国际组织动向—联合国状态不准

Ailing¹ UN

联合国状态不准

 

The United Nations is at a "critical point, a moment no less decisive than 1945, when it was founded," said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the height of the bitter divisions in the Security Council prior to the war in Iraq. Since then, the organization has been further battered³ by the oil-for-food scandal, its failure to respond effectively to the human tragedy taking place in Sudan's Darfur region and charges of abusive conduct by UN peacekeepers.

 

UN Reform Plan

 

Faced with an onslaught of criticism, Secretary General Kofi Annan started working on a major reform plan to enable the UN to act more vigorously. During the next year, governments will discuss a much-pared down version of this plan, endorsed⁵ at this month's UN Global Summit in New York.

 

To many critics, the UN remains⁶ frozen in the last century's Cold War, unable to meet today's challenges. The harshest criticism of the world body often comes from its largest contributor and founding member, the United States. Some US lawmakers even question the very idea of the United Nations as a significant actor in international peace and security.

 

UN defenders⁷ view the organization as an indispensable tool for building a global community of shared commitments and values. They note that the well being of America and the world are intertwined.

 

Global Challenges for the UN

 

Benjamin Barber is Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland, a member of the Democracy Collaborative, an international consortium of more than 20 of the world's leading academic centers and citizen engagement organizations.

 

Benjamin Barber: We live in a world of nuclear proliferation, global warming, new diseases and terrorism. Every one of those problems is interdependent in nature. Even a hegemonic power like the United States is incapable⁸ of treating successfully with those challenges by itself. The nature of the modern interdependent world demands and mandates⁹ cooperation, multilateralism, collaboration¹⁰ and working through organizations like the United Nations.

 

Professor Barber says in order to meet contemporary threats, while promoting human rights, democracy, and development, the UN must go through a radical¹¹ overhaul¹². He contends many of the challenges facing the United Nations as a whole are mirrored in the Security Council, whose permanent members are the five nations that emerged victorious¹³ from World War Two.

 

Benjamin Barber: The real problem with the UN Security Council today is that there are new nations that include Pakistan, India, Germany and Japan, the losers of World War Two, as well as Brazil and Nigeria that go completely unrepresented and whose interests are very important. The balancing act is how to expand the Security Council to better represent the real distribution of power in a multi-polar world.

 

But many analysts¹⁴ say different perceptions of what constitutes a threat to global security are often the biggest obstacles to international cooperation. Ken¹⁵ Guden, head of the International Rights and Responsibilities Program at the Center for American Progress here in Washington, observes that different political, economic and regional factions¹⁶ have emerged since the end of the Cold War.

 

Ken Guden: The United States and many countries in Europe view terrorism and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction as the key threats to international peace and security. But if you look at many developing world, they perceive issues like poverty and disease as their key threats or top priorities. So we have a world community that not only does not see the world the same, but speaking with different voices.

 

Mr. Guden says a reformed UN should find ways to meet all of these concerns.

 

The Fundamental Problem with the UN

 

But according to Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations based in New York and author of the newly published book: The Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course, no amount of reform at the United Nations can fix the world's problems.

 

Richard Haass: Reform will not matter and the reason is that organizational issues are not at the core of the problem. The real reason the UN is in trouble is because there is very little consensus¹⁷ among the major powers of today as to how international relations ought to be structured. The UN is not the cause of that problem; it is simply a reflection of the problem. So trying to fix the reflection of the problem will not deal with the root cause of the problem.

 

Mr. Haass offers a new grand strategy for America, that of building "a cooperative order of great powers," organized around institutions and partnerships¹⁸ outside of the UN that would center on specific problems -- genocide, failed states, pandemic disease and climate change.

 

Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker of the US House of Representatives and co-chairman of a Congressional task force on UN reform agrees. He notes that weak reforms, coupled with reports of UN corruption¹⁹ and mismanagement, make a strong case for nations to look elsewhere to turn common interests into action. He argues that a system of alliances under American leadership may better represent the globalizing forces of the 21st century.

 

Newt Gingrich: This is the end of the structure of 1945. A new structure will gradually emerge over the next ten years. To the degree the UN has reformed, that structure should include the UN. For those things the UN can't do, we will create other kinds of organizations, regional if possible, permanent if possible, ad hoc if necessary, unilaterally only if unavoidable.

 

Still, defenders and critics of the United Nations agree that the world organization, though not the linchpin of global power, remains an important player in preserving international peace and security.

 

For focus, I’m Jela De Franceschi.

 

注释：

batter² [5bAtE(r)] vt. 接连重击

scandal [5skAndl] n. 丑闻

abusive [E5bju:siv] adj. 辱骂的，滥用的

onslaught [5RnslC:t] n. 冲击

vigorously [5vi^ErEsli] adv. 精神旺盛地

endorse⁴ [in5dC:s] v. 签署

indispensable [7indis5pensEbl] adj. 不可缺少的，绝对必要的

consortium [kEn5sC:tjEm] n. 社团，协会，联盟

hegemonic [7hidVi5mCnik] adj. 霸权的

overhaul [5EuvEhC:l] n. 彻底检查

multi-polar 多极的

consensus [kEn5sensEs] n. 意见一致

pandemic [pAn5demik] adj. （大范围）传染病的；大流行病的

ad hoc [5Ad5hCk] adv. 特别

unilaterally [ju:ni5lAtEr(E)li] adv. 单方面地；单边地

linchpin [5lintFpin] n. 关键

1 ailing   

v.生病

参考例句：

• They discussed the problems ailing the steel industry. 他们讨论了困扰钢铁工业的问题。
• She looked after her ailing father. 她照顾有病的父亲。

2 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

3 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

4 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

5 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

9 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

10 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

13 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

14 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

15 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

16 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

17 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

18 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。