Беловинцева, Иванов - Читаем газету, обсуждаем международную политику

Беловинцева Екатерина Гурьевна, Иванов Олег Петрович

Читаем газету, обсуждаем международную политику

A way to reading newspapers and discussing international politics

Данное учебное пособие рассчитано на широкий круг людей, изучающих английский язык: студентов языковых и неязыковых вузов, школьников старших классов спецшкол, а также широкий круг лиц, овладевших лексико-грамматической базой английского языка в объеме программы от начального уровня (elementary, pre-intermediate) и выше. Материал в пособии подобран таким образом, что им могут пользоваться как учащиеся, которые только начинают читать газету в оригинале, так и те, кто уже имеет некоторый опыт чтения оригинальной прессы и хочет совершенствовать свои навыки.

Цель пособия — активизировать языковые и речевые навыки обучаемых, расширить словарный запас и подготовить их к чтению оригинальной англоязычной прессы, а также любых других материалов общественно-политической тематики; научить обсуждать политические проблемы на английском языке и участвовать в дискуссиях.

SECTION A

I

1. Read the article and look up the meaning of the underlined words in the dictionary.

Tokyo and Seoul explore free-trade pact

Japan and South Korea will take a significant step this week towards signing a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA), an important concession for two Asian neighbors that have seen their relations worsened as the result of disagreements over their wartime history.

A spokesman for the Japan's prime minister said yesterday that the decision to try to forge an FTA would be announced during the prime minister's visit to South Korea this week, during which he will meet the country's President.

«The prime minister will point out that relations between the two have overcome some difficulties and will seek to transform the bilateral relationship so that it is more forward-looking», a spokesman said.

The decision forms part of Japan's policy of seeking individual FTAs with its trading partners and follows a similar agreement signed last year with Singapore. Negotiations are also

under way for an FTA with Mexico.

During his visit the prime minister is also expected to discuss relations with North Korea and other issues of mutual interest.

2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases.

To point out; a bilateral agreement; a concession; to be under way; to forge (an agreement/a policy); problems of mutual interest; negotiations; the prime minister is expected to discuss; to take a significant step towards/to.

3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases. Reproduce the sentences from the article with them.

Ожидается, что премьер министр обсудит; уступка; проходить (о переговорах); двустороннее соглашение; добиваться соглашения; подчеркивать; вопросы, представляющие взаимный интерес; значительно продвинуться вперед, переговоры.

4. Read the article again and answer the questions.

1. What significant event is expected in bilateral relations of Japan and South Korea? 2. What decision is to be announced during the prime minister's visit to South Korea? 3. What will the prime minister point out during his visit? 4. What is Japan's foreign policy line in this respect? 5. What other issues is the prime minister going to discuss?

II


Montenegro and Serbia agree to remain together

The European Union's foreign policy chief yesterday pulled off a significant diplomatic success after persuading the two Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro to stay together in a new union rather than opt for independence.

The agreement, forged after 12 hours of intense negotiations between Montenegrin and Serbian leaders in Belgrade, strengthens the EU's role in «preventive» diplomacy as it takes on greater responsibility and security in the Balkans.

The deal, effectively keeping Montenegro within the federation, but with equal powers with Serbia, prevents further fragmentation of the Western Balkans. The region is slowly returning to stability after three brutal wars that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives during the

Under the arrangements, after a constitution comes into force Serbia and Montenegro will be organized under one parliament, president, council of ministers and court.

The council will be responsible for foreign affairs, defense, international economic relations, internal economic relations and protection of human and minority rights. The economic systems of both republics will be eventually harmonized with EU rules.


To opt for independence; to take on responsibility; to come into force; to protect minority rights; to pull off a success; to claim hundreds of thousands of lives; under the arrangements; to strengthen.


Осуществлять/добиваться успеха; выбирать независимость; вступить в силу; защищать права меньшинств; брать на себя ответственность; унести сотни тысяч жизней; в соответствии с договоренностями; укреплять.


1. What significant success was reached by the EU's foreign policy chief? 2. What EU role does this agreement strengthen? 3. What does this agreement prevent? 4. In what way will the two countries be organized? 5. What will happen to the economic systems of both countries?

5. Questions for discussion.

1. Why do you think the success of persuading the two countries to stay together was called significant?

2. Do you agree that both republics would benefit from it? 3. What is «preventive diplomacy»? Can you think of other examples of preventive

diplomacy? 4. Why do you think this agreement is so important? What does it prevent?

6. Render the article in English.

III

1. Read the article and look up the meaning of the underlined words and phrases in the dictionary.

US ready to resume arms sales to India

The US yesterday signaled it was ready to resume arms sales to India as the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff1 announced that detailed negotiations were under wav for the sale of weapon-seeking radars to New Delhi.

Closing a two-day visit to New Delhi the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said the two countries were ready to finalize terms for the radar deal. US officials in India said the deal represented the start of a new era of defense exports to India.

The US embassy said it marked a symbolic shift in the US attitude towards defense exports to India and that a renewed arms export relationship was part of the wider warming of relations between the two countries.

Later this week, a group of US defense officials will arrive in New Delhi for further talks with the Minister of Defense on the terms of the sale.


A shift in attitude; the negotiations are under way; to resume arms sales; the terms of the sale; to finalize smth.

3. Give English equivalents to the following words and phrases.

Условия сделки; переговоры проходят; окончательно утверждать/оформлять условия/сроки; перемена отношения; возобновлять продажу вооружения.

4. Complete the following statements using the active vocabulary.

1. The US signaled it was ready ... 2. The US official announced that detailed negotiations... 3. The US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said that the two countries were ready... 4. This deal marks an important shift... 5. A group of US defense officials ...

5. Render the article in English using the active vocabulary.

IV


Koreans set to resume family reunions

North and South Korea were last night ready to resume reunions of families separated by the peninsula's sealed border and launch a new round of talks about economic co-operation, reviving Seoul's «sunshine» policy of reconciliation.

The two countries were expected to confirm the breakthrough today after three days of discussion in Pyongyang, ending a five-month freeze in contact.

Yesterday's agreement was welcomed in Seoul as a further sign that Pyongyang wanted to improve its thorny international relations. «The talks have put inter-Korean dialogue back on track». said an official in Seoul. The talks between the two sides were said to have been frank and

The last round of family reunions brought together scores of people who had not seen each other since the border was sealed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean war. More than 1 million elderly people in South Korea are split from immediate family in the North.

2. Give English equivalents to the following words and phrases and reproducethe sentences from the article with them.

Ожидается, что стороны подтвердят...; закрытая граница; воссоединение семей; начать новый раунд переговоров; вернуть диалог в прежнее русло; расколоться; прорыв;

примирение; сердечный; возобновлять.


1. What process started in inter-Korean relations? 2. What are the two countries expected to confirm? 3. Why was this agreement welcomed so much? 4. What did the last round of family reunions bring? 5. Why do you think this process is so important for both countries? What do you know

about the Korean war and the separation of one country into two?

V

Translate the following texts into English using Translation Notes.

1. «Ближневосточный конфликт унес сотни тысяч жизней, — заявил вчера представитель Белого дома. — Мировое сообщество должно сделать все возможное, чтобы вернуть конфликтующие стороны к переговорному процессу».

2. Предстоящий государственный визит президента России в Китай станет важнейшим событием года в отношениях двух стран и будет иметь огромное значение для дальнейшего развития отношений стратегического партнерства. Между партнерами продолжает расти политическое доверие, углубляются торгово-экономические отношения2.

3. Президент США приветствует усилия японских дипломатов по установлению диалога с Северной Кореей. Ранее представитель госдепартамента3 США сообщил, что предложение американского президента о возобновлении «всеобъемлющего диалога» с Северной Кореей остается в силе4.

4. После установления двусторонних дипломатических контактов Япония обещает оказать КНДР экономическую помощь. Стороны подтвердили, что согласно международному праву не намерены предпринимать действия, которые угрожали бы безопасности друг друга.

5. Министр обороны США убежден в том, что Соединенным Штатам в случае принятия решения начать военную операцию против страны не придется проводить ее в одиночку. «Несколько стран уже добровольно предложили свою помощь», заявил глава Пентагона.

6. США готовы5 самостоятельно разоружить правящий там режим, но надеются, что иракская проблема будет урегулирована ООН.

SECTION B

I


Managing the US-China-Russia triangle

Three powers stand out as the leading political and military players in the international system during the initial decades of the 21st century: the United States, Russia, and China. A revitalized Japan, a rising India and the European Union might also join those ranks, but that result is far from certain. For the moment, relations between Washington, Moscow and Beijing are of critical importance. How that «strategic triangle» is managed will determine whether the world avoids major war. At the present time, there is reason for cautious optimism, but there are also a few warning signals of potential trouble.

A delicate US-China relationship

The relationship between the United States and China has been turbulent in recent years. The US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo war in May 1999 brought relations to a crisis point, as did the collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter plane in April 2001. The increasingly important trade and investment relationship between the two countries eased the tensions however.

The initial characterization of China as a «strategic competitor» by officials in the American administration also produced a wariness on both sides. The administration dropped that characterization after the April spy-plane incident, however, and relations seemed to improve steadily thereafter. Ties were strengthened further after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when China diplomatically supported the US war against terrorism and the United States came to regard China as an ally in that effort.

The Chinese government actually worked with the United States to gain cooperation from Beijing's longtime ally, Pakistan, in the war against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network and the Taliban government in Afghanistan — despite the possibility of a long-term US military presence in Pakistan. And when the United States announced its withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in late 2001, Beijing's protests were muted, even though a US missile defense system would erode the credibility of China's small nuclear deterrent.

It is difficult to speculate about the motives for policy initiatives in a secretive, authoritarian political system like that of China. Nevertheless, several factors appeared to account for Beijing's unusual restraint.

First, the Chinese Communist Party elite wanted to avoid any international controversy.

Second, China's leaders desperately needed to preserve and expand the economic relationship with the United States. The global economic slowdown, and especially the deepening recession in East Asia, has made the US market more crucial than ever. China felt that it could not let quarrels over other matters jeopardize access to that market.

Finally, Chinese leaders were increasingly alarmed at the signs of a growing rapprochement between the United States and China's traditional rival. India. Beijing worries (with good reason) about the possible emergence of a US-Indian «strategic partnership» directed against China. The Chinese response to the warming relations between Washington and New Delhi has been to try to improve China's own relations with both capitals.

The turbulent US relationship with Russia

The relationship between Russia and the United States under the Bush administration had a very difficult start. Just weeks after Bush took office, the United States expelled more than 50 Russian diplomats on charges of espionage. Moscow responded by expelling an equal number of US diplomats. Such issues as the further expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty also fueled tensions.

Gradually, though, the relationship seemed to improve. Moscow's reaction to the September 2001 terrorist attacks appeared to create an opportunity for improvement. Not only did the Russian president denounce the attacks, but he gave the United States substantive assistance in a variety of ways. Most crucially, Russia made it clear to the governments of the Central Asian republics that it did not object to a temporary US military presence in the region to wage the war in Afghanistan. Without Russia's approval, the United States would have found it far more difficult to gain the cooperation of those governments.

Russia helped the United States in other ways. For example, Moscow resisted the demand of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut its oil output to prevent a fall of global oil prices. As the world's second-largest oil producer, Russia had a crucial role to play. Instead of responding favorably to OPEC's requests, Moscow maintained production at high levels — a position favored by the United States.

How did the US administration reward Russia for its cooperation? One of the administration's first initiatives was to announce America's withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, which Moscow had long regarded as the centerpiece of its relationship with the United States on arms-control issues.

