联合国成立70周年

UN Works to Remain Relevant at 70 联合国成立70周年

UNITED NATIONS— The United Nations' founders¹ set out 70 years ago to prevent another world war. In that, they succeeded to date, but there has been no shortage of crises and conflicts to test the organization.

The world body has grown over those years and as it moves into its next decade will decide what it needs to do to stay relevant going forward.

The United Nations was born out of the ashes of World War II and the failures of its predecessor², the League of Nations.

At a conference in San Francisco in 1945, the organization’s charter was drawn³ up, seeking to foster a more peaceful world and promote and develop human rights.

President Harry⁴ Truman told delegates there were many who doubted they could succeed because of their differences.

“But these differences were all forgotten in one unshakable unity⁵ of determination - to find a way to end war," said Truman.

That October, the United Nations was officially established after 29 of its first 50 member states ratified⁶ the charter. Today, there are 193 member states.

Michael Doyle, an advisor⁷ to former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, says the organization got off to a rocky start.

“During the Cold War, the split between the Soviet⁸ Union and the U.S. created an institution that was at loggerheads with itself. It could only work in the margins⁹ in peacekeeping, and those particular conflicts where the U.S. and Soviets¹⁰ wanted to take it off their own rivalry¹¹ and let it work on the side," said Doyle.

U.N. peacekeeping was born during this period. Growing from a couple thousand “blue helmets” addressing the Suez Crisis in 1956, to more than 100,000 soldiers and police today, peacekeepers protect civilians¹² and aid workers in some of the world’s most dangerous trouble spots.

The U.N. also delivers humanitarian¹³ assistance to victims of war and disasters, and tries to prevent and resolve conflicts. More recently, it has taken on climate change and eradicating¹⁴ extreme poverty.

“The world is changing and the U.N. has to change and adapt with it. We cannot be static," Kofi Annan said.

Eight men have led the U.N. since 1945. Next year, a new secretary-general will be elected. Many say it is time for a woman.

There also are calls for organizational reform, particularly in the Security Council, where five countries hold veto power.

“The one thing everyone can agree about is that the Security Council, as it was framed in 1945, no longer represents the power structure of the year 2015," said Tom Weiss from the City University of New York.

Doyle says emerging powers want a seat at the table, and elected council members want more respect.

“The absence of a larger role of India, of Brazil, of Japan, of Germany - and one could go on - is significant. There are times at which the elected 10 feel like, as they call themselves, tourists rather than players," he said.

To stay relevant the U.N must evolve.

“However, unless there are some major shakeups, some major structural¹⁵ reforms, that the institution will become more and more marginal, it will become more of a historical relic," said Weiss.

But many observers agree it is difficult to imagine today’s world without the United Nations.

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

7 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

8 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

9 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

10 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

11 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。

12 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。

13 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

14 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

15 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。