escalating⁷ their attacks. Iran has not responded to requests to suspend its nuclear program. And suicide bombers⁸ in Afghanistan are adopting the tactics of Iraqi insurgents⁹.

Meanwhile, the war in Iraq continues to rage, and some argue the United States has lost much of its international support for efforts to build democracy in the region.

Laurence Korb was Assistant Secretary of Defense¹⁰ for President Ronald Reagan.  He thinks, "[The] Bush doctrine¹¹ met the real world and it collapsed¹². There's no way you can go around waging preventive wars against all of your enemies."

Some foreign policy experts say countries such as Iran and North Korea are taking advantage of what they see as the weak position of the United States.  

Danielle Pletka (file photo)   
  
Danielle Pletka is vice¹³ president for foreign policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C.  "The perception by others -- particularly countries who have interests inimical to our own -- is that we are bogged¹⁴ down in Iraq, that we are distracted and tired by Iraq, and now is a good moment to push the envelope, to test the United States," she says.

North Korea has tested the United States recently by launching seven missiles. The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding that North Korea suspend its ballistic missile program.

Still, former senior U.S. State Department official Randall Schriver believes the Bush administration has not focused sufficiently¹⁵ on diplomacy¹⁶ in Asia.   

Randall Schriver  
  
"I don't think it's a secret when you have ongoing war in the Middle East, when you have the kinds of challenges we're facing, yes, it's going to occupy time, attention, resources. But my view is you've got to make Asia a priority," says Schriver.

Bush administration officials say the United States is in a stronger diplomatic position now than it was during Mr. Bush's first term. They say they are engaged in more aggressive multilateral diplomacy than ever before. But most foreign policy experts agree the Bush administration has so many global commitments that it may not be able to act unilaterally, as it has in the past.

1 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

4 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

5 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。

6 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

7 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

8 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

12 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

13 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

14 bogged   

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• The professor bogged down in the middle of his speech. 教授的演讲只说了一半便讲不下去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tractor is bogged down in the mud. 拖拉机陷入了泥沼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

16 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。