美国有线新闻 CNN 2015-04-06

 The Middle Eastern nation of Yemen isn't a particularly large country. It's not the region's most influential¹ country. How might it become the battlefield for a proxy² war? Hi. I'm Carl Azuz for CNN Student News.

 

That's what's first up this Thursday, April 2nd. The United Nations says Yemen is on the brink³ of falling apart. The Houthis, a Yemeni rebel group, took over the government earlier this year. Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition⁴ of nearby countries in airstrikes against the Houthis. Some of them have been killed. Some civilians⁵ have been killed. The Houthi rebel leader refuses to surrender and the country's become a focus of international concern. What happens here and who winds up in charge of Yemen after the violence settles could shape the religious and political future of the Middle East.

 

Yemen is home to about 26 million people. It doesn't have many natural resources, so accordingly, it is one of the poorest Arab states. So why are so many other nations interested in the rebels there, who have attacked the government? And why has a coalition of other Arab nations put together a military force to fight those rebels?

 

Three big reasons.

 

First of all, this is a religious conflict. The rebels are Shiites. The government they pushed out there was Sunni. Many of the nations out here have mixes of Sunnis and Shiites in them. Anyway that this conflict plays out has a chance of affecting the overall mix and influence of those religions here. It's all Islam, but there's still a power struggle going on.

 

Secondly⁶, this is a proxy war between two very big powers, Saudi Arabia, just to the north of Yemen there, and Iran over here. Again, Iran is Shiite, Saudi Arabia is Sunni. However this plays out in Yemen, will have an impact on who is seen as the victor here and what sort of influence they continue to have in that region.

 

And lastly, this conflict has put the United States in a very peculiar⁷ position at a sensitive time. Remember, Saudi Arabia is a long-time partner of the United States, and an ally. But if the U.S. backs them too much, they could upset these delicate talks going on with Iran over its nuclear program.

 

On top of all of that, Yemen has long been home to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and all of this is happening at a time when the United States and other Western powers want allies there against al-Qaeda, against ISIS and against other terrorist groups.

 

All of that has made Yemen not merely a flashpoint now, but a global focal point.

1 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

2 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

3 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 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。

6 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

7 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。