VOA标准英语2008年-Georgia Key to Democracy Building in Caucasus

Tensions remain high between Russia and Georgia, especially over the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Georgia's bid to become part of NATO. In this report from Washington, Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at why Georgia is so important for the West.
　
Mikhail Saakashvili (file photo)

Relations between Moscow and Tbilisi have been strained ever since Mikhail Saakashvili was elected president of Georgia more than four years ago following a popular movement known as the "Rose Revolution." And in January of this year, Mr. Saakashvili was re-elected, saying he would pursue many of the policies he began during his first term in office.

Sources of tensions

Analysts¹ say many of the tensions between Russia and Moscow can be attributed to Mr. Saakashvili's pro-western policies, including his goal of membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - or NATO. During a recent trip to Georgia, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated Washington's support for Georgia's NATO membership bid.

Russia vehemently² opposes Georgia's desire to become a NATO member. Jason Lyall with Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) says Russia's strong opposition³ is part of President Dmitri Medvedev's robust⁴ foreign policy.

"To imagine this from a Russian perspective, you would now have a Georgia inside NATO," he said. "And Georgia borders unto Chechnya. And it is very hard to think of a more sensitive issue for Russians than Chechnya. And now you would have NATO membership right on its doorstep in the north Caucasus."

"So this is caught up with that. It is also caught up now with [President] Medvedev's desire to show a more strident Russian foreign policy, a more prestige-seeking policy. This would be a huge blow to his regime if NATO could move this close into what are considered vital Russian national interests," he continued.

Another major source of friction⁵ between Georgia and Russia is the issue of the breakaway, separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia - two regions within Georgia, but bordering Russia. They declared their independence from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.

President Saakashvili has vowed⁶ to restore Georgia's territorial⁷ integrity by bringing them back into the fold. But analysts say little progress has been accomplished⁸ in that area, especially since Russia has been increasing economic and political ties with the two regions.

Why is Georgia so important?

Experts say the West is looking with interest and concern at developments in Georgia, especially as President Saakashvili tries to consolidate⁹ democratic gains there. Svante Cornell is with Stockholm's Institute for Security and Development Policy.

"After the 'Rose Revolution' four years ago, Georgia has truly been the country in the former Soviet¹⁰ bloc¹¹, after the Baltic states in the early 1990s, to thoroughly¹² remake their country, to reform and to install a democratic government that is a functioning independent state - although there is, of course, a long way to go before Georgia consolidates¹³ its democracy," he said.

"It has made tremendous progress and has become a model and a symbol of what can actually be achieved - in anti-corruption and democracy building. And Russia doesn't like that. But for the West, of course, if Georgia fails, if Georgia is allowed to fall, this means that any hopes that we may have of democracy building in this part of the world, in this south-eastern corner of Europe, is going to fail," he added.

Many experts, including Ronald Suny from the University of Chicago, say Georgia is important to the West for another reason.

"It's a corridor - a very important corridor - for oil from the Caspian region going to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean¹⁴ through Turkey," he said. "So it's now an area that has become economically important as well."

Role U.S. plays

Since the collapse¹⁵ of the Soviet Union, the United States has provided Georgia with considerable aid to support its political and economic reforms. Svante Cornell says Washington has a lot at stake in Georgia.

"Across the region, from Ukraine over the Caucasus to Central Asia, there is no country in which the United States has invested so much of its prestige as in Georgia - which means that if suddenly Georgia is allowed to fail and if the United States does not stand up for Georgia and Georgia's integrity and security, every government from Kiev to Tashkent will draw the conclusion that the United States is not a serious partner. And in that sense, for a very long time, it will undermine U.S. interests in the whole of Eurasia," he said.

Cornell and other analysts say the United States and other western nations could play an important diplomatic role in defusing tensions between Russia and Georgia in order to keep the situation in that volatile¹⁶ region from spiraling out of control.

1 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。

2 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

5 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

8 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

9 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

10 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。

11 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

12 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

13 consolidates   

巩固

参考例句：

• We've made a good start, now it's time to consolidate. 我们有了一个良好的开端，现在应该加以巩固。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Yuan Shih-k'ai, a would-be Oriental Bonaparte, now attempted to consolidate his power. 当时，一度可能成为东方波拿巴的袁世凯试图巩固他的权力。 来自英汉非文学 - 新闻报道

14 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

15 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

16 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。