As if the withdrawal from the ABM Treaty weren't enough, US officials let it be known that the United States intended to maintain a long-term military presence in the Central Asian republics. This was a classic deceit, and Russian officials made it clear that they were not happy about Washington's action. Russia clearly prefers a close, cooperative relationship with the United States and is not willing to close the door on that possibility.

But if Washington continues to take unfair advantage, Russia can and probably will pursue other options. Serious long-term damage will occur if the Russian people begin to see the United States as a hostile power that always attempts to take advantage of their country.

The third side of the strategic triangle

Cooperation between Russia and China has been building for several years. The bitter rivalry between Moscow and Beijing eased rapidly with the end of the Cold War, and by the China had become Russia's largest arms customer. By 1996, the leaders of the two countries were describing their relationship as a «strategic partnership». and it became routine for Russia and the People's Republic of China (PRC) to issue joint statements criticizing US policy on such issues as NATO expansion, the US-led military intervention in the Balkans, and the development of ballistic-missile defenses.

That cooperation has deepened on several levels. Politically, it is symbolized by the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The SCO, whose membership consists of Russia, China, and four Central Asian countries, has as its primary focus combating Islamic extremism. But an important secondary motive — as various SCO statements and communiquйs make clear — is to contain America's increasingly dominant position in Asia.

Russia and China clearly wish to avoid a confrontational relationship with the United States, if that is possible. Russia has been supporting most aspects of the US war against terrorism, responding mildly to US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty, and even indicating that a second round of NATO expansion will not prove fatal to US-Russian relations. China, too, has sought to minimize frictions. Both Russia and China regard their economic links to the US-led West as vital.

The triangular relationship involving Russia, China and the United States is critically important. If the strategic triangle is managed properly, the danger of a great-power war in the coming decades will be virtually eliminated. If managed improperly, the 21st century could proceed down the same violent path as the 20th century. Much will depend on the wisdom of US policy.


To wage a war; to eliminate; controversy; to be of critical (great) importance; to stand out; to deepen cooperation; NATO expansion; to denounce smth; to ease tensions; on charges of espionage; restraint; bring relations to the crisis point; withdrawal from; to preserve and expand economic relations; to expel; to contain; an ally; deterrent; rival; rapprochement; to take office; to play a crucial role; a long-term military presence; vital; to fuel tension; to combat extremism; decade.


Долгосрочное военное присутствие; быть исключительно важным; прийти к власти; вести войну; по обвинению в шпионаже; союзник; ослабить напряженность; выделяться; поставить отношения на грань кризиса; обман; выход из договора; углубить сотрудничество; расширение НАТО; десятилетие; сближение; играть ключевую роль; выдворять из страны; сохранить и расширить экономические связи; осудить что-либо; сдерживать; средство устрашения; жизненно важный; уничтожить; разногласие; сдержанность; усилить напряженность; ослабить напряженность.

4. Read the article again and complete the following statement using the active vocabulary.

1. Three states ... as leading political powers... 2. Relations between Washington, Moscow and Beijing ... 3. The US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo war... 4. The increasingly important trade and investment relationship ... 5. Ties were strengthened further after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the

United States came to regard China ... 6. China's leaders desperately needed ... 7. … also fueled tensions. 8. Russia made it clear to the governments of the Central Asian republics ... 9. By 1996, the leaders of Russia and China ... 10. Russia and China clearly wish to avoid...

5. Answer the questions on the article.

1. What role do Russia, the USA and China play in the international relations?

2. Why does the author call the relations between China and the US turbulent? What brought them to the point of crisis?

3. What has recently eased the tensions? 4. What made the US consider China as its ally? 5. Why are Chinese leaders interested in preserving and expanding economic relation with

the US? 6. How did the relationship between the US and Russia develop after Bush took office? 7. What issues fuel tensions between Moscow and Washington? 8. What created an opportunity for improving the US-Russian relations? 9. How did the American administration «reward» Russia for its cooperation? 10. What kind of relations does Russia need? 11. In what way have the Russian-Chinese relations been developing after the Cold War?


1. Why do you think the relations between Moscow, Washington and Beijing are of crucial importance for the moment?

2. Do you think the states will continue to play this important role in international relations in the future? In what way could their roles change?

3. What are the prospects for Russian-US relations? How do you see the future relations of these two states?

4. Do you think Russia and China will be able to avoid conflicts in the future and preserve friendly relations?

II


A second-generation alliance system

WASHINGTON — During the Cold War and in the decade after its end, the United States based its global strategy on an alliance system whose primary elements were NATO and Japan. That system is in degradation, in part for reasons having little to do with the United States, but increasingly for reasons directly related to the policies and attitudes under the present administration.

This trend, if neglected, points towards a situation in which the United States could ultimately stand alone in a hostile world. It is necessary to develop a second-generation alliance system that will serve the long-term security requirements of its participants.

Unlike America's European allies, Japan has a military that is being carefully developed into an impressive regional force. Nevertheless, there is a growing sense that Japan faces rising challenges to its physical security, principally from China. Over time, Japanese experts see reduced American ability to maintain regional stability, and they fear that at the end of the road there may well be a Chinese-American war, probably triggered by a clash over Taiwan. Japanese experts are deeply concerned that the United States' determination to build a ballistic missile defense system will stimulate the Chinese to exceed American expectations by increasing the size of their nuclear forces, rather than by merely deploying more modern systems. They worry that India might be compelled to increase its forces to offset China, thereby further stimulating a nuclear race with Pakistan. They have good reason for concern about North Korea's nuclear and

ballistic missile programs.

The present administration aims to fundamentally change foreign policy. What is to be abandoned is the goal of a world system based on multilateral institutions, underwritten by security alliances anchored in the United States. In place of these things, what is intended is a world order serving US interests, based on US military and economic primacy, although to the maximum extent possible avoiding American engagement in long-range tasks.

The issue to be thinking about is not how to go back but how to go forward. The United States needs a second-generation alliance system. Europe and the United States can take steps to make sure that the emerging Rapid Reaction Force6 is precisely that part of NATO that has been equipped and trained to fight together with the United States in out-of-area7 engagements.

Europeans should focus on understanding the revolutionary trends in US military capabilities and doctrines, and plan to have a Rapid Reaction Force develop in such a way as to intercept those capabilities in a certain number of years. This is substantially less demanding in technological and financial terms than trying to upgrade the alliance as a whole. Japan must find a way to cut, or at least loosen, its constitutional Gordian knot 8 . Essential forms of future cooperation with America should be identified and ways should be found either to design these forms to make them compatible with the Japanese constitution or to change the constitution to help Japan and the United States to improve their mutual security relationship.

That issue comes to its sharpest edge in terms of ballistic missile defense. Right now the Japanese assume that their constitution bars any integrated US-Japanese defense against ballistic missiles. That is a negative consequence, because it blocks effective cooperation against the most dynamic part of the security threat facing Japan. There may be ways to work around this problem; the United States and Japan should be making it a very high priority to find them. The United States especially needs to offer an overall idea of how to bring Asia through a period when power relations will be changing to a new equilibrium reflecting China's rapidly growing importance. Washington should aim to do this at least in the first instance by means other than military force.

It should work to bring about constructive change in China and a benign regional adjustment to growing Chinese power. The goal here need not be a formal alliance but rather region-wide interest in collective security, capable of generating coalitions for specific purposes and possessing the means for effective joint operations with the United States.

In both Europe and Asia, governments most friendly to America deeply believe that the purposes of alliance now also extend to the need for collective, forward engagement against environmental collapse and poverty. To the extent that US allies neglect to maintain the capacity for basic collective military defense9, they are forgetting or ignoring the lessons of history. But to the extent that the United States tries to minimize its engagement with any issues other than physical security, it is failing the prime obligation of leadership: to chart a future worthy of the aspirations of all.

The largest goals of a second-generation alliance system are no longer strictly regional, but global. They are no longer purely military, but societal. For such purposes, the United States is still the indispensable nation, not by custom or some version of divine right but by clear vision and commitment.


A long-term security requirement; to trigger; a clash over; a determination; to exceed; to compel; to offset; a multilateral institution; to be compatible with; primacy; an engagement; Gordian knot; to bar; a ballistic missile defense system; benign; to bring about; an adjustment; indispensable; to base on smth.

3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases.

Препятствовать; превосходство; компенсировать; превышать; противоракетная оборона; вывести; долгосрочное требование в области безопасности; вызвать; столкновение из-за чего-либо; незаменимый; решимость; корректировка (приспособление); принуждать; вовлечение; благоприятный; вызывать (быть причиной); совместимый с; Гордиев узел; строить/основывать на чем-либо.

4. Read the article again and answer the questions using the active vocabulary.

1. What is the US global strategy based on during and right after the Cold War? 2. Does the current alliance system get stronger? 3. What do Japanese experts fear? 4. What are Japanese experts deeply concerned about? 5. What do Japanese experts worry about? 6. What marks Washington's approach to current alliances? 7. What does the Bush administration intend to abandon in its policy? 8. How should Japan change its constitution? 9. What does Japanese constitution bar? 10. Should the United States resort to military force in its policy towards

China? 11. What do most friendly to America governments believe in both Europe

and Asia? 12. What do the US allies neglect? 13. How is the United States described as a nation?

5. Using the active vocabulary render the article in English.


1. What can the widening gap between the military capabilities of the United States and those of its European partners lead to?

2. To what extent do you think Japanese experts' concerns are justified? 3. What is your assessment of the idea that the world order should serve US interests based

on US military and economic primacy? 4. Should Japan redefine the constitution and embark on a military build up? 5. Do you see eye to eye with those who believe that growing Chinese power may challenge

US and Japanese security? If yes, how should both US and Japan react to it? 6. What do you think is meant by the following statement: «To the extent that US allies

neglect to maintain the capacity for basic collective military defense, they are forgetting or ignoring the lessons of history»?

7. Do you support the approach that the United States is still the indispensable nation?

III

Translate the following articles into English using Translation Notes.

1

Представители Госдепартамента США намерены встретиться с японскими и южнокорейскими коллегами для обсуждения дальнейших действий в отношении Северной Кореи. Как стало известно из дипломатических кругов, в центре внимания встречи будут вопросы о том, как убедить КНДР отказаться от ядерной программы. Затем высокопоставленные американские официальные лица отправятся в страны региона.

2

Президент США подтвердил, что его администрация намерена согласовывать с другими странами свою политику в отношении КНДР. Ранее президент США неоднократно выражал готовность продолжать тесные консультации на эту тему с Японией, Республикой Корея10, Китаем и Россией. Однако в их подходах к северокорейской проблеме существуют различия. Вашингтон выступает за усиление международной изоляции Пхеньяна11, а Токио, Сеул, Пекин и Москва считают, что урегулирование на Корейском полуострове12 может быть достигнуто только путем активного политического диалога.

Comment on the quotations:

DIPLOMACY: The ability to tell someone to go to Hell so that he'll look forward to making the trip.

«Diplomacy without arms is like music without instruments». (Frederick the Great)

SECTION С


Diplomacy

The armed forces are the instruments of foreign policy, not its master

No successful and no peaceful foreign policy is possible without observance of this rule. No nation can pursue a policy of compromise with the military determining the ends and means of foreign policy. The armed forces are instruments of war; foreign policy is an instrument of peace. It is true that the ultimate objectives of the conduct of war and of the conduct of foreign policy are identical: Both serve the national interests. Both, however, differ fundamentally in their immediate objectives, in the means they employ, and in the modes of thought they bring to bear upon their respective tasks.

