2006年VOA标准英语-Virginia University Promotes Peace-Building

By George Dwyer
Washington, DC
28 September 2006
 
watch Peace Building Course

Peace-building -- as defined by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- is "the process of creating the basic conditions for sustainable peace in war-torn societies," and is one of the principle tasks of the world body.  VOA's George Dwyer recently spoke¹ with some prominent – and prospective² – peace-building advocates outside Washington, D.C. about their role in helping³ societies resolve conflict.

 
Dennis Sandole
After decades of armed conflict, and a dangerous on-going insurgency⁴ against its elected government, Afghanistan -- like many other nations -- is looking for ways to promote peace. At George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, outside Washington, D.C., Professor Dennis Sandole and his students are trying to find ways to help.

"We offer insights about relationships between human beings that have gone bad -- so bad that they try to kill each other," said the professor.

This semester, Sandole is conducting a class in Peace building – coaxing⁵ his students to examine the specific policies, organizational structures, social and political climates that tend to breed violence. Later they will learn strategies for transforming conflict into cooperation.

 
U.S. Student
"Peace building" interests me just because it approaches what happens after the conflict as well as during, which I think is an important piece of the process," said one student.

 
Student from Kenya
"Since I am from Kenya I thought it is good to take a class on peace building," said another student. "Kenya has been negotiating for their peace for the last many years."

"It is not just about teaching and grading and reading," said Sandole, "it is about making them "peace-builders."

Sandole's peace-building class promotes listening, negotiation⁶, and mediation⁷ as workable strategies for resolving disputes and avoiding, or stopping, violence. He says the role of "peace-builders" is to facilitate conflict resolution, not impose solutions.

"We should not be doing the work for them," he said. "For them, the parties to really arrive at something that is going to be sustainable, self-maintaining, they have to come up with it. What we should then do – and this is really an art form more than a science – what we then should do is help them."

The United Nations has promoted peace building throughout its existence. But it was given a new impetus⁸ in 2005 when the U.N. Security Council met to discuss the current state of Peace Building in the world today. 

 
Paul Van Tongeren
Executive Director of the Global Partnership⁹ for the Prevention of Armed Conflict, Paul van Tongeren, called for more active measures to promote peace-building activities. "It's intolerable that millions of civilians¹⁰ die from violent conflict at a time when the international community has the knowledge and resources to prevent it.

Today that knowledge and those resources for preventing conflict are being passed on to a new generation of peace-builders in places like Dennis Sandole's class in Northern Virginia.

1 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。

2 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

5 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句

6 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

7 mediation   

n.调解

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled by mediation of the third country. 这场争端通过第三国的斡旋而得以解决。
• The dispute was settled by mediation. 经调解使争端得以解决。

8 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。