2007年VOA标准英语-South Africa Gets Two-Year Term on UN Security

By Nathan King
New York, New York
15 January 2007

watch South Africa report

South Africa made diplomatic history this month by taking its seat for a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council, and the country hopes to become an influential¹ member of the world community, just over a decade after the end of the former apartheid regime.  Developing countries expect South Africa to represent their interests on the Security Council when proposals for wide-ranging U.N. reforms come up in the future.  And world powers are urging South Africa to take a greater role in peacekeeping missions across Africa. 

 
The United Nations headquarters
For the first time, the country infamous² for its racist³ apartheid system is very much a part of the international community.

Over the last decade, South Africa has built up its diplomatic and military influence throughout Africa.  South African police are patrolling in Darfur, the nation's peacekeepers helped organize last year's elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and they have just wrapped up a successful deployment⁴ in Burundi. 

In Washington and elsewhere, South Africa is seen as a vibrant⁵ democracy, on a continent that has known too much war and hatred⁶. 

 
James Paul
James Paul, of the Global Policy Forum⁷ says, "South Africa, because it has a strong economy, it has a strong leadership and is very well represented here at the U.N., is going to have a certain degree of greater independence and capacity for action."

But that very independence may expose stark⁸ differences between South Africa and the five permanent members of the Security Council.  In this year's first debate, South Africa challenged the Council to put the Israeli-Palestinian question at the heart of its agenda.

 
Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo
Dumisani Kumalo, the South African ambassador to the United Nations, said, "In recent years, the Security Council has been too quick to threaten and authorize⁹ enforcement action in some cases, while being silent and inactive in others.  For example, the Palestinian-Israeli issue is a legitimate¹⁰ agenda item for this Council.  However, it has become quite noticeable how this Council has failed to act, even in the face of the most shocking contravention of international law."

South Africa also supports Iran's right to develop nuclear technology and will resist any discussion of the state of its neighbor, Zimbabwe.  It also opposes the United States on some key aspects of U.N. reform.

South Africa led an effort last year to resist a U.S.-backed proposal to shift some powers away from the U.N. General Assembly -- most of whose 192 members are developing countries -- and transfer them to the secretary-general.  Now that South Africa is on the Security Council, developing countries expect more clout¹¹. 

 
Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali
Nigeria's U.N. ambassador, Aminu Bashir Wali, explains: "All Africans are looking to South Africa to see what role South Africa will be able to do in promoting the issues of Africa -- like, of course, Ghana has been doing, like Tanzania has been doing.  But we expect South Africa to do more because it has more in terms of resources and in terms of its reach."

South Africa has another goal: to expand its two-year term on the Security Council into a permanent seat.  There is broad agreement on expanding the size of the Council, which now has 10 temporary members seated alongside the big powers who are the five permanent members (the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France) and who have veto power over Council decisions.  But amid multiple competing formulas over how to expand the Council, member states are deadlocked¹². 

Some proposals would allot¹³ two permanent seats to African nations -- with South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt seen as the frontrunners.  For South Africans, these next two years are a crucial time to show the world that their country has moved beyond healing its own divisions, and is now ready to help take a more active international role.

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 infamous   

adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的

参考例句：

• He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
• I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。

3 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

4 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

5 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

6 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

9 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

12 deadlocked   

陷入僵局的；僵持不下的

参考例句：

• The plan deadlocked over the funds. 这个计划由于经费问题而搁浅了。
• The meeting deadlocked over the wage issue. 会议因工资问题而停顿下来。

13 allot   

v.分配；拨给；n.部分；小块菜地

参考例句：

• The government is ready to allot houses in that area.政府准备在那个地区分配住房。
• Who will she allot the easy jobs to?她把轻活儿分给谁呢？