VOA标准英语10月-Conflict Resolution Marked Career of Nobel Laurea

Conflict resolution marked the career of former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari who has received this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to secure peace in various regions of the world. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera profiles Mr. Ahtisaari's distinguished¹ career.
　

Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari speaks during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, 10 Oct 2008

The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited Mr. Ahtisaari for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.

Gareth Evans, president of the International Crisis Group, an independent organization working to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts, knows Mr. Ahtisaari well since he was chairman of the ICG for four years [2000-2004]. Evans says Ahtisaari's peace efforts spanned the globe.

"First of all, he was the United Nations special representative managing the whole transition to peace in Namibia, in south-west Africa in the late 1980s," he said. "He was the special negotiator representing the European Union in the negotiations² to end the fighting in Kosovo in 1999. He was the leader of the peace negotiations in Aceh, in Indonesia - 2005. And, of course, was much involved in the whole Kosovo process, again, from the mid³ 2000s through to the present."

Evans describes Mr. Ahtisaari as an outstanding diplomat⁴ and explains what makes him such a successful negotiator. "It's the combination of this immense personal charm, together with a 'tough, no-nonsense, tell it like it is' approach to conducting negotiations," he said.

"Strobe Talbott, the former U.S. deputy secretary of state, described his role in the 1999 Kosovo peace process as playing 'Mr. Hammer' to [special Russian envoy⁵ Viktor] Chernomyrdin's 'Mr. Anvil⁶' with [Yugoslav president Slobodan] Milosevic being what was beaten between the two of them. And that captures that side of him. But it's important to appreciate that without the personal qualities of charm and humor and so on, that add all those extra dimensions to his effectiveness, he probably wouldn't have had the achievements he has," he added.

The 71-year-old Mr. Ahtisaari was a school teacher before joining Finland's Foreign Ministry⁷ in 1965. He was a senior Finnish diplomat when in 1977 was named the United Nations envoy for Namibia. At the U.N., he rose to the post of undersecretary general.

In 1994, Mr. Ahtisaari was elected president of Finland but did not seek re-election in 2000. Since that time he has continued to devote himself to international peace efforts.

Gareth Evans says by awarding the Peace Prize to Mr. Ahtisaari, the Nobel Committee has gone back to its peace and security roots.

"There really is a case out there for a big international award for public policy generally, or for human rights specifically because the Nobel's 'raison d'etre', its core rationale, has always been conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peace and security," he said. "And we've been three or four years now without that being a central theme. And I think it is important to re-state that."

Evans was referring to the fact that in the past few years, Nobel Peace Prize winners included Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai and former U.S. vice-president Al Gore⁸ for his work on climate change.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize will be presented to Martti Ahtisaari on December 10 in Oslo.

1 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

4 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

5 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

6 anvil   

n.铁钻

参考例句：

• The blacksmith shaped a horseshoe on his anvil.铁匠在他的铁砧上打出一个马蹄形。
• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly.订书机上的铁砧安装错位。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。