The objective of war is simple and unconditional: to break the will of the enemy. Its methods are equally simple and unconditional: to bring the greatest amount of violence to bear upon the most vulnerable spots in the enemy's armor. The military leader lives in the present and in the immediate future. The sole question before him is how to win victories as cheaply and

quickly as possible and how to avoid defeat.

The objective of foreign policy is relative and conditional: to bend. not to break, the will of the other side as far as necessary in order to safeguard one's own vital interests without hurting those of the other side. The methods of foreign policy are relative and conditional: not to advance by destroying the obstacles in one's way, to retreat before them, to circumvent them, to maneuver around them, to soften and dissolve them slowly by means of persuasion, negotiations, and pressure.

To surrender the conduct of foreign affairs to military is to destroy the possibility of compromise and thus surrender the cause of peace. The military mind knows nothing how to operate between the absolutes of victory and defeat. It knows nothing of that patient intricate and subtle maneuvering of diplomacy, whose main purpose is to avoid the absolutes of victories and defeats and meet the other side on the middle ground of negotiated compromise. A foreign policy conducted by military men according to the rules of the military art can only end in war.

Peace must be the goal of any foreign policy. Foreign policy must be conducted in such a way as to make the preservation of peace possible and not to make the outbreak of war inevitable. In a society of sovereign nations military force is a necessary instrument of foreign policy. Yet this instrument of foreign policy should not become the master of foreign policy. As war is fought in order to make peace possible, foreign policy should be conducted in order to make peace permanent. For the performance of both tasks, the subordination of the military under civilian authorities which are constitutionally responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs is an indispensable prerequisite.

2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases.'

An observance; to determine; the ends and means; an objective; to conduct; vulnerable; to bend; to safeguard; to retreat; to circumvent; an outbreak; a subordination; indispensable; a prerequisite; to pursue a policy; to meet the other side on the middle ground; violence; to surrender, a conduct.


Определять; вспышка (начало); вести; отступать; подчинение; цель; уязвимый; сгибать; предпосылка; соблюдение; уступать/сдавать; проводить политику; крайне необходимый; цели и средства; делать уступки; защищать; обходить; насилие, проведение.

4. Read the article again. Using the article and the words from the exercisesabove finish the following sentences.

1. The objective of a war is... 2. The method of conducting war is ... 3. The objective of foreign policy is... 4. The methods of foreign policy are ... 5. The main purpose of diplomacy is... 6. Foreign policy must be conducted in such a way as ... 7. The subordination of the military under civilian authorities is...

5. Answer the following questions on the article using active words and phrases.

1. What do the ultimate objectives of the conduct of war and of the conduct of foreign policy serve?

2. What is the objective of war? 3. What is the objective of foreign policy? 4. What is the main purpose of diplomacy? 5. What is an indispensable prerequisite for the conduct of foreign affairs?

6. Render the article in English using active words and phrases.

7. Answer these disputable questions:

1. Do you agree that the military should not determine the ends and means of foreign policy? Why?

2. What is your attitude to the statement that to surrender the conduct of foreign affairs to military is to destroy the possibility of compromise and thus surrender the cause of peace?

3. Do you see eye to eye with the author stating that the main purpose of diplomacy is to avoid the absolutes of victories and defeats and meet theother side on the middle ground of negotiated compromise? Why? What to your mind is the main task of diplomacy?

4. Do you find it true that a foreign policy conducted by the military according to the rules of the military art can only end in war? If yes, why?

5. Why is subordination of the military under civilian authorities for the conduct of foreign policy an indispensable prerequisite?

6. Why do you think such former military leaders as de Gaulle and Eisenhower became prominent policymakers?

8. Make up reports on the following topics and answer the questions of the audience.

1. The armed forces are the instruments of foreign policy, not its master. 2. The armed forces should/can be a master of foreign policy along with diplomacy. 3. Diplomacy not backed by strength will always be ineffective at best and dangerous at

worst.

1 Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff — председатель объединенного комитета начальников штабов

2 Этот пункт следует перевести после работы над материалами раздела "В" данного урока

3 Госдепартамент — the State Department (аналог российского МИДа)

4 оставаться в силе - be on

5 США (the USA) в английском языке согласуется с глаголом в единственном числе, напр. The USA is ready...; the USA hopes и т. п.

6 Rapid Reaction Force — силы быстрого реагирования, предназначенные для выполнения задач, выходящих за пределы национальной территории стран-членов организации

7 out-of-area engagements — боевые операции, выходящие за пределы национальной

территории стран-членов организации

8 constitutional Gordian knot — конституционный Гордиев узел. Конституция Японии запрещает ей иметь свои вооруженные силы

9 collective military defense — коллективная оборона, предназначенная для отражения нападения извне

10 South Korea

11 Pyongyang

12 the Korean peninsula

UNIT 2. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

SECTION A

I


The end of the Cold War has brought a clear turning point for NATO. First, the nature of risks and potential threats has changed radically. Second, NATO has been going through a process of adaptation, adding to its traditional common defense functions new collective security functions.

It is clear that the alliance's transition process is far from over yet, and a key step forward will have to be made with the adoption of a new strategic concept.

The principles of basic human rights, international law and multilateral action, in the spirit of the United Nations, must be combined to make NATO a collective force of stability and security.


Basic human rights; a transition process (period); common defense; a turning point; a multilateral action; a concept; collective security; a threat; an adoption.


Концепция; поворотный момент; переходный период; основные права человека; совместная оборона; совместные операции; коллективная безопасность; принятие (концепции); угроза.

4. Answer the questions using the active vocabulary.

1. What did the end of the Cold War bring to NATO? 2. What has changed in the world that makes NATO go through a process of adaptation? 3. What new functions does NATO have to add? 4. What principles should NATO be based on to make itself a collective force of stability and

security?

II


New EU line on Russia urged

The European Union had to adopt a strategy towards democratic and institutional reform in Russia, said Germany's foreign minister yesterday.

Speaking after the meeting with the Russian foreign minister, he said that the «main point» of a fresh EU strategy towards Moscow would be «the development of long-term, lasting structures».

He also said that the EU would play an increasing role in helping develop democratic structures in Russia, as well as helping with building infrastructure, and in areas such as the development of legal systems.

The Russian foreign minister described the EU's plans as a «strong political signal».

He promised that Moscow would help drive forward the initiative.


To describe smb/smth as smth; to play/have a role in; long-term; to adopt a strategy/program; to urge; to develop democratic structures; an initiative.


Принять стратегию; охарактеризовать как; играть роль; долгосрочный; инициатива; настоятельно требовать/призывать; развивать демократические структуры.

4. Complete the following sentences using the active vocabulary.

1. The European Union has to adopt... 2. The EU is going to play an increasing ... 3. The new EU strategy towards Moscow will be … 4. The Russian foreign minister described the EU's plans...

III


Give peacekeeping muscle to the United Nations

The need for a standing United Nations military force to fulfill the organization's prime mission of maintaining peace has become almost a clichй of international rhetoric. The idea figured in the charter from the very beginning, has been urged ever since.

The end of the Cold War has seen not a reduction but an increase in the number of open conflicts and appeals to the UN to restore peace.

The United Nations, being all the nations, cannot and must not have enemies, but it does have principles and practices to defend. Therefore, if the organization considers itself serious, these principles must be dc I ended seriously and vigorously.

Getting a better, more effective peacekeeping job out of the United Nations is obviously in the world's interest. It requires a shift in attitude. We should demand peaceful results.


A shift in attitude; an appeal to (smb); an increase in; a charter; to restore peace; peacekeeping; in the world's interest; a standing military force; to defend; to maintain peace; a reduction.


Восстанавливать мир; сокращение; изменение отношения; сохранять мир; в интересах мира; увеличение числа; призыв к; постоянный военный контингент; устав; защищать; миротворчество.


1. What has become a cliché of international rhetoric? 2. What idea has been urged in connection with the UN's role in the modern world? 3. Has the number of open conflicts reduced since the end of the Cold War? 4. What does the UN have to defend? 5. What is in the world's interest?


1. Why do you think a standing UN military force is of growing importance today? 2. What principles and practices to your mind does the UN have to defend? 3. Do you agree that the UN could and should have a more active peacekeeping function? 4. What shift in attitude is needed?

IV

1. Translate the following articles into English using Translation Notes.

1

Президент Российской Федерации посетит с официальным визитом штаб-квартиру НАТО. Об этом сообщил заместитель главы МИД. Первоначально планировалось, что

посещение штаб-квартиры НАТО будет носить протокольный характер, однако после терактов в Нью-Йорке и Вашингтоне предстоящие беседы будут серьезные.

2. Главные юристы борются с терроризмом

В Люксембурге вчера открылось совещание министров юстиции и внутренних дел государств-членов Европейского союза. Во встрече участвуют также министры экономики и финансов стран ЕС. Предполагается, что они обсудят меры по борьбе с терроризмом, а также примут новую стратегию в отношении банков и стран, сотрудничающих с террористами.

3. Визит Генерального секретаря ООН1

Генеральный секретарь ООН посетит Россию с официальным визитом. Как заявил вчера замминистра иностранных дел РФ, «в ходе визита предполагается обсудить2 пути сотрудничества России с ООН в целях повышения эффективности организации в интересах поддержания мира, стабильности и международной безопасности». Российская сторона рассчитывает, что визит Генерального секретаря ООН будет способствовать укреплению роли ООН в урегулировании кризисов и конфликтов в различных регионах мира. В день прибытия Генсек ООН встретится с российским президентом. Он также встретится с главой правительства РФ, министром иностранных дел и министром обороны.

SECTION B

I


How the UN works

The United Nations was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every nation in the world belongs to the UN: membership now totals nearly 200 countries.

When states become members of the United Nations, they agree to accept the obligations of the UN Charter, an international treaty which sets out basic principles of international relations. According to the Charter, the UN has four purposes: to maintain international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among nations, to cooperate in solving international problems and in promoting respect for human rights, and to be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations.

UN members are sovereign countries. The United Nations is not a world government, and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on matters affecting all of us.

The United Nations is much more than a peacekeeper and forum for conflict resolution. Often without attracting attention, the United Nations is engaged in a vast array of work that touches every aspect of people's lives around the world.

http://www.eusi.ru/lib/belovinceva_citaem_gazetu_obsugdaem_megdunarodnuju/2.shtml#2sym


Child survival and development. Environmental protection. Human rights. Health and medical research. Alleviation of poverty and economic development. Agricultural development and fisheries. Education. Family planning. Emergency and disaster relief. Air and sea travel. Peaceful uses of atomic energy. Labor and worker's rights. The list goes on and on.

The United Nations has six main organs. Five of them — the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Secretariat — are based at UN Headquarters in New York. The sixth, the International Court of Justice, is located at the Hague, the Netherlands.

The General Assembly

All UN member states are represented in the General Assembly — a kind of parliament of nations which meets to consider the world's most pressing problems. Each member state has one vote. Decisions on «important matters», such as international peace and security, admitting new members, the UN budget are decided by two-thirds majority. Other matters are decided by simple majority. In recent years, a special effort has been made to reach decisions through consensus, rather than by formal vote.

The Assembly holds its annual regular session from September to December. When necessary, it may resume its session, or hold a special or emergency session on subjects of particular concern.

The Security Council

The UN Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibilities for maintaining international peace and security. The Council may convene at any time, day or night, whenever peace is threatened.

There are 15 Council members. Five of these — China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States — are permanent members. The other 10 are elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term. Decisions of the Council require nine yes votes.

