美国国家公共电台 NPR The current Russia-Ukraine crisis has been 30 years in the making

The current Russia-Ukraine crisis has been 30 years in the making

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, who has met with Putin throughout his presidency², about what moves he might make next.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Ukraine is under attack this morning. Russia is launching strikes across the country. The Kremlin has called this a special military operation, not a war. Angela Stent is senior adviser³ to the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies. She's also the author of a number of books about Russia and its President Vladimir Putin. Angela, we've been warned about this. The Biden administration has been warning about this for a while now. Are you surprised, though, that Vladimir Putin went ahead and went with this attack?

ANGELA STENT: I'm not too surprised. I mean, when you look at the military buildup - and it kept escalating⁴ and, every time we had diplomatic talks with the Russians, they escalated⁵ again. I think some of us thought this would be a slower process. It would be more salami tactics and piecemeal⁶. But this is a full-scale invasion despite the Orwellian language that the Russians use.

MARTINEZ: Before we get to his long game, Angela, what would you say his immediate⁷ goals are for doing this?

STENT: The immediate goal is to change the government in Kyiv, to have a government come in that's going to be pro-Russian. And, you know, in essence, they've said they want to demilitarize Ukraine. But the main thing is to have a different government there and one that will stop Ukraine's movement westward⁸.

MARTINEZ: And that figures into the long game because you've written about what you call the Putin doctrine⁹, and so this crisis has been 30 years in the making. Help us understand why.

STENT: Well, I think Putin, of course, has said that the collapse¹⁰ of the Soviet¹¹ Union was a great geopolitical catastrophe¹² of the 20th century. And I think, since he's been in power for 22 years now, he has been doggedly¹³ trying to reverse what happened in 1991 and to at least restore a sphere of influence that Russia can have over the post-Soviet states and to really challenge the European security order that emerged in the 1990s.

MARTINEZ: Why do you think now, though? I mean, he's turning 70 later this year. Do you think that has anything to do with it? Because I - he's been acting¹⁴ and sounding as if legacy¹⁵ means a lot to him.

STENT: Yeah, I think his legacy as he sees it is to reunite Ukraine with Russia. And, you know, that's his immediate objective. And I think why now also has to do with what he sees as the weakness of the West, looking at the United States and all the problems we have in the European South. And he thought this was a time to strike. And I think he also believed that the Ukrainian government was weak and therefore this would be reasonably easy to do.

MARTINEZ: President Biden and NATO commanders have both said they won't send troops into NATO - into Ukraine. Ukraine is not part of NATO. They've also said they won't allow a full-scale Russian invasion. So what does war look like with Russia if it comes to that?

STENT: Well, the - NATO does not want to go to war with Russia, and that's why that - you know, you're not going to have U.S. troops in Ukraine. We can't get into a direct fight with the Russians. We're both nuclear superpowers. What worries me is containing Russian-Ukrainian war so that it doesn't spread to neighboring NATO members like Poland and Romania because that could ignite a much larger conflict.

MARTINEZ: Would that be your number one piece of advice? President Biden is going to be speaking to the G-7 leaders around Europe to plan a response. So if you were advising him, what would you say?

STENT: Yeah, I mean, I think they have to be very vigilant¹⁶. They have to beef up NATO's forces around Ukraine. But I think everybody has to be very careful that this doesn't ignite into something greater.

MARTINEZ: Angela Stent is director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies. Angela, thank you.

STENT: Thank you.

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 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

5 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

6 piecemeal   

adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块

参考例句：

• A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.叙述缺乏吸引力，读者读到的只是一些支离破碎的片段。
• Let's settle the matter at one stroke,not piecemeal.把这事一气儿解决了吧，别零敲碎打了。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

9 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

10 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。

11 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。

12 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

13 doggedly   

adv.顽强地，固执地

参考例句：

• He was still doggedly pursuing his studies.他仍然顽强地进行着自己的研究。
• He trudged doggedly on until he reached the flat.他顽强地、步履艰难地走着，一直走回了公寓。

14 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

15 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

16 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。