VOA标准英语2009年-Obama, Medvedev Expected to Review Progres

By André de Nesnera
Washington
17 September 2009

 
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (L) shares a laugh with US President Barack Obama at Group of Eight (G8) summit in L'Aquila, Italy, 10 Jul 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev are expected to review progress later this month on a follow-on treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, that expires this December.

During a July summit meeting in Moscow, Presidents Obama and Medvedev agreed on the basic principles of a treaty to replace the existing START I accord that expires December 5.

Complex accord
 

More than 1,000 pages long, the START agreement is one of the most complex treaties in history dealing¹ with reducing nuclear weapons. It was signed in 1991 by U.S. President George Herbert Walker Bush and Soviet² President Mikhail Gorbachev. It came into force in 1994.

Experts say the United States has about 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads deployed³ on approximately 1,000 delivery systems - land-based or sea-based missiles and heavy bombers⁴. Russia has approximately 2,700 strategic nuclear warheads deployed on about 700 delivery systems. 

New parameters⁵
 

Steve Andreasen, an arms control expert at the University of Minnesota, says at their July summit, Presidents Obama and Medvedev sketched⁶ out the parameters of a new accord to replace START I.

"They agreed that in terms of strategic nuclear warheads to be limited, the two sides would basically work to get to a range of 1,500 to 1,675 warheads on both sides. And they also agreed that on the question of limiting nuclear delivery vehicles, they would agree to limitations in a range between 500 and 1,100," he said.

The START I treaty also established stringent⁷ and very intrusive⁸ verification procedures.

Frank Miller⁹, former senior official on the National Security staff under President George W. Bush, says those provisions were a crucial part of the treaty.

"They were extremely important, certainly to [U.S. Senate] ratification¹⁰," he said. "They overcame a long period of distrust between the United States and the then Soviet Union because it allowed each side to have greater confidence that the other side was abiding¹¹ by the rules in the treaty."

Verification is key
 

Many experts, including Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a private research firm, say one of the key issues facing current U.S. and Russian negotiators is verification.

"How many of the verification and monitoring provisions from the existing START agreement will be carried over in the future. Those provisions were negotiated during a time when there was much less trust and transparency between the two countries. Today, both sides agree that fewer inspections¹² are needed, fewer monitoring techniques are needed - but they still need to agree on which ones," he said.

Experts also say negotiators have to agree on so-called "counting rules" - what strategic nuclear delivery systems will be counted in the new accord and how many warheads will be attributed to those delivery vehicles. 

"The Russians want to count delivery systems. The Americans would rather just count the warheads. There will be some compromise in the end," said Daryl Kimball.

Will deadline be met?
 

Arms control negotiators are racing¹³ to get the treaty completed by the December 5 deadline. To enter into force, the new pact¹⁴ will have to be ratified¹⁵ by the Russian parliament - or Duma - and the U.S. Senate.

Former senior National Security official Frank Miller says it is doubtful the ratification deadlines will be met.

"I have talked with people on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and they suggest that it would take several months for the Senate to organize itself and to hold proper hearings, which would allow U.S. Senate advice and consent to the treaty, ratification of the treaty. So we do face a prospect¹⁶ that the START treaty will expire without a replacement¹⁷ actually being in place by December 5th," he said.

Miller looks at some alternatives available to negotiators.

"Well, if the parties are negotiating in good faith, they can agree that they will continue the existing treaty in force, in a de facto if not de jure manner, until the new treaty is in place," he explained. "They can agree not to take any steps which would undercut the START I treaty and the follow-on treaty that is being negotiated, until such time as the follow-on treaty is ratified and in place."

Recent statements by American and Russian officials indicate progress has been made since Presidents Obama and Medvedev in July gave their negotiators the parameters of a START I follow-on treaty.

But experts say it is unclear whether the progress is enough to complete a new strategic arms control pact by the end of the year.

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 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。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 parameters   

因素，特征； 界限； （限定性的）因素( parameter的名词复数 )； 参量； 参项； 决定因素

参考例句：

• We have to work within the parameters of time. 我们的工作受时间所限。
• See parameters.cpp for a compilable example. This is part of the Spirit distribution. 可编译例子见parameters.cpp.这是Spirit分发包的组成部分。

6 sketched   

v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The historical article sketched the major events of the decade. 这篇有关历史的文章概述了这十年中的重大事件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He sketched the situation in a few vivid words. 他用几句生动的语言简述了局势。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 stringent   

adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的

参考例句：

• Financiers are calling for a relaxation of these stringent measures.金融家呼吁对这些严厉的措施予以放宽。
• Some of the conditions in the contract are too stringent.合同中有几项条件太苛刻。

8 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

9 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

10 ratification   

n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• The treaty is awaiting ratification.条约正等待批准。
• The treaty is subject to ratification.此条约经批准后才能生效。

11 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

12 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

14 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

15 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。

16 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

17 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。