What the UN does for peace

Preserving world peace is a central purpose of the United Nations. Under the Charter, member states agree to settle disputes by peaceful means and refrain from threatening or using force against other states.

UN efforts have produced dramatic results. The UN helped defuse the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and the Middle East crisis in 1973. In 1988 a UN-sponsored peace settlement ended the Iran-Iraq war. In the 1990s, the UN was instrumental in restoring sovereignty to Kuwait and played a major role in ending civil wars in Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mozambique.

UN peacemaking brings hostile parties to agreement through diplomatic means. The Security Council may recommend ways to avoid conflict or restore or secure peace — through negotiation, for example, or undertake mediation, or recourse to the International Court of Justice. In the event of fighting the UN tries to secure a ceasefire. It may send a peacekeeping mission to help the parties maintain the truce and to keep opposing forces apart. Peacekeeping operations may last for a few months or continue for many years.


To preserve peace; to set out basic principles; to maintain peace; conflict resolution; most pressing problems; two-thirds majority; mediation; under the charter; to resume; according to the charter/under the charter; subjects of particular concern; to settle disputes by peaceful means; to secure ceasefire; to maintain the truce, to commit to.

3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases and reproduce the sentences from the text with this active vocabulary.

Насущные проблемы; сохранять мир; сохранять перемирие; установить основные принципы; обеспечивать прекращение огня; посредничество; по уставу; урегулировать конфликты мирными средствами; вопросы, вызывающие особую озабоченность; поддерживать мир; взять обязательство; разрешение конфликтов; большинство в 2/3; в соответствии с уставом; возобновить.


1. When was the UN established and for what purpose? 2. What does the UN Charter set out? 3. Is the UN just a forum for conflict resolution? 4. What are the main organs of the UN? 5. What are the functions of the General Assembly and how does it take its decisions? 6. What responsibilities does the Security Council have? 7. How many members are there in the Security Council? 8. What are some of the instruments the UN uses to preserve peace?


1. Do you think the United Nations fulfils its mission today? 2. What recent actions or peacekeeping operations of the UN can you remember? Were they

successful? 3. Do you think that the role of the UN is really very important in the modern world? Substantiate

your point of view. 4. Do you think that the UN peacekeeping forces could substitute for NATO or EU forces in the

future?

II

1. Read the article and look up the underlined words and phrases in the dictionary.

NATO today

Is NATO the right organization to assume the regional security responsibilities in Europe? It is not Europe's only security organization, not even its largest one. One alternative to NATO is Europe's largest collective security group, the 55-member Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Unlike the OSCE, NATO is an exclusive organization involving about half of Europe's states. The alliance's selective nature inevitably raises questions about its legitimacy. By what right does a group of minority states enforce order among Europe's majority states? NATO's Bosnia mission was launched on the request of the United Nations' Security Council. But the Kosovo war received no such endorsement. NATO acted on the basis of a vote in the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's own highest decision-making body. NATO's unilateral action appeared to violate, if not the letter. then the spirit, of the UN Charter.

NATO remains a self-appointed interpreter and enforcer of these rules, and it is willing to enforce them with military might, and as such it inevitably arouses suspicions among some neighbors. Russia's objections to NATO's Kosovo operation focused not as much on the tactical issues as they did on the fact that the alliance launched the air war without a UN Security Council authorization. Even more worrisome to Moscow, nothing theoretically prevents the alliance from launching a similar operation against Russia itself. In polls conducted in April 1999, in the midst of the Kosovo war, 70 per cent to 73 per cent of Russians said they considered the NATO military operation in Yugoslavia a direct threat to Russia's security. Fears that NATO may potentially abuse its military might have translated into tensions and insecurity as countries such as Russia seek to form alliances implicitly aimed against NATO. The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, justified the union between Russia and Belarus as a response to NATO's aggression against Yugoslavia.


To assume security responsibilities; minority; to enforce; legitimacy; majority; endorsement; North Atlantic Council; decision-making body; unilateral; to violate; might; authorization; to prevent smb from doing smth; a poll; to conduct; to abuse; the letter and spirit; to raise a question.


Орган, ответственный за принятие решений; меньшинство; злоупотреблять чем-либо; поддержка; взять на себя ответственность за безопасность; большинство; законность; проводить (опрос); односторонний; опрос общественного мнения; нарушать; сила/мощь; дух и буква; поднимать/ставить вопрос; заставлять/навязывать; Североатлантический совет; одобрение; мешать кому-либо делать что-либо.

4. Read the article again and complete the following sentences using the active vocabulary.

1. NATO is trying to assume... 2. NATO's nature raises questions about its... 3. A group of states is trying to enforce... 4. The Kosovo war did not receive any endorsement... 5. NATO acted on the basis of a vote in the North Atlantic Council which is... 6. NATO's unilateral action violated ... 7. The alliance is willing to enforce its rules with... 8. The alliance began the air war without... 9. There was worry in Moscow, that theoretically nothing prevents the alliance from... 10. In polls conducted in April 1999, from 70 to 73 per cent of Russians believed... 11. Fears that NATO may abuse...


1. Is NATO the largest security organization in Europe? 2. What questions does NATO's nature raise? 3. What did a group of states try to enforce among other Europe's states? 4. What body endorsed the Kosovo war? 5. What did NATO unilateral action violate? 6. How is NATO willing to enforce its rules? 7. What was Moscow worry about? 8. What did the polls of 1999 indicate? 9) What are fears of NATO based on?

6. Using the given «package words» express your agreement or disagreement with the following statements.

Agreement: I can't agree more./I agree with you./Yes, it's true.

Disagreement: I'm afraid it's not quite true./I'm sorry, you're mistaken./I don't see eye to eye with you on smth.

1. NATO is Europe's largest security organization. 2. The Kosovo war did not receive the endorsement of the United Nation's Security Council. 3. NATO's unilateral action violated if not the letter, then the spirit, of the UN Charter. 4. NATO keeps away from enforcing its rules with military might.


8. Comment on the following statements.

1. NATO is the right organization to assume the regional security responsibilities in Europe. 2. The alliance's selective nature inevitably raises questions about its legitimacy. 3. NATO is willing to enforce its rules with military might, and as such it inevitably arouses

suspicions among some neighbors. 4. Fears that NATO may potentially abuse its military might have translated into tensions and

insecurity in Europe. 5. Europe would be better off with a collective security organization instead of NATO. 6. As the enforcer NATO could be causing more damage than good through the methods it uses.

III

1. Translate the following articles into English.

1

Министры иностранных дел Финляндии и Швеции призвали к созданию единого фронта Европейского союза по борьбе с терроризмом. Однако оба главы внешнеполитических ведомств подчеркнули, что при сотрудничестве в этой сфере не должны создаваться военные гарантии безопасности.

Оба министра иностранных дел указывают, что страны-члены Евросоюза должны подтвердить свои намерения в борьбе с терроризмом путем подписания особого соглашения о взаимопомощи на тот случай, если какая-либо страна ЕС станет объектом терроризма. По мнению министров, такое соглашение должно касаться военной, полицейской и экономической помощи странам, пострадавшим от атак террористов.

2

Премьер-министр Финляндии в своем новогоднем обращении к народу указал, что усиление роли ООН является важнейшим пунктом в борьбе с международным терроризмом. По его словам, ООН должна становиться все сильнее и этот процесс должен оставаться постоянным.

По мнению главы финского кабинета министров, борьба с распространением оружия массового поражения является новым вызовом, стоящим перед международным сообществом.

Расширение Евросоюза, по его мнению, будет способствовать укреплению стабильности и позволит уменьшить различия в социальном и экономическом развитии стран, которые получили приглашение стать членами союза.

По его мнению, Евросоюз должен и дальше продолжать активную работу по достижению равенства между всеми гражданами ЕС и увеличению регионального сотрудничества. Он также указал, что отношения с Россией после решения о расширении ЕС должны развиваться более активно.


«Since the wars begin in the minds of men, it in the minds of men that defenses of peace must be constructed». (The UNESCO motto)

«Peace, like war, can succeed only where there is a will to enforce it and where there is available power to enforce it». (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

SECTION С


NATO concept

NATO's essential and enduring purpose set out in the Washington Treaty, is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means. Based on common values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, the Alliance has striven since its inception to secure a just and lasting peaceful order in Europe. The achievement of this aim can be put at risk by crisis and conflict affecting the security of the Euro-Atlantic area. The Alliance therefore not only ensures the defense of its members but contributes to peace and stability in this region. The fundamental guiding principle by which the Alliance works is that of common commitment and mutual cooperation among sovereign states in support of the indivisibility of security for all of its members. Solidarity and cohesion within the Alliance, through daily cooperation in both the political and military spheres, ensure that no single Ally is forced to rely upon its own national efforts alone in dealing with basic security challenges. Without depriving member states of their right and duty to assume their sovereign responsibilities in the field of defense, the Alliance enables them through collective effort to realize their essential national security objectives.

To achieve its essential purpose, as an Alliance of nations committed to the Washington Treaty and the United Nations Charter, the Alliance performs the following fundamental security tasks:

Security: To provide one of the indispensable foundations for a stable Euro-Atlantic security environment, based on the growth of democratic institutions and commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes, in which no country would be able to intimidate or coerce any other through the threat or use of force.

Consultation: To serve, as provided for in Article 4 of the Washington Treaty, as an essential transatlantic forum for Allied consultations on any issues that affect their vital interests, including possible developments posing risks for members' security, and for appropriate co-ordination of their efforts in fields of common concern.

Deterrence and Defense: To deter and defend against any threat of aggression against any NATO member state as provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of the Washington Treaty.

Security challenges and risks

Notwithstanding positive developments in the strategic environment and the fact that large-scale conventional aggression against the Alliance is highly unlikely, the possibility of such a threat emerging over the longer term exists. The security of the Alliance remains subject to a wide variety of military and non-military risks which are multi-directional and often difficult to predict.

These risks include uncertainty and instability in and around the Euro-Atlantic area and the possibility of regional crises at the periphery of the Alliance, which could evolve rapidly. Some countries in and around the Euro-Atlantic area face serious economic, social and political difficulties. Ethnic and religious rivalries, territorial disputes, inadequate or failed efforts at reform, the abuse of human rights, and the dissolution of states can lead to local and even regional instability. The resulting tensions could lead to crises affecting Euro-Atlantic stability, to human suffering, and to armed conflicts. Such conflicts could affect the security of the Alliance by spilling over into neighboring countries, including NATO countries, or in other ways, and could also affect the security of other states.

The existence of powerful nuclear forces outside the Alliance also constitutes a significant factor which the Alliance has to take into account if security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area are to be maintained.

The proliferation of NBC (Nuclear, Bacteriological and Chemical) weapons and their means of delivery remains a matter of serious concern. In spite of welcome progress in strengthening international non-proliferation regimes, major challenges with respect to proliferation remain. The Alliance recognizes that proliferation can occur despite efforts to prevent it and can pose a direct military threat to the Allies' populations, territory, and forces. Some states, including on NATO's periphery and in other regions, sell or acquire or try to acquire NBC weapons and delivery means. Commodities and technology that could be used to build these weapons of mass destruction and their delivery means are becoming more common, while detection and prevention of illicit trade in these materials and know-how continues to be difficult. Non-state actors have shown the potential to create and use some of these weapons.

