VOA标准英语2011--Soviet Collapse Altered Ongoing World Power Balance

Soviet¹ Collapse² Altered Ongoing³ World Power Balance

 

The collapse of the Soviet Union 20 years ago changed the world’s geopolitical balance.

When the Soviet Union fell, it ended the tenure⁴ of a superpower with the resources of more than a dozen countries. The fall left its largest component⁵, Russia, unable to wield⁶ anything like the global clout⁷ that the Soviet Union had for decades.

Russia expert James Nixey of London’s Chatham House research center said Russians are still struggling to come to terms with that.

Empire lost

“Those days are over, and Russia needs to reconcile itself to the fact it is no longer an empire. The empire is gone. And its ‘sphere of influence’ is an anachronism to which nobody else subscribes,” said Nixey.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Thomas Pickering said after 1991 the world developed somewhat along the lines Russia expected, and the United States did not want.

“The Russians early on talked about multipolarity. Multipolarity became a dirty word in the United States - we didn’t like it. But in the end Russia and China and India, to its own extent, Europe and Japan, are all major players on the world scene - Brazil perhaps, that we’ll have to look at and work with, and we need to find new ways to deal with,” said Pickering.

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev (C) makes his last annual state of the nation address at the Kremlin in Moscow December 22, 2011.

Russia continues to try to assert itself in international affairs.

And it recently joined the World Trade Organization, a move Russian delegate Anatoly Chubais said is the first step toward a more prominent international role.

“After almost a hundred years of the very complicated Russian history, after the Bolshevik Revolution, after the Democratic Revolution in 1991, Russia is coming back to the civilized⁸ world," said Chubais.

Playing a positive part

A more constructive⁹ role likely would be welcomed by the West, which has worked with Russia on a few issues, including North Korea.

“Normally, Russia is a spoiler in international relations. It wants a global role. It wants to sit astride the world stage and act as it used to be able to do. And it can still do that to a certain extent. But for the most part, it acts as a spoiler or a counterweight to the West, at best,” said Nixey.

The world has changed a lot since the fall of the Soviet Union. China has become a major world power. The European Union has expanded into the old Soviet sphere of influence, and may go farther into the former Soviet Union itself. Militant¹⁰ groups have sought new benefactors¹¹.

Experts say 20 years later Russia’s leaders are facing a choice - try to regain¹² the past glory of the Soviet Union, which could be irrevocably lost, or become constructive partners in the multipolar world the country’s former leaders once envisioned.

1 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。

2 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。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

5 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

6 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

7 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

8 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

9 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

10 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

11 benefactors   

n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人

参考例句：

• I rate him among my benefactors. 我认为他是我的一个恩人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We showed high respect to benefactors. 我们对捐助者表达了崇高的敬意。 来自辞典例句

12 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。