2007年VOA标准英语-French Election May Bring New Era in US-France

By Andre de Nesnera
Washington
04 May 2007

Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal

French voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new president to succeed Jacques Chirac. The two contenders are center-right Nicholas Sarkozy and Socialist¹ Segolene Royal. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at whether U.S.-French relations will change with a new president at the Elysee Palace.

Relations between France and the United States have been colored in recent years by one event: the war in Iraq. Outgoing French President Jacques Chirac and his then foreign minister Dominique de Villepin led the opposition² to the March 2003 American invasion of Iraq.  Experts say relations between Washington and Paris remain tense as a result of the diverging³ views on the war.

Simon Serfaty, an expert on Europe at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says in the long run, President Chirac's views have been proven right.

"And even though we condemn⁴ him to this day here on this side of the Atlantic over his position on the eve of the war in Iraq, the fact is that the argument he made in December/January 2002, 2003 regarding the war, is the argument that has now been adopted by an overwhelming majority of Americans," he noted⁵.

Experts such as Andrew Moravcsik, Director of Princeton University's European Union Program, say France has a reputation of being very anti-American.

"But the truth of the matter is when you go issue by issue, France is in 90 percent of the cases, an active and cooperative member of the West. And if you go down the issues - let's just take one example: using military force abroad. After the Iraq war, we customarily think of France as being opposed to any American-led operations, seeking to balance the United States as a hyper-power and so on. But in fact, in every intervention⁶ since the end of the Cold War, since the first Gulf⁷ War - in Lebanon, in Afghanistan, in the Balkans, in the Ivory Coast, in the Congo - the French and the Americans have been on the same side," he noted.  "The Americans have supported French military operations and vice-versa. Iraq, in 2003, is really an exception. And no French politician in this election challenged that basic pro-Western, cooperative attitude of the French."

On Sunday, French voters go to the polls to elect a new president to succeed Jacques Chirac. The two contenders are center-right Nicholas Sarkozy and the candidate of the Socialist Party, Segolene Royal.

Nicholas Sarkozy, 24 Apr 2007

Experts say of the two, Sarkozy is more pro-American. He does not hide his admiration⁸ for the American entrepreneurial spirit and last September, he traveled to Washington and met briefly⁹ with President George Bush. Royal did not visit the U.S.

Charles Kupchan, a Europe expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, says during the closing days of the campaign, Sarkozy had to tone down his pro-American rhetoric¹⁰.

"In part because Segolene Royal was coming after him, saying that he was too close to Bush and in some ways trying to portray¹¹ him a little bit in the model of Tony Blair, who Europeans call 'Bush's poodle' - too obsequious¹², too willing to subjugate¹³ British interests to the Bush administration," he explained.

During a recent political rally, Royal proclaimed, "We will not get down on bended knees before George Bush!"

Many experts believe whoever is elected president of France will be an improvement, given the tense relations between Mr. Chirac and President Bush. But they say either Royal or Sarkozy will have to decide what kind of relationship they want with the United States, given the fact that in a public opinion survey last December, three-quarters of those responding said they want their next president to keep a distance from U.S. foreign policy.

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

2 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。

3 diverging   

分开( diverge的现在分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳

参考例句：

• Plants had gradually evolved along diverging and converging pathways. 植物是沿着趋异和趋同两种途径逐渐演化的。
• With member-country bond yields now diverging, 'it's a fragmented set of markets. 但随着成员国债券收益率之差扩大，市场已经分割开来。

4 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

9 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

11 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

12 obsequious   

adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的

参考例句：

• He looked at the two ladies with an obsequious air.他看着两位太太,满脸谄媚的神情。
• He was obsequious to his superiors,but he didn't get any favor.他巴结上司，但没得到任何好处。

13 subjugate   

v.征服；抑制

参考例句：

• Imperialism has not been able to subjugate China.帝国主义不能征服中国。
• After having been subjugated to ambition,your maternal instincts are at last starting to assert themselves.你那被雄心壮志压制已久的母性本能终于开始展现出来。