VOA常速英语2008年-Providing Security to Failed States Yields Mixe

By Brian Padden
Washington
07 April 2008

Failed states are countries plagued by conflict, corruption¹, poverty and a lack of basic security. Advocates for international intervention² say security is necessary in order for weak states to be stabilized³, but international peacekeeping efforts have had mixed results. As VOA's Brian Padden reports, the cost and sacrifice required to help failed states often taxes the commitment of the countries trying to help.

These police cadets in Kosovo are being trained to replace NATO peacekeepers. Officer Gani Berisha says the training is a sign of European support for Kosovo to police itself.

"Looks like Europe and the Europeans are starting to implement⁴ their promises," He said. "They promised they would support us. It is starting off and I hope it will continue like this."

NATO first intervened in Kosovo in 1999 to stop the Serbs' repression⁵ of the ethnic⁶-Albanian majority. Earlier this year, Kosovo declared independence, and violence again erupted as concerns rose that ethnic Serbs might now be targeted for retribution.

While NATO is in Kosovo, the United Nations has deployed⁷ more than 140,000 peacekeepers in 20 countries around the world. U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jane Holl Lute⁸, the says the cost of these operations is growing.

"I arrived at peacekeeping in 2003 and our budget at the time was $1.8 billion. It is approaching $7.5 billion today," said Lute.

Critics of international intervention complain about the length and cost of peacekeeping missions, but Lute says most are relatively⁹ successful in preventing further conflict and state failure.

Iraq's situation is more complex. The U.S. invasion weakened Iraq as an independent state, and it remains¹⁰ wracked by violence five years later. But President Bush insists Iraq is on the path to recovery and will eventually emerge as a stable democracy.

Christopher Preble, the foreign policy director with the Cato Institute, says the U.S. experience in Iraq should serve as a cautionary tale.

"The lesson we should take away is these kinds of missions are fraught¹¹ with peril¹² for a whole host of reasons. In most instances the argument is to avoid military intervention unless it is absolutely necessary and they rarely are," said Preble.

U.S. Congressman¹³ Adam Smith, a Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, says the critical lesson to take from Iraq is the need to build true alliances to share the risks and the costs of intervention.

"We are far, far better off if we work with the rest of the world, whether it is Europe in dealing¹⁴ with the Balkans, Australia in the case of East Timor," said Smith. "I would even like us to get to the point where we can work with nations like China, India, Brazil and even someday Russia if we could improve the quality of our relationship, large growing nations that have a stake in global stability."

Liberia was once a failed state mired¹⁵ in civil war. Today Smith says it is slowly recovering, following intervention by African Union troops. The U.S. military plays a supporting role there, training the new Liberian army. "The one thing I constantly talk to them about is that your mission here is to protect people. That is what an army exists for. It is to protect people's civil liberties and defend their freedoms, " said Lieutenant¹⁶ Colonel Chris Wyatt, who coordinates the U.S. Army program.

And he says protecting people by providing a secure environment to rebuild is the first step in rehabilitating¹⁷ a failed state.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

5 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

8 lute   

n.琵琶，鲁特琴

参考例句：

• He idly plucked the strings of the lute.他漫不经心地拨弄着鲁特琴的琴弦。
• He knows how to play the Chinese lute.他会弹琵琶。

9 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。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

12 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

13 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

14 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

15 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

17 rehabilitating   

改造（罪犯等）( rehabilitate的现在分词 )； 使恢复正常生活； 使恢复原状； 修复

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• She was more concerned about protecting the public than rehabilitating the criminal. 她比较关心保护百姓，而不大关心改造罪犯。