The global spread of technology that can be of use in the production of weapons may result in the greater availability of sophisticated military capabilities, permitting adversaries to acquire highly capable offensive and defensive air, land, and sea-borne systems, cruise missiles, and other advanced weaponry. In addition, state and non-state adversaries may try to exploit the Alliance's growing reliance on information systems through information operations designed to disrupt such systems. They may attempt to use strategies of this kind to counter NATO's superiority in traditional weaponry.

Any armed attack on the territory of the Allies, from whatever direction, would be covered by Articles 5 and 6 of the Washington Treaty. However, Alliance's security must also take account of the global context. Alliance security interests can be affected by other risks of a wider

nature, including acts of terrorism, sabotage and organized crime, and by the disruption of the flow of vital resources. The uncontrolled movement of large numbers of people, particularly as a consequence of armed conflicts, can also pose problems for security and stability affecting the Alliance. Arrangements exist within the Alliance for consultation among the Allies under Article 4 of the Washington Treaty and, where appropriate, co-ordination of their efforts including their responses to risks of this kind.


To safeguard; the rule of law; a commitment; a challenge; a resolution of disputes; to intimidate; to coerce; to affect; vital; a deterrence; to deter; a large-scale conventional aggression; a rivalry; the abuse of human rights; a dissolution; a proliferation; to pose a threat to; delivery means; weapons of mass destruction (WMD); offensive and defensive advanced weaponry; to provide for; adversary.

3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases and make up your own sentences or situations with them.

Роспуск; средства доставки (оружия массового поражения); защищать; представлять угрозу; обязательство; вызов; устрашать; враг/противник; решение споров; запугивать; нарушать права человека; принуждать; современное наступательное и оборонительное вооружение; затрагивать/влиять; жизненно важный; устрашение; широкомасштабная агрессия с применением обычного вооружения; оружие массового поражения; соперничество; распространение (оружия массового поражения); предусматривать/предписывать; верховенство закона.


1. What is the official purpose of NATO? 2. What is NATO based on? 3. What is the fundamental NATO principle? 4. Are NATO allies encouraged to rely upon their own national efforts alone in dealing with basic

security challenges? And why? 5. What are NATO principle tasks? What do they mean? 6. What is highly unlikely in NATO security environment? 7. What non-military challenges does NATO face today? 8. Who do you think is meant by «powerful nuclear forces outside NATO» that constitutes a

significant factor which the Alliance has to take into account? 9. What does the proliferation challenge mean?

5. Comment on the following statements.

1. NATO purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means.

2. NATO principle task is defense of its members. 3. Today the biggest threat to NATO is a large-scale conventional aggression against the Alliance. 4. Non-military challenges pose the most serious threat to NATO today.

6. Look at the NATO security challenges and risks again and make up a chart defining which of them are of a vital and peripheral nature.

Vital Peripheral

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

7. Give a summary of the NATO concept in English using the words and expressions from the previous exercises.

8. Make a presentation on the topics below and answer the questions of the audience:

1. NATO's role and tasks today. 2. Should Russia join NATO?

1 При переводе русских заголовков на английский язык следует учитывать следующее:

1. В заголовках отсутствуют артикли и глаголы-связки; 2. Заголовки должны быть краткими, но они редко строятся как назывное предложение

(напр. Visit of UN Secretary General); 3. Заголовок, как правило, выражает основную идею статьи и строится как обычное

предложение, в котором есть подлежащее и сказуемое; 4. При этом прошедшее действие передается глаголом настоящего времени (напр. Russian

President Visits Japan — если визит состоялся); будущее действие передается модальным глаголом be to, но глагол-связка отсутствует (напр. Russian President to Visit Japan — если визит только предстоит), а настоящее время передается при помощи Present Continuous, глагол-связка отсутствует (напр. Russian President Visiting Japan — если визит проходит в настоящий момент);

5. Предлагаемый вариант перевода данного заголовка: (The) UN Secretary General to Visit Russia. Однако вы можете предложить свой собственный вариант, учитывая вышесказанное

2 При переводе русских безличных предложений можно использовать Passive Voice в английском варианте, но лучше ввести формальное подлежащее, напр. Не, They, The sides и т. п.

UNIT 3. CONFLICTS, WARS, TERRORISM

SECTION A

I


http://www.eusi.ru/lib/belovinceva_citaem_gazetu_obsugdaem_megdunarodnuju/2.shtml#2anc


Israeli-Palestinian violence escalates

Israel is considering a further response to the latest wave of attacks by Palestinian militants, which have left at least 20 Israelis dead since Saturday.

The Israeli cabinet met Sunday to discuss the situation shortly after a lone Palestinian sniper shot and killed seven Israeli soldiers and three Jewish settlers at an army roadblock. Another Israeli soldier was killed in a shooting along the border with the Gaza Strip. On Saturday nine Israelis were killed and 35 injured in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

Israeli helicopters responded to the latest attacks with raids on Palestinian positions in the West Bank. At least four Palestinian policemen were killed. And Israeli tanks moved back into refugee camps that were the targets of Israeli raids last week.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the violence. The group has promised to avenge the Israeli raids on the refugee camps.


Jewish settlers; militants; to claim responsibility; injured; a suicide bombing; a refugee camp.


Боевики; атака террориста-смертника; раненые; еврейские поселенцы; взять ответственность за; лагерь беженцев.

4. Complete the statements using the active vocabulary.

1. Israel is considering response to ... 2. Nine people were killed and several dozens injured in . 3. Israeli helicopters responded ... 4. Israeli tanks moved back into ... 5. ... for the violence.

II

1. Read the article and look up the meaning of the underlined words and phrases In the dictionary.

Pakistan move angers India

NEW DELHI — India accused Pakistan of provocative troop movements near the Line of Control in the disputed Kashmir region as tension between the nuclear foes mounted.

A senior Indian official said that the Pakistani Army had moved an armored brigade closer to the line dividing the Himalayan territory that has been claimed by both countries.

India has bolstered its defenses in response, said an official, who did not wish to be identified.

Pakistan has accused India of exploiting the tense situation on its border with Afghanistan by massing troops along its eastern flank.

Tensions have escalated since the American strikes against Afghanistan began, even though the United States has put strong pressure on the nuclear foes to moderate their hostile talk for the duration of the military campaign.

The Prime Minister of India and the leader of Pakistan both vowed to. repulse any military action by the other.

The two countries have not once gone to war over Kashmir.


To vow; disputed (territory/question); to accuse smb of smth; to escalate (tensions); a foe; to mass troops; to put pressure on; to repulse; to claim (territory).


Оказывать давление на кого-либо; клясться (давать обет); спорная территория; отразить (нападение); обвинить кого-либо в чем-либо; враг; сосредоточивать (стягивать) войска; претендовать на (территорию); усиливать напряженность.

4. Retell the article using the active words and phrases.

III


Chechen warlord on trial for terror

MAKHACHKALA, Russia — The Chechen separatist warlord Salman Raduev went on trial in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan on charges of terrorism in connection with an armed attack that killed 78 people.

Mr. Raduev, the most prominent Chechen rebel to be arrested and tried so far, also faces charges of banditry, hostage-taking and plotting murder.

The prosecutor called the trial «a demonstration of the triumph of justice over terrorism».


Hostage-taking; justice; in connection with; a prosecutor; on charges of; a rebel; to go/be on trial.

3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases, make up your own sentences to illustrate their meaning.

В связи с; взятие заложников; повстанец; предстать перед судом; по обвинению в; правосудие; прокурор.

4. Answer the questions on the text using the active vocabulary.

1. Who went on trial and on what charges? 2. What other charges does the warlord face? 3. What did the prosecutor call this trial? 4. Why do you think the prosecutor calls the trial «a demonstration of justice over terrorism»? Do

you agree?

IV


Realignment of priorities

The September 11 terrorist attacks that hit the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon forcibly realigned the nation's political priorities. All have dropped to the bottom of a list that is now dominated by a single word: «war».

With «retaliation» on the lips of the president and many lawmakers in both parties, Congress ensured that the US president would have the funds at his disposal to help rebuild the damaged Pentagon, clean up the debris from collapsed buildings in New York and bolster rescue and security efforts.

In an unusual display of unity, Democratic and Republican leaders backed the use of force by the US president under the War Powers Act. Many expressed solidarity with the president in his determination to «punish the perpetrators of these attacks as well as their sponsors».

«The nation must understand this is now the focus of my administration», he said.


To clean up the debris; to realign priorities; at one's disposal; the use of force; retaliation; a perpetrator; determination.


В чьем-либо распоряжении; виновный/исполнитель; решимость; расчистить завалы; ответный удар/возмездие; перераспределять приоритеты; применение силы.

4. Answer the questions on the text using the active vocabulary.

1. What changes in the US foreign and home policy took place after the September 11 terrorist attacks?

2. Why does the US president need funds at his disposal? 3. What did Democratic and Republican leaders back unanimously? 4. What determination did the president express? 5. Do you think the unity, which the nation demonstrated, helped in overcoming difficulties and

fighting terrorism?

5. Retell the article using the active vocabulary.

V

1. Read the article and look up the underlined words in the dictionary.

Russia gives strong backing to US

The Russian president strongly backed the US strikes but said Russia would not go beyond its limited contribution to the US-led actions.

The attacks on the US had united the world against terrorism, and could not be ignored, he said. He also expressed confidence the US would do everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties.

Russia is offering to exchange intelligence, to help with search and rescue missions in the region and to open air corridors for humanitarian nights


To express confidence; to go beyond (the limit); to avoid casualties; contribution to; civilian; intelligence; a search and rescue mission.


Поисково-спасательная операция; выражать уверенность; вклад в; выходить за рамки; гражданский; избегать потерь (гибели); разведка.


1. The Russian president backed the US strikes but said Russia ... 2. The attacks on the US ... 3. The US president expressed confidence that... 4. Russia is offering to exchange ...

VI

Translate the following texts into English using Translation Notes.

1

Глава Пентагона начал вчера официальный визит в три государства Закавказья — Азербайджан, Грузию и Армению. Главной темой переговоров министра обороны с руководством этих стран станет борьба с терроризмом.

2

Вчера израильские танки в очередной раз вторглись в три палестинские деревни на Западном берегу реки Иордан1. Арестованы 20 палестинцев. Накануне на переговорах недалеко от Тель-Авива представители Израиля и палестинцев так и не смогли достичь договоренности о прекращении огня2.

3



В прошлое воскресение госсекретарь США после своего визита в Бейрут и Дамаск встретился с палестинским лидером и премьер-министром Израиля. Последний3 призвал к созыву ближневосточной конференции на нейтральной территории. Лидер палестинской автономии сказал, что поддержит эту идею, если Израиль выведет свои войска с палестинских территорий. Насилие на оккупированных территориях между тем продолжается.

4

Как сообщает Рейтер, премьер-министр Великобритании в интервью австралийскому телевидению назвал страну N «угрозой мировой стабильности», обвинив правящий режим этой страны в попытках создания оружия массового поражения. И добавил, что полностью разделяет точку зрения президента США, назвавшего страну N «одним из звеньев оси зла»4. Британский премьер заявил, что в ходе своего визита в США он намерен уточнить направление следующего удара антитеррористической кампании.

5

Искоренение террора и окончательное урегулирование на Ближнем Востоке, включая создание палестинского государства, отвечают коренным интересам израильтян и палестинцев, заявил представитель РФ при ООН. Эти цели могут быть достигнуты только мирным путем, через переговоры и при активном сотрудничестве с ООН. Сейчас, подчеркнул он, есть уникальный шанс не только остановить насилие, но и добиться всеобъемлющего урегулирования в Ближневосточном регионе.

