VOA慢速英语2014 乌克兰危机的影响已波及全球

 

AS IT IS 2014-05-22 Ukraine Crisis Has Effects Worldwide  乌克兰危机的影响已波及全球

Ukraine is set to hold presidential elections this Sunday.  Some observers say the vote is the most important in Ukraine since it became independent from the Soviet¹ Union in 1991.  The voting comes two months after Russia’s takeover of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.  Since then, separatists in eastern Ukraine have declared their independence from the central government.  And security forces have clashed with separatists in a number of eastern cities.

The events in Ukraine are being closely watched in Europe and around the world.  The unrest has affected² efforts by the United States to persuade other countries to change their policies. 

U.S. officials travel the world to build support on a number of issues, from the civil war in Syria to Iran’s nuclear program.  But some observers believe the West’s reaction to the Russian moves in Ukraine has harmed those efforts.

Olexiy Haran teaches comparative politics at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

“How are you going to persuade other nuclear states like Iran, North Korea, to give up their nuclear weapons, in exchange for what?  They see that, in Ukraine, these guarantees didn’t work.”

Professor Haran notes that Russia was seen as a guarantor of Ukraine’s independence but then took control of Crimea.

“We expect a strong reaction from (the) international community because it undermines the whole system of security which is in Europe now.”

The Russian military has been active along the border with Ukraine.  But Western nations have reacted with “soft power” – diplomacy³ and economic actions.  Around the world, that was seen as weak, says Xenia Dormandy.  She is a U.S. policy expert with Chatham House in London.

“That’s a very, very dangerous message to take away because each situation is different.  That’s how you get people crossing red lines, because of that ambiguity⁴, and you have potential conflict.”

Still, she thinks the soft power response is not as weak as it might seem.

“Absolutely not!  The response will, in time, have significant effects on the Russian economy.”

Some of those effects are already being felt.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has started to distance himself from militants⁵ in eastern Ukraine, at least officially. 

However, observers agree the Russian takeover of Crimea cannot be undone⁶.  And they say the danger still exists of a Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine.

So if other countries are looking for lessons learned in the Ukraine crisis, it may be too early to know what they are. 

1 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。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

4 ambiguity   

n.模棱两可；意义不明确

参考例句：

• The telegram was misunderstood because of its ambiguity.由于电文意义不明确而造成了误解。
• Her answer was above all ambiguity.她的回答毫不含糊。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。