美国国家公共电台 NPR--温迪·谢尔曼代表拜登政府与俄罗斯的战略对话

Wendy Sherman leads the Biden administration's strategic dialogue with Russia

Transcript¹

The Biden administration has sent Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on some tough assignments — from negotiating with Russian officials to visiting China.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

If Russia chooses diplomacy² over conflict in Ukraine, you may start hearing the name Wendy Sherman more often. She's the deputy secretary of state and has led the Biden administration's strategic dialogue with Russia. As NPR's diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen reports, it's a tough assignment in a world where China and Russia are both challenging the U.S.-led global order.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE⁴: When she attended a recent NATO-Russia council meeting, Wendy Sherman didn't have her usual scripted remarks. Instead, she tells NPR, she scribbled⁵ down some notes as she listened to the Russians and others speak.

WENDY SHERMAN: And I wanted to make sure that the world knew two things. One, it had not always been thus - that in World War II, we had fought together, we and Russia, for the liberation of Europe, and that what we were talking about here was sticking with the principles that were established after World War II by which the world has operated.

KELEMEN: Sherman made it personal, talking about her Jewish grandmother, who was born in what's now Ukraine, and her father, who enlisted⁶ as a marine⁷ in World War II.

SHERMAN: The few words that I spoke⁸ seemed to match the moment. There was a lot of silence. And, quite frankly⁹, other members came up to me because they had lived this or their parents have lived this. And what I said was their lives and what was at stake here.

KELEMEN: Sherman has known her Russian counterpart, Sergei Ryabkov, for years. They negotiated over Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and over Iran's nuclear program during the Obama administration. Republicans often criticize her for her role in that Iran deal, which the Trump¹⁰ administration left. But Thomas Graham of the Council on Foreign Relations says politicians need to be realistic. Adversaries¹¹ don't just capitulate, he says. Diplomacy is about making compromises, as he found out leading talks with Russia during the Bush administration.

THOMAS GRAHAM: Compromises have to - are mutual¹². Russians have to give something. We have to give something in an effort to find a way towards a resolution that avoids a military conflict, which I think neither side really wants.

KELEMEN: Graham worries that the 24/7 news cycle makes it harder for diplomats¹³ to work quietly behind closed doors. Wendy Sherman often compares negotiations¹⁴ to mushrooms, which, as she puts it, do best in the dark.

A former social worker from Baltimore, Sherman first joined the State Department in the Clinton administration and says she learned a lot as a top aide to Madeleine Albright, America's first female secretary of state.

SHERMAN: She taught me early on that when one negotiates, I am not really Wendy Sherman or even a woman or a 72-year-old grandmother. I am the United States of America. And if one understands that, you come to the table with an enormous amount of power, and one has to use it wisely.

KELEMEN: That was a time when the U.S. was at the height of its power, though, says Graham. He says that power started waning¹⁵ when he was in government with the quagmires¹⁶ in Iraq and Afghanistan and the 2008 financial crisis.

GRAHAM: We lost our reputation for wise policy. We lost our reputation for competence¹⁷. And that, I think, sparked the revisionism that you've seen or reinforced the revisionism you've seen on the part of Russia and China over the past 10 to 15 years.

KELEMEN: While he describes Sherman as a professional negotiator, he says it's the White House that will have to come up with an effective strategy to deal with these revisionist powers. Stanford University's Rose Gottemoeller says it's a tough world out there, starting with China.

ROSE GOTTEMOELLER: It has risen rapidly and is modernizing¹⁸ its nuclear forces and throwing its financial weight around, but also with the Russians now being so assertive¹⁹ in such a - such an overwhelmingly negative way.

KELEMEN: And that makes it hard for any U.S. diplomat³, says Gottemoeller, a former NATO deputy secretary general.

GOTTEMOELLER: You know, there's a question out there - how effective can the United States and its normally pragmatic and problem-solving approach - how effective can the United States be in these circumstances? Also, at a time when many people around the world are questioning the U.S. ability to govern itself, as well.

KELEMEN: The Biden administration has looked to Deputy Secretary Sherman to test the waters. In addition to negotiating with the Russians, she was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit China last year.

Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

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 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

6 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

12 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

13 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 quagmires   

n.沼泽地，泥潭( quagmire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The deer, looking soaked, leave quagmires, where they pass. 湿淋淋的野鹿经过的地方，留下了一个个的泥塘。 来自辞典例句

17 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

18 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

19 assertive   

adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的

参考例句：

• She always speaks an assertive tone.她总是以果断的语气说话。
• China appears to have become more assertive in the waters off its coastline over recent years.在近些年，中国显示出对远方海洋的自信。