VOA慢速英语--在索契峰会上 俄罗斯寻求在非洲的影响力

With Sochi Summit Meetings, Russia Seeks Influence in Africa

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to welcome national leaders from across Africa to the Black Sea port of Sochi for two days of talks.

Reports have described the event as the first major gathering¹ of African leaders in Russia since the collapse² of the Soviet³ Union in 1991.

The summit will be held at Sochi’s Olympic Park, which is where Russia held the 2014 Winter Olympics. It is expected to include as many as 10,000 politicians and business leaders from 35 African countries.

Russian officials hope the event will show that Russia is again interested in Africa and that the country is a world power. “Russia has things to offer in terms of … cooperation to African countries,” Putin’s spokesman said.

Russia’s history in Africa

Since the end of the Soviet Union, Russia has done relatively⁴ little on the African continent. For years, the government lacked the money and will to expand ties with Africa. But in recent years the country has sought to reestablish old ties and build new ones.

Paul Stronski is with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a research group based in Washington, DC. He notes that the Soviet Union had extensive relationships across Africa. It was involved in revolutionary movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau after the end of Portuguese⁵ rule. Russia also was involved in conflicts in the Republic of the Congo in the early 1960s, and between Ethiopia and Somalia in the 1970s.

However, “As the Soviet Union collapsed⁶, these relationships came to an abrupt⁷ halt,” Stronski says.

Also during the Soviet period, many of Africa’s political and military leaders were educated in Russia. Now, only three current African heads of state have ever studied in Russia or one of its traditional Eastern European allies.

Russia’s trade with Africa behind other areas

Russia’s foreign ministry⁸ notes a 350 percent increase in trade with African countries over the past 10 years. Russian companies are involved in several large projects in Africa, such as work on Egypt’s first nuclear power station and mining operations in Zimbabwe.

Yet arms deals are expected to be among the business deals Russian officials and businesses will be seeking at the summit in Sochi. Nuclear energy is another product that Russia is willing to sell. And oil development deals also are likely to be signed.

Russia will be looking to increase its current trade with Africa, which was worth about $20 billion last year. That is half of France’s trade with Africa and one tenth of China’s trade. All of that is less than the European Union’s yearly African trade, which observers estimate at $300 billion dollars.

Business deals and arms sales

The summit comes at a time when Russia’s economic growth has slowed. The economy has been hurt by low oil prices and five years of sanctions by Western countries. As a result, Russia is looking for new trading partners.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute notes that Russia has reached 23 security cooperation deals with African governments over the last five years. The country is believed to be the largest arms supplier in Africa.

Tim Stanley and Barnaby Fletcher are with Control Risks, a service that provides advice on international risk. The two argue that Russia is filling “gaps left by Western governments wary⁹ of condemnation” from voters at home. They say Russia can offer security experts including military contractors¹⁰ and disinformation specialists.

For example, in Guinea last week, police shot and killed nine pro-democracy protestors. Russian diplomats¹¹ have been supporting an effort by Guinea’s president for changing the constitution to enable him to seek a third term in office. Russia also has business interests in the country: the Russian aluminum¹² company Rusal gets one third of its aluminum-carrying rock, bauxite¹³, from Guinea.

Like China, Russia does not link human rights conditions or good governance requirements to its arms sales or security deals.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan made a visit to Angola earlier this year. He says Russia often uses corrupt¹⁴ “means to attempt to influence sovereign states, including their security and economic partnerships¹⁵.”

Some Western officials worry Russia will use its political and economic influence to persuade African nations to support Russia in the United Nations and other international agencies.

However, the Carnegie Endowment’s Paul Stronski believes that Western fears might be overstated. In a recent commentary, he wrote that there is a lot of “symbolism over substance” in Russia’s activities. They “create the appearance of paying outsized dividends¹⁶,” he wrote.

I’m Mario Ritter Jr.

Words in This Story

abrupt – adj. sudden and unexpected

sanction – n. punishment meant to force a country to observe international law usually in the form of economic restrictions¹⁷

gap – n. a space where something is missing

wary – adj. not showing complete trust in something

symbolism – n. something done that expressed an idea or is meant to influence someone

dividends – n. gains, desired results

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

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 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。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

6 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

7 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

10 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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》

12 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

13 bauxite   

n.铝土矿

参考例句：

• Aluminum is made from bauxite.铝是从铝土矿中提炼出的。
• The United States was vulnerable to shortages of chrome,bauxite,and platinum.美国的弱点是缺少铬、矾土和铂。

14 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

15 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

16 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

17 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制