VOA标准英语2011--Financial Crisis Hits NATO Funding

Financial Crisis Hits NATO Funding

Europe’s economic problems are making it even more difficult for the continent’s governments to fund often unpopular defense¹ programs. That is threatening to hurt the NATO alliance’s efforts to upgrade its capabilities² so it can respond to unexpected crises anywhere in the world.

When the U.N. Security Council voted in March to launch a mission to defend Libyan civilians³, there was only one military force that could handle the job: NATO.

The alliance was able to dispatch ships and aircraft to protect Libyan civilians, and ended up turning the tide of the uprising that ousted⁴ Moammar Gadhafi.

“Libya proved that there are no other choices. When the U.N. decides on a mission, who else but NATO could take it over?,” said French Air Force General Stephane Abrial, NATO’s supreme⁵ commander for transformation⁶.

But that capability⁷ is being threatened by Europe’s economic crisis, exacerbating⁸ the difficulty European leaders have had for years convincing their people that defense spending is important.

Former British defense official Daniel Korski, says Libya was a success for NATO’s transformation efforts, but Europe’s economic crisis and the budget-cutting effort in the United States could slow them down.

“We are living in an age of austerity, and people are cutting their defense budgets as much as they can, and in an uncoordinated fashion. So we are really seeing a very varied⁹ agenda being threatened evermore because different nations are basically cutting to survive, rather than to build capability,” Korski said.

The former head of the European Union’s defense agency, Nick Witney, says it is not so much a lack of money as a lack of coordination¹⁰, and of interest in defense issues among ordinary Europeans.

“We are not actually short of defense spending in Europe. What we are short of is using it properly, spending it on the right things, spending it effectively together. And we do not do that because we do not take defense seriously,” Witney said.

For General Abrial that is a problem, because he says it is impossible to predict where or when the next crisis will break out or what military capability NATO will need to address it.

“We need to be ready, we need to have the necessary capabilities available to face any kind of operation across the spectrum¹¹, and we need to have these forces and these capabilities readily available when crisis emerges. We do not design the calendar,” Abrial said.

General Abrial says NATO needs more resources, more coordination and more partners to meet its ambition to remain the world’s premier¹² defense alliance, and to develop new high-tech¹³ capabilities to defend against missile and cyber attacks.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 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。

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

9 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

10 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

11 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

12 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

13 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。