SECTION B

I


Big powers have little sway when rival civilizations clash

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - The war in Chechnya is one of many conflicts along the borders of the great Islamic bloc stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. There has been violence between Muslims and non-Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Middle East.

These conflicts have at least two causes. First, the Muslim world lacks one or two dominant states that can maintain order within the Muslim community and constrain or mediate conflicts between Muslims and others. Second, the increasing number of men aged from 16 to 30 in many Muslim countries feeds the ranks of militants and fighters.

Almost everywhere in the contemporary world, people are espousing cultural and civilizational identities. Multi-civilizational states are increasingly being challenged, as in Serbia, and some of them, like the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, have broken up.

In addition, transnational cultural communities, or diasporas, are taking on a new importance. Diasporas provide money, arms, fighters and leaders to their ancestral groups struggling for freedom.



More broadly, other states and groups support their kind, as happened dramatically in the breakup of Yugoslavia. Western Europe hacked the Croats, Russia and Greece supported the Serbs, and Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia provided help to the Bosnian Muslims.

In the mid-1990s, the Chechens benefited significantly from the support of the Chechen diaspora, particularly from their compatriots in Turkey and Jordan. They also benefited from the quiet support of some Muslim governments.

The United States does not have any significant national interests in Chechnya, while it has such interests in Russia.

This conflict is 200 years old and is one front among many in the global struggles between Muslim and non-Muslim peoples. In the long run, Russia cannot win this war, and the United States cannot significantly affect the outcome.

2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and combinations.

To maintain order; to benefit from; to constrain conflicts; to mediate conflicts; to back; to take on (importance/responsibility); to affect smb/smth; an outcome; a breakup; to break up.


Развал; принимать на себя (ответственность); выигрывать от/извлекать выгоду из; посредничать в конфликтах; разваливаться; поддерживать порядок; сдерживать конфликты; влиять на что-либо; поддерживать; результат/исход.


1. What conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim peoples do you know? Can you remember the years of those conflicts and reason?

2. What are the two causes of such conflicts according to the author? Do you agree? 3. What role do diasporas play in these conflicts? 4. What is the US position as far as the Chechen conflict is concerned? Why do you think it

changed after the September 11 events?

5. Comment on the following extracts from the article.

1. Almost everywhere in the contemporary world, people are espousing cultural and civilizational identities.

2. Multi-civilizational states are increasingly being challenged. 3. The United States does not have any significant national interests in Chechnya, while it has such

interests in Russia. 4. In the long run, Russia cannot win this war, and the United States cannot significantly affect the

outcome.

II

Read the additional article and comment on it.

Transnational terrorism

States with poor governance; ethnic, cultural, or religious tensions; weak economies will be prime grounds for terrorism. At the same time, the trend away from state-supported political terrorism and toward more diverse, transnational networks — enabled by information technology — will continue. Some of the states that actively sponsor terrorism or terrorist groups today may decrease or even cease their support by 2015 as a result of regime changes, or the conclusion that terrorism has become counterproductive. But weak states also could drift toward cooperation with terrorists, creating de facto new state supporters. Between now and 2015 terrorist tactics will become increasingly sophisticated and aimed at achieving mass casualties. We expect the trend toward greater lethality in terrorist attacks to continue.

III


Global trends: future conflict

Through 2015, internal conflicts will pose the most frequent threat to stability around the world. Interstate wars, though less frequent, will grow in lethality due to the availability of more destructive technologies. The international community will have to deal with the military, political, and economic dimensions of the rise of China and India and the continued decline of Russia. Many internal conflicts, particularly those arising from communal disputes, will continue to be dangerous, long lasting and difficult to terminate.

They frequently will trigger refugee flows, humanitarian emergencies. and other regionally destabilizing dislocations.

Internal conflicts will cause spillover into inter-state conflicts as neighboring states move to exploit opportunities for gain or to limit the possibilities of damage to their national interests.

Weak states will face internal conflicts, threatening the stability of a globalizing international system.

Internal conflicts growing from state repression, religious and ethnic discontent, increasing migration pressures will occur most frequently in Sub Saharan Africa, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and parts of south and Southeast Asia, Central America and the Andean region.

The United Nations and several regional organizations will continue to be called upon to manage some internal conflicts because major states — stressed by domestic concerns, risk of failure, lack of political will, or tight resources — will wish to minimize their direct involvement. When, however, some Western governments, international and regional organizations press for outside military intervention in certain internal conflicts, they will be opposed by such states as China, India, Russia and many developing countries that will tend to view interventions as dangerous precedents challenging state sovereignty.


To pose a threat to; inter-state wars; lethality; a dimension; communal disputes; to terminate; to trigger; a refugee flow; internal; humanitarian emergency; a spillover; to exploit an opportunity; discontent; tight resources; to tend.


Поток беженцев; вызвать; измерение; межкультурные и религиозно-этнические разногласия; нехватка ресурсом; представлять угрозу; заканчивать; внутренний; гуманитарная катастрофа; перетекание (переход); летальность; использовать возможность; недовольство; межгосударственные войны; иметь тенденцию.


1. What conflicts will pose the most frequent threat stability around the world? 2. Why will inter-state wars grow in lethality? 3. What features of future internal conflicts can you name? 4. What will internal conflicts frequently trigger? 5. What will internal conflicts cause? 6. What are internal conflicts growing from? 7. Why will major states wish to minimize then direct Involvement in internal conflicts? 8. What will China, India and Russia oppose? And why?

5. Using the active vocabulary retell the article in English.


1. What conflicts do you believe will be more dangerous and why? 2. Why do you think non-government experts assume that many internal conflicts, particularly

those arising from communal disputes, will continue to be dangerous, long-lasting and difficult to terminate?

3. Why will internal conflicts cause spillover into inter state conflicts? 4. How do you think religious and ethnic discontent, increasing migration pressures may affect

Russian security? 5. Do you think possible military intervention of Western governments, international and regional

organizations in certain internal conflicts may threaten Russia's security?

III

Translate the following texts into English.

1

Превентивная война — война захватническая, в этом нет сомнения. Она не может подходить под определение справедливой оборонительной войны. Такое заявление сделал председатель католической организации «Справедливость и мир».

«Каждое государство имеет право защищаться от нападения, — уточнил он, — но это должно быть реальное нападение, а не вероятность агрессии. Вначале должна быть агрессии, а пнем отпетый, оборонительный удар, а не наоборот».

2

Индия пристально следит за ракетно-ядерными программами Пакистана и предпринимает соответствующие меры на случай применения на ее территории ядерного или биологического оружия. Об этом проинформировал министр обороны страны верхнюю палату парламента. Индия делает все, подчеркнул он, чтобы гарантировать защиту от атомного оружия.

Он также заявил, что Пакистан вновь открыл на своей территории лагеря и учебные центры по подготовке террористов с целью их последующей отправки в Индию для совершении террористических актов и дестабилизации обстановки в этом регионе.

Comment on the quotation:

«Against war it may be said that it makes the victor stupid and the vanquished revengeful». (Nietzsche)

SECTION С


Interstate conflicts

Over the next 15 years, the international system will have to adjust to changing power relationships in key regions.

China's potential. Estimates of China beyond five years are unpredictable. Some projections indicate that Chinese power will rise because of the growth of its economic and military capabilities. Other projections indicate that political, social, and economic pressures will increasingly challenge the stability and legitimacy of the regime. Most assessments today argue that China will seek to avoid conflict in the region to promote stable economic growth and to ensure internal stability. A strong China, others assert, would seek to adjust regional power arrangements to its advantage, risking conflict with neighbors and some powers external to the region. A weak China would increase prospects for criminality, narcotics trafficking, illegal migration, WMD proliferation, and widespread social instability.

Russia's decline. By 2015, Russia will be challenged even more than today to adjust its expectations for world leadership to the sharply reduced resources it will have to play that role. The quality of Russian governance is an open question as is whether the country will be able to make the transition in a manner that preserves rather than breaks regional stability.

Japan's uncertainty. In the view of many experts, Japan will have difficulty maintaining its current position as the world's third largest economy by 2015. Tokyo has so far not shown a willingness to carry through the painful economic reforms necessary to slow the erosion of its leadership role in Asia. In the absence of an external shock, Japan is similarly unlikely to accelerate changes in security policy.

India's prospects. India will strengthen its role as a regional power, hut many uncertainties about the effects of global trends on its society cast doubt on how far India will go. India faces growing extremes between wealth and poverty, a mixed picture on natural resources, and problems with internal governance.

The changing dynamics of state power will combine with other factors to affect the risk of conflict in various regions. Changing military capabilities will be prominent among the factors that determine the risk of war. In South Asia, for example, that risk will remain fairly high over the next 15 years. India and Pakistan are both prone to miscalculation. Both will continue to build up their nuclear and missile forces.

India most likely will expand the size of its nuclear-capable force. Pakistan's nuclear and missile forces also will continue to increase. Islamabad has publicly claimed that the number of nuclear weapons and missiles it deploys will be based on «minimum» deterrence, and will be

independent of the size of India's arsenal. A noticeable increase in the size of India's arsenal, however, would prompt Pakistan to further increase the size of its own arsenal.

Russia will be unable to maintain conventional forces, that are both sufficient and modern or to project significant in Hilary power with conventional means. The Russian military will increasingly rely on its declining strategic and theater nuclear arsenals to deter or, if deterrence fails, to counter large-scale conventional assaults on Russian territory.

Moscow will maintain as many strategic missiles and associated nuclear warheads as it believes it can afford but well below START I or II5 limitations. The total Russian force by 2015, including air launched cruise missiles, probably will be below 2,500 warheads.

Russia will invest scarce resources in selected and secretive military technology programs, especially WMD, hoping to counter Western conventional and strategic superiority,

China by 2015 will have deployed tens to several lens of missiles with nuclear warheads targeted against the Dinted Stales, mostly more survivable land- and sea-based mobile missiles. It also will have hundreds of shorter-range ballistic and cruise missiles for use in regional conflicts. Some of these shorter-range missiles will have nuclear warheads; most will be armed with conventional warheads as ballistic missile defense.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) will remain the world's largest military, but the majority of the force will not be fully modernized by 2015. China could close the technological gap with the West in one or more major weapons systems. China's capability for regional military operations is likely to improve significantly by 2015.

China will be exploiting advanced weapons and production technologies acquired from abroad — Russia, Israel, Europe, Japan, and the United States — that will enable it to integrate naval and air capabilities against Taiwan and potential adversaries in the South China

In the event of a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue, some of China's military objectives — such as protecting the sea lanes for Persian Gulf oil — could become closer to those of the United States. Nevertheless, as an emerging regional power, China would continue to expand its influence without regard to US interests.


Deterrence; cruise missiles; an objective; to expand one's influence; governance; to determine; to adjust; conventional forces; to cast doubt on smth; an assessment; to be prone to miscalculation; WMD proliferation; unpredictable; sufficient; an estimate; resolution; to build up; START I and II; superiority; transition.


Силы общего назначения; распространение оружия массового уничтожения; превосходство; оценка (два синонима); переход; быть подверженным просчету; цель; определять; бросить сомнение на; договор СНВ-1 и СНВ-2; непредсказуемый; наращивание; разрешение (конфликта); устрашение; крылатые ракеты; руководство; приспосабливаться; расширить свое влияние; достаточный.


