美国国家公共电台 NPR--Biden will make his first presidential trip to the Middle East next month

Biden will make his first presidential trip to the Middle East next month

Transcript¹

President Biden will go to Israel and Saudi Arabia in July — a trip where he wants to work on security, economic and energy issues.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden is planning to go to the Middle East next month. It's his first trip to the region since entering the Oval Office. Now, while Biden has spoken a lot about a reset³ for foreign policy after four years of Donald Trump⁴'s isolationist worldview, it hasn't been clear what exactly that reset means for the Middle East. Let's bring in NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid. All right. So the trip is in July. What do you know about where he's going and what he'll be doing?

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE⁵: He'll have three stops, Israel, the West Bank and then Saudi Arabia. And he'll meet with nearly a dozen counterparts from the Arab region. The president will begin his travel in Israel on July 13. Biden does also intend to meet with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and reiterate⁶ his administration's support for a two-state solution. From there, he'll then go on to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, where he'll attend a summit with nine regional heads of state.

MART?NEZ: Now, the Israel part of the trip - all U.S. presidents typically make a trip to Israel early on in their presidency⁷. So what is President Biden hoping to do there?

KHALID: Well, earlier this year, Congress passed the largest funding package for Israel in U.S. history. And a lot of that money is geared toward missile defense⁸. The president will likely visit an area where those defense systems are used. He will also focus on this trip on Israel's economic and political integration⁹ in the region. A senior administration official officially - you know, he cited the Abraham Accords as part of that. You might recall those were the deals negotiated in late 2020 by the Trump administration between Israel and some neighboring Arab nations. This White House has embraced the Abraham Accords. But, you know, there are certainly critics out there who say that that cuts Palestinians out of the equation. I spoke² to Khaled Elgindy about all of this. He's a former adviser¹⁰ to Palestinian leadership, now at the Middle East Institute. And he pointed¹¹ out that the Biden administration has maintained a number of Trump's policies here, whether it's keeping the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem or recognizing the Golan Heights as part of Israel.

KHALED ELGINDY: It's not a shared vision or shared politics, but I think it's just inertia¹². I think it's a lack of political will. It's a desire to avoid the issue as much as possible. But doing very little has consequences.

MART?NEZ: Now, I know the president is getting some political heat from fellow Democrats¹³ over the trip. They don't understand why he would go to Saudi Arabia after saying during the campaign that the kingdom is a pariah¹⁴ state. So Asma, what has changed there?

KHALID: Well, you're right. Middle East experts, you know, they tell me that it's the reality of aspirations¹⁵ getting hit upside the head by just real-world problems. Biden made those comments, calling Saudi Arabia a pariah, because of the public outcry over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That's something that U.S. intelligence has determined¹⁶ was approved by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin¹⁷ Salman. Experts tell me it might have been easier for Biden to continue to give Saudi the cold shoulder. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to a spike¹⁸ in oil prices. So having an oil-rich ally by your side like Saudi is important right now. I will say, A, though, that there is another dynamic at play here. You know, the president himself has spoken about the need to go to Saudi for broader national security reasons. A senior administration official told us reporters last night that the truce¹⁹ in the war in Yemen is a good example of effective engagement with the Saudis. And this White House has made it clear that it wants a secure and stable Middle East. It wants to focus on other parts of the country - other parts of the world, you know, namely China. It doesn't want the Middle East to be a distraction²⁰.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Asma Khalid. Thanks a lot.

KHALID: My pleasure.

(SOUNDBITE OF TOMMY GUERRERO'S "SLOW ROLL")

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 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。

3 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

4 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。

5 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。

6 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

7 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。

8 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。

9 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

10 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。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。

13 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。

15 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

16 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

17 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

18 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

19 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

20 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。