VOA常速英语207--美国关于应对全球性挑战的几个方案

The world is getting smaller. And that means that too often, regional conflicts and threats to peace that only a few decades ago would have quickly burned themselves out, thanks to new technologies, as well as ease of travel and global communication, can now quickly turn into a global threat.

世界正变得越来越小。而这也意味着，几十年前能够很快自我平息的地区冲突与和平威胁，会由于新科技的出现以及交通和全球通信的便捷而迅速成为全球性威胁。

Global threats require a global response, and that is why the United States works in partnership¹ with other countries. But “complex challenges require new approaches to working together with U.S. allies and partners worldwide to promote international peace and security,” writes public affairs specialist at the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs David McKeeby, in a recent blog post. One way to do this is to more effectively link diplomacy² and defense³, thus finding new avenues by which to deliver the tools and training that strengthen our allies' capabilities⁴ to adapt and respond to these challenges.

全球性威胁需要全球作出响应，这也是美国与其他多个国家合作的原因。但“复杂的挑战需要美国采用新的方式与其全世界的盟友及伙伴进行合作，以推动全球和平与稳定，” 国务院政治军事事务局的公共事务专家大卫麦基(David McKeeby)比在他最近的一篇博客中写道。实现这一目标的方法之一是将外交与国防更有效地连接起来，从而找到新的方法，为我们的盟友提供工具和培训，增强他们适应和应对上述复杂挑战的能力。

The United States has several programs to achieve this goal. First, we offer numerous grants to help our partners invest in U.S. equipment and training, including funding for peacekeeping operations aimed at helping⁵ nations recover from conflict. The funds come from 6 billion dollars' worth of Security Assistance programs administered by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Foreign Military Financing.

为了实现这一目标，美国启动了几个方案。首先，我们提供大量的资助，以帮助我们的伙伴们对美国的设备和培训进行投资，其中包括旨在让战乱国家恢复秩序的维和行动资金。这笔资金划拨自60亿的安全援助项目，该项目由政治军事局对外军事资助部门负责。

Second, the Foreign Military Sales system is an essential U.S. foreign policy tool. It is a form of security assistance that allows the United States to transfer defense equipment and services to our partners worldwide, once the President formally finds that doing so will strengthen the security of the U.S. and promote world peace.

其次，对外军售系统也是美国不可或缺的外交政策工具。对外军售系统是一种安全援助形式，能让我们向全世界的合作伙伴转让国防设备和服务，一旦总统真正发现这样做能够加强美国的安全并促进世界和平。

Then there is the Lead Nation Procurement⁶ Initiative, a pilot program that allows our NATO allies to transfer to other NATO members, military equipment purchased from the United States. The goal is to maintain flexibility⁷, keep down costs, yet still be able to keep track of the equipment. We have also updated forty-year-old rules regarding U.S. disbursement⁸ of defense equipment and services, to speed up the delivery of spare parts.

再次还有领导国采购倡议，这是一个试点项目，能让我们北约盟国向其他北约内的盟国转让从美国购买的军事设备。该项目的目标是保证灵活性、压低价格，同时还能跟踪设备动态。此外，为了加快零部件的交付，我们更新了关于美国提供国防设备和服务的四十年规则。

“While we cannot see what lies ahead in 2017,” writes David McKeeby, “you can count on the United States' continued commitment to expanding these partnerships⁹ to meet new and emerging security challenges.”

“虽然我们不知道2017年会发生什么，”大卫写道，“但大家还是可以信赖美国关于扩大伙伴关系以应对新兴安全挑战的持久承诺。”

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 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。

4 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

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 procurement   

n.采购；获得

参考例句：

• He is in charge of the procurement of materials.他负责物资的采购。
• More and more,human food procurement came to have a dominant effect on their evolution.人类获取食物愈来愈显著地影响到人类的进化。

7 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

8 disbursement   

n.支付，付款

参考例句：

• Marine bill of lading showing any disbursement charges marked COLLECT not acceptable. 海运提单上显示的任何费用标明“到付”将不予接受。
• This makes the disbursement of 51 channel is very convenient. 这就使得51的支付渠道非常方便。

9 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