1. What will the international system have to adjust to over the next 15 years?


2. What are estimates of China beyond five years? 3. What do most assessments argue about China? 4. What is the quality assessment of Russian governance? 5. What is the forecast for Japan? 6. What are both India and Pakistan prone to? 7. Will India and Pakistan reduce their nuclear and missile forces? 8. What will Pakistan's and India's nuclear forces be based on? 9. What will Russia be unable to maintain? 10. How will Russia try to counter Western superiority? 11. How can the peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue affect Chinese military objectives? 12. Will China diminish its influence?

5. Using the active vocabulary retell the article in English.


1. To what extent do you think the forecast for Russia is correct? What is your forecast for Russia over the next 15 years?

2. Can strained Indian-Pakistani relations result in a large-scale war? 3. How does growing nuclear potential of Pakistan and India affect international security? 4. Do you agree with the Chinese perspectives forecast? If yes, how can they affect international

and Russian security? 5. Do you agree that Japan can lose its position in the world economy? In what way can this

influence Russian-Japanese relations?

1 the Jordan River — в английском языке названия рек, морей и океанов употребляются с определенным артиклем. Напр. The Thames, the Black Sea, the Pacific Ocean

2 ceasefire

3 the latter — если упоминаются два субъекта, то чтобы не повторять их имена или названия несколько раз, первый именуется the former, а второй the latter

4 «the axis of evil»

5 START – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty – Договор по СНВ (Стратегические наступательные вооружения)

UNIT 4. ELECTIONS

SECTION A

I







Kenyans to elect leader in December

Kenya will hold general elections at the end of December to elect a successor to the president, who has ruled the country for 24 years.

«The elections will be at the end of December», said the president, who will not be eligible to run under new electoral rules introduced in 1991 that prohibit the head of state from serving more than two five-year terms. He gave no precise date for the elections.


Eligible to run; to rule the country; under new rules; to hold general elections; a five-year term; to elect; a successor.


Пятилетний срок; проводить всеобщие выборы; преемник; имеющий право избираться; выбирать; управлять страной; по новым правилам.


1. ... at the end of December. 2. Kenya will elect a successor to the president, who ... 3. ... under the new electoral rules. 4. The new electoral rules prohibit...


II


2nd round of voting held for new Parliament

Bahrain held a second round of voting Thursday in landmark elections for the kingdom's first Parliament, with two women candidates.

Results from the last week's first round of voting showed a mix of secularist and Islamic candidates. Six women were knocked out of the race last week, leaving two women candidates hopeful of winning seats.

Kuwait is the only other Arab nation with a Parliament in the Gulf region, but women are excluded.


Elections for the Parliament; secularist candidates; to win seats; to be knocked out of the race; voting; landmark.


Светские кандидаты; знаменательный/поворотный; получить места в парламенте; голосование; выборы в парламент; сойти с дистанции.


1. Why do you think the voting in Bahrain is called landmark elections? 2. What did the results of the first round show? 3. Are there any women candidates? Do you think it's typical for an Islamic country? 4. Do any other countries in the Gulf region have a Parliament? 5. What Gulf region countries do you know?


III


Election veteran promises clean-up

After a lifetime of trying, Deniz Baykal, one of Turkey's veteran politicians, stands a chance of becoming the country's next prime minister in Sunday's general election.

Opinion polls put his Republican People's party in second place after the pro-Islamic Justice and Development party.

Justice and Development party still enjoys a lead of at least 10 per centage points, but the last few days before the election may be critical in attracting undecided voters who make up almost a quarter of the electorate.

Mr. Baykal needs to convince these voters that his party is best equipped to manage the economy and fight corruption. Indeed, his campaign promise to lift the immunity that has shielded members of parliament from corruption charges has proven very popular.


To lift the immunity; an opinion poll; to stand a chance; to manage the economy; to enjoy a lead; to fight corruption; corruption charges; undecided voters; 10 per centage points; to make up a quarter of electorate.


Опрос общественного мнения; иметь шанс; управлять экономикой; не принявшие решения избиратели; опережать на 10%; обвинения в коррупции; иметь преимущество; бороться с коррупцией; снять иммунитет; составлять четверть электората.

4. Say if the following statements are true or false. Use the introductory phrases for agreement and disagreement.

Agreement: Yes, that's right. It's absolutely correct.

Disagreement: No, that's not true, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, I can't agree with it.

1. Deniz Baykal has no chance of winning the elections in Turkey. 2. According to the opinion polls his party takes the second place in the race. 3. Justice and Development Party enjoys the lead of about 30 per cent. 4. The number of undecided voters is very small, it's not more than 5%. 5. Mr. Baykal has to convince the undecided voters that his party will increase spending on social

needs. 6. The campaign promise to lift immunity proved very popular.


IV


Fears for Serbian poll after low turnout

The turnout in Serbia's presidential poll yesterday fell below the 50 per cent needed for the election to be valid, threatening to create a political vacuum and stall the country's reform program.

As polling ended, turnout was estimated at only 45.5 per cent. The current Yugoslav president and projected winner easily won the majority of votes. with the preliminary count giving him 66.7 per cent of the vote, compared with 30 per cent for his rival.

If the failure of the elections is confirmed, the Speaker of Serbia's parliament will become the acting president in December.

The law is unclear about when the elections should be attempted again.

After the polls closed both candidates criticized the electoral law, echoing the concerns of the international community. An adviser to the president said the failed elections would force Serbia into a «political vacuum for two or three months» until the parliament calls for new polls.


To win the majority; turnout; the failed elections; the preliminary count; to stall the reform; rival; the current president; the acting president; electoral law; presidential poll.

3. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases. Reproduce the sentences from the article with them.

Несостоявшиеся выборы; получить большинство голосов; исполняющий обязанности президента; предварительный подсчет; выборы президента; действующий президент; соперник; загнать реформу в тупик; закон о выборах; явка (на избирательные участки).

4. Answer the following questions on the article using the active vocabulary.

1. What can stall the country's reform program in Serbia?

2. What is needed for the elections to be valid? 3. How many votes did the current president get? 4. Who will become the acting president if the failure of the elections is confirmed? 5. When should next elections take place? 6. What can failed elections lead to?

V


German election battle heads for a tense finish

Voters in Sunday's German general elections will be sounding the closing bell on one of the most dramatic campaigns for decades.

The ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens leads in most opinion polls this week, but the outcome and the composition of the next coalition, remain wide open.

Whichever party emerges the winner, Germany's complex voting system and the nuances of coalition building makes the complexion of the next government difficult to predict.

This year's elections herald the first postwar reduction in the size of the Bundestag, the parliamentary lower house, from 665 to 598 seats in a response to population decline and budgetary pressures. This has intensified competition for the remaining seats.

Partly because of the parties' close standing in the polls, voter turnout is expected to be high. In the previous election, 82 per cent of voters cast ballots — high by international standards. similar turnout among 61.2 eligible voters is expected this time.

Germany's electoral system, based on proportional representation, is distinctive in giving each elector two votes, for constituency representatives and parties. The second vote, for parties, is decisive as it determines each group's share of the seats.

Parties must also overcome a minimum 5 per cent threshold to be represented in parliament, in a rule aimed at excluding small, potentially extremist groups and ensuring stable majorities.


Opinion polls; lower house (upper house); population decline; voting system; to stand close in the polls; outcome; electoral system; composition of a coalition; 5 per cent threshold; to ensure stable majority; to cast ballots.


Избирательная система; опрос общественного мнения; 5-процентный барьер; набрать почти равное количество голосов; итог; верхняя палата парламента (нижняя палата парламента); обеспечить стабильное большинство; отдавать голос (бюллетень); уменьшение численности населения; состав коалиции; система голосования.

4. Say if the following statements are true or false. Use the introductory phrases for agreement and disagreement. (See III. 4.)

1. Germany's elections will start on Sunday. 2. The ruling coalition lags behind according to opinion polls. 3. The outcome of the elections as well as the composition of the next coalition are not clear yet. 4. The German electoral system clearly defines the make-up of the next parliament. 5. The size of the Bundestag has been reduced this year due to budgetary pressures. 6. A great number of people are going to take part in the elections. 7. The turnout of 82% is rather low by international standards. 8. Each voter has two votes. 9. Every party that takes part in elections should be represented in the parliament.

5. Translate the following texts into English using Translation Notes.

1

ТУРЦИЯ. В стране вчера прошли досрочные выборы в парламент страны. Выборы должны были состояться1 в 2004 году, однако были перенесены в связи с расколом в правительственной коалиции. Судя по опросам, наибольшие шансы на победу имеет недавно созданная Партия справедливости и развития.

2

США. Американский президент совершает поездку по южным штатам страны, чтобы поддержать кандидатов от Республиканской партии на предстоящих выборах в Конгресс. Одновременно пройдут выборы губернаторов 36 из 50 штатов.

3

Президент США подписал законопроект2, направленный на усовершенствование избирательной системы США. Документ, одобренный ранее Конгрессом, должен исключить повторение ситуаций, когда путаница с подсчетом голосов поставила страну на грань3 политического кризиса. Новый закон получил название «Помощь Америке и голосовании» и предусматривает выделение 3,9 млрд. долларом и бюджеты штатов. Деньги пойдут на замену устаревших машин для подсчета результатов голосования, подготовку добровольцев, работающих на избирательных участках, и распространение информации о выборах. Новые компьютерные программы должны предотвратить возможные ошибки. Закон устанавливает единые базовые требования для всех 50 штатов.

SECTION B

I


Choosing the nation's President

Every four years Americans participate in a unique and exciting ritual — the selection of the nation's President. The summer before the election, each of the major political parties holds a convention. Delegates from every state meet together to choose candidates for President and Vice-President and to determine the party's program (or platform, as it is called).




The number of delegates from each state is determined by its population and its support for that party in previous elections. After routine formalities, convention business usually begins with creation and acceptance of a party platform. A platform is a very general statement of the party's philosophy, goals, and position on issues of national and international concern. The next business of the convention is the nomination of prospective presidential candidates. When nominations are completed, votes are taken alphabetically by state. Several roll calls may be necessary before one nominee wins the majority of votes needed to become the party's candidate.

Once the presidential candidate is selected, his running mate (the vice-presidential candidate) must be chosen. Traditionally, a party's presidential and vice-presidential candidates come from different sections of the country and have somewhat different political views. Thus, the party achieves what is called a balanced ticket, a combination of candidates that will appeal to many different blocks of voters.

Actual campaigning traditionally begins on Labor Day. From that time until election day, voters are bombarded from all sides by radio, television, newspapers and personal communications with political material. Each candidate tries to convince a majority of American voters that he is best qualified to lead the country for the next four years.

Because campaigning is extremely expensive and a candidate must receive a majority of the electoral votes, presidential politics has, to a large extent, been limited to two major parties — the Democratic and Republican parties. A great number of votes are needed to win a national election. No candidate can hope to survive by appealing to one or two classes of voters. Each party has a familiar symbol: for Democrats it is a donkey, and for the Republicans — an elephant.

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, voters cast their ballots for President and Vice-President. Some members of Congress and many state and local officials are also elected at this time. Thanks to voting machines and computers, Americans usually know the winners by late evening.

The President and Vice-President are not actually chosen by popular votes but by electoral votes. That is, the people vote for electors who are, as a group, known as the Electoral College. This group selects the President and Vice-President. When a citizen casts his vote for a presidential candidate, he is really choosing electors. Each elector is expected (although not obliged) to vote for the candidate who wins the majority of popular votes in his state. The number of electors allotted to each state is equal to the total number of representatives and senators who represent that state in Congress. Thus, states with larger populations have more electoral votes. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes in a particular state receives all of that state's electoral votes. It is, therefore, possible for a presidential candidate to win a majority of popular votes but not a majority of electoral votes, thereby losing the election. This can happen if the opponent wins by small margins in states with many electoral votes and loses by large margins in states with few electoral votes. At least two presidential elections have been decided this way.

