VOA标准英语2009年-Clinton to Ask Egypt for Help; Can Cairo D

By Elizabeth Arrott
Cairo
03 November 2009

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is winding¹ up her Middle East trip with a last minute stop in Cairo. While she is expected to seek help in ending the impasse² between Israel and the Palestinians, Egypt has increasingly appeared unable to lead Arab opinion on the issue. 

 
Bahraini FM Sheik Al Khalifa, US Secretary of State Clinton, Deputy PM of Kuwait Sheikh Al-Sabah, and Saudi Arabia's FM Prince Saud Al Faisal attend a meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, 02 Nov 2009
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes to Cairo after angering many Arabs by offering praise for an Israeli offer to curb³ settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land, an offer that was met with outrage⁴ by many Arabs, who continue to demand Israel halt all construction.

But round after failed round of Egyptian-mediated talks to reconcile the Palestinian factions⁵ Hamas and Fatah continue to underscore how little even traditional leader Egypt can accomplish.

Cairo is also still reeling from criticism during Israel's war in the Gaza Strip early this year. Those who decried⁶ the plight⁷ of Palestinian civilians⁸ trapped inside Israeli-blockaded Gaza also pointed⁹ to Egypt's role in keeping its border to the besieged¹⁰ territory largely closed.

Political analyst¹¹ Amr Hamzawy of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut says that while Egypt has yet to reconcile Hamas and Fatah, at least it approaches the issue with a peace-based agenda, something no one else has done. As for Gaza, Hamzawy argues Egypt has a right to stop the potential influx¹² of violence.

"However, what Egypt did undermine, to an extent, especially in the last two years, has been to combine its legitimate¹³ defense¹⁴ of national security concerns with a wider appeal to Arab interests and Palestinian interests at the core of them," Hamwazy said.

"Arab interests" is the banner held aloft by an increasing number of players in the region. Qatar has tried to exert its influence as a bridge with non-Arab Iran. Such overtures¹⁵ were among the reasons Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak skipped this year's Doha-hosted Arab League summit.

There is also the long-time rivalry¹⁶ with Saudi Arabia, whose petro dollars continue to carry weight. And there are non-Arab actors such as Turkey, which has leveraged¹⁷ its straddling of East and West into aggressive foreign policy outreach.

The Carnegie Center's Hamzawy says Cairo has been getting used to such challenges.

"Competition does not undermine the Egyptian role right away," said Hamzawy. "It depends on what the Egyptians will do out of it and how they focus the investment foreign policy-wise in key spaces which are relevant to national security issues where Egypt has a greater chance of success."

The political analyst believes Cairo would be better off to focus on issues close to home, whether successful or not. He argues Egypt simply does not have the resources to engage in larger regional concerns.  

 

1 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

2 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

3 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

6 decried   

v.公开反对，谴责( decry的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The measures were decried as useless. 这些措施受到指责，说是不起作用。
• The old poet decried the mediocrity of today's writing. 老诗人抨击了现代文体的平庸无奇。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

8 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。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

11 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

12 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

13 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。

14 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。

15 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

16 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

17 leveraged   

促使…改变( leverage的过去式和过去分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• Chrysler has traditionally been a highly leveraged company. 克莱斯勒一向是一家周转十分灵活的公司。
• Leveraged recaps have become popular for a number of reasons. 杠杆资本重组的大行其道有好几个原因。