To be elected, candidates for President and Vice-President must receive a majority of votes in the Electoral College. If no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives chooses the President from the top three candidates, and the Senate chooses the Vice-President from the top two candidates having the highest number of electoral votes.

The newly-elected President is inaugurated in January during a solemn, nationally-televised ceremony. He then moves into the White House, appoints members of his Cabinet, and begins the difficult task of trying to persuade Congress to help him fulfil his campaign promises.

2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases. Reproduce sentences from the text where they are used.

Party platform; to lose the election; to win the election; to cast one's ballot; to lose by large margins; to win by small margins; to hold a convention; a balanced ticket; a running mate; to appeal to smb; the newly-elected president; to choose by popular vote; nomination of prospective presidential candidates.


1. What is a party platform? Where is it determined? 2. Who is the running mate? 3. Why do presidential and vice-presidential candidates have a bit different political views? 4. Why do you think the list of candidates is limited to two major political parties? 5. When is the election day? 6. Is the president chosen by popular votes? What's the Electoral College? 7. Is it possible for a president to win a majority of popular votes, but not a majority of electoral

votes? 8. When is the president inaugurated? 9. Compare the electoral systems of the USA and Russia. Are there any similarities? What are the

differences?

II


Islamists in Turkey take strong lead vote

ANKARA, Turkey. A party with Islamic roots took a commanding lead in Turkish elections Sunday, powered by voters angry at their country's slide into its worst economic crisis in decades. The Justice and Development Party took 35 per cent of the vote with almost half the vote counted and was likely to be able to form a government without coalition partners.

«The preliminary results show that we are ahead by a great margin». the leader of the Justice party said in a news conference. He said that his government's first priority will be to «speedily pursue the EU membership process». He said that his government will «follow an economic program to integrate the country with the world».

«We have no intention to challenge the world», he told Dow Jones Newswires. «Under our government. Turkey will be in harmony with the world». With 47 per cent of the total electorate's vote counted, the Justice and Development Party was taking 35 per cent of the vote, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. Its rival Republican People's Party was taking 19 per cent of the vote and coming in second. Anatolia said.

No other party had more than 10 per cent of the vote, the threshold that parties must cross to enter parliament. Prime Minister 's party was taking only 1 per cent of the vote and his coalition partners were well below the 10 per cent threshold needed for entry into parliament.

«We committed suicide», the Prime Minister said, referring to parliament's agreement to hold elections 18 months early. Legislators agreed to the vote amid Ecevit's failing health. Like many secularists, he also expressed concern over the Justice party's Islamic roots. Many secularists fear that the party may try and carry out an Islamic agenda once it is elected. The Justice party has tried to distance itself from its Islamic roots and says that it is a secular, democratic party that is not looking to promote an Islamic agenda.

«I carry those concerns», the Prime Minister said. «I hope this party respects the secular and democratic regime». The Justice party was established last year by lawmakers from a banned pro-Islamic party and has already sparked tensions with the secular establishment. Justice has not specified who will serve as prime minister if it forms the next government.

During the campaign, the party says it would concentrate on social welfare and support Turkey's US $31 billion IMF4-backed recovery program. Voters eager for a change have been supporting the Justice party. «I voted for Justice because we have no trust left in the other parties», one of them said after casting her vote in Istanbul. «We want an end to poverty».

The voting comes as the United States is trying to showcase Turkey as an example of a secular, democratic country that is overwhelmingly Muslim but has cast its future with the West.

A party with Islamic roots taking power could lead to instability and tensions in the region. Observers point out that many of the party's loyalists were members of previous more radical movement and may not be satisfied with the non-confrontational attitude adopted by their leaders.


A voter; to take ... per cent of the vote; to be likely to do smth; to be ahead of smb; by a great margin; under smb's government; a rival; to come in second; a threshold; to hold elections; to take a lead; to express concern over smth; to carry out an agenda; to spark tensions; secular; social welfare; to be satisfied with smth; to adopt an attitude.


При ... правительстве; вызывать напряжение; светский; соперник; занять позицию; опережать кого-либо; вероятно (что-то произойдет); быть вторым; порог; проводить выборы; избиратель; выразить озабоченность о чем-либо; лидировать; социальное обеспечение; с большим преимуществом; быть удовлетворенным чем-либо; получить ... процентов голосов; реализовывать повестку.


1. What party took a lead in Turkish elections? 2. What were voters angry at? 3. What share of vote did the Justice and Development Party take? 4. What is leading party likely to do? 5. Was the Justice and Development Party ahead by a small margin? 6. How will Turkey live under the new government? 7. Who came in second in the elections? 8. What was the threshold to enter parliament? 9. What did the Turkish Prime Minister express concern over?


10. Who did the Justice party spark tension with? 11. What sphere did the Justice party promise to concentrate on? 12. What may members of the Justice party be dissatisfied with?


Agreement: I couldn't agree more./I fully agree with you./It appears to me to be true.

Partial agreement: To some extent it is true./It is right but up to a point.

Disagreement: I'm afraid it's not quite right./I would object to .../On the contrary.

1. The Justice and Development Party was ahead by a small margin in Turkish elections. 2. The Justice party was likely to be able to form a government without coalition partners. 3. According to the Justice party leader under the new government, Turkey will pursue the EU

membership. 4. The Justice Party's rival Prime Minister's party was taking 1 per cent of the vote and coming in

second. 5. The threshold to enter the parliament is 15 per cent. 6. The Prime Minister expressed concern over the Justice party's Islamic roots. 7. Many of the party's loyalists were members of previous more radical movement and may not be

satisfied with the non-confrontational attitude adopted by their leaders.

6. Using the article and the active vocabulary sum up the results of the elections in Turkey.

III

Translate the following text into English.

Выборы президента республики

Предстоящие выборы президента республики станут главным событием года в Чехии. Таково мнение чешских политологов, о котором сообщает пражская печать. Преемник нынешнего президента займет пост главы государства на ближайшие пять лет.

Чешского президента избирает парламент на совместном заседании обеих палат. Предусмотрено три тура выборов. В первом туре победитель должен получить большинство голосов в обеих палатах, во втором — большинство голосов в обеих палатах от общего числа присутствующих на совместном заседании депутатов каждой из палат, в третьем туре достаточно заручиться поддержкой простого большинства голосов присутствующих на заседании парламентариев.


«Compromise does not mean cowardice». (John F. Kennedy)

«What history teaches us is that men have never learned anything from it». (George Wilhelm Hegel)

SECTION С


Republicans win Senate and hold the House

Republicans have swept to victory in midterm elections in the United States, gaining control of the Senate. The Republicans captured high-profile Senate races from North Carolina to New Hampshire while winning governors' races in what traditionally had been Democratic Party states. In Georgia, a little-known former state senator, Sonny P., upset the incumbent Democratic governor, Roy B.

The Republicans also solidified their hold on the House of Representatives. The results mean that a single party, the Republicans, will once again control both houses of Congress and the White House. The party lost the Senate in June 2001, when Senator James J. of Vermont defected from it and became an independent, though mostly voting with the Democrats. «We made history tonight», Representative Thomas D., chairman of the Republican Congressional Campaign committee, said as results came in late Tuesday. «It was a great win for the president of the United States».

Norm C., a Republican, sent former Vice-President Walter Mondale back into political retirement after beating him in the Senate race in Minnesota. In a brief, emotional speech Wednesday morning, Mondale said he had «no regrets at all» over the campaign, which he described as «electric».

The US president planned no public statements Wednesday on the election results. The Republicans emerged Wednesday with 51 Senate seats to the Democrats' 46, with two races still awaiting final outcomes and an independent holding one seat. The Democratic incumbent in South Dakota tentatively appeared to have won, but the margin of victory was so small — about 500 votes — that the Republican challenger was seeking a recount. The Democratic incumbent in Louisiana fell a bit short of the 50 per cent margin needed to avoid a runoff election 5 in December after running well ahead of three Republican challengers.

Meanwhile, the Republicans won 227 House seats to the Democrats' 203, with four races still undecided shortly before midday Wednesday and an independent holding one seat. The outcome of the balloting Tuesday marked a break with historic patterns in which the party that controls the White House almost invariably lost seats in midterm congressional elections.

The result signaled a major change in the way Washington does business, removing what president had repeatedly complained in recent days was Democratic opposition that had prevented him from winning confirmation of his judicial nominations and such measures as a permanent tax cut and a homeland security bill.

In Maryland, Kathleen K., a Democrat and a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, lost her bid for governor to Representative Robert E. Jr. — the first time a Republican was elected governor of that state since Spiro Agnew in 1966.

In Alabama, the governor's race was thrown into chaos when both the Democratic incumbent, Don S., and his Republican challenger, Representative Bob R., claimed victory — a situation that most likely will take a court ruling to untangle. That predicament came about when election officials in Baldwin County, which is considered a Republican stronghold, initially showed Don S. with 19,070 votes but later cut that tally to 12,736 votes. That change, if allowed to stand, would put Bob R. ahead by 2,752 votes.


In California, the Democratic incumbent, Gray D., withstood an unexpectedly tough challenge from Bill S., a Republican, to win a second term.

Democrats tried to put the best light on the outcomes, arguing that they had faced a tough task from the beginning because of Bush's high approval rating and the financial advantage enjoyed by Republicans. But the result was particularly distressing for the Democratic congressional leaders: Tom D., Senate majority leader, and Richard G., House minority leader. They are viewed as prospects for president.

«What you've got to look at is the incredible amount of special interest money that was on their side», Richard G. said. «There were races where we were outspent 4 to 1,5 to 1. The pharmaceutical companies probably spent $60 million across the country».


To sweep to victory; midterm elections; high-profile; to solidify one's hold on smth; to beat; an outcome; the margin of victory to be small; to fall short of the margin; a runoff election to run well ahead of smb; to prevent smb from doing smth; a nomination; to lose one's bid for; to take a court ruling; incumbent; to put smb ahead; to withstand; to win a second term; to put the best light on smth.


Назначение; требуется судебное решение; выдержать; выдвинуть кого-либо вперед; имеющий большое значение; быть ниже допустимого предела; результат; победа с небольшим преимуществом; мешать кому-либо что-либо делать; промежуточные выборы; потерпеть поражение на выборах на должность; укрепить свой контроль над чем-либо; победить; выиграть второй срок; приукрасить; одержать полную победу; действующий (губернатор); опережать.

4. Read the text again and finish the following statements.

1. The Republicans have swept to... 2. The Republicans captured... 3. The Republicans also solidified... 4. Norm C., a Republican, beat a former Vice President... 5. In South Dakota the margin of victory of the Democratic candidate was... 6. The Democratic candidate in Louisiana fell a bit short of... 7. The outcome of the balloting Tuesday marked a break... 8. Democratic opposition prevented president... 9. Kathleen K., a Democrat and a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, lost her... 10. In Alabama, the governor's race was thrown into chaos so the situation most likely will take... 11. In Baldwin County the change of the election outcome will put Republican challenger Bob R.... 12. In California, the Democratic candidate, Gray D., withstood... 13. Democrats tried to put the best light on...

5. Answer the following questions using the active vocabulary.

1. What is the outcome of the midterm elections in the USA? 2. What did the Republicans capture? 3. Did the Republicans lose their positions in the House of Representatives? 4. Did the former Vice President win the elections? 5. Was the rivalry tough in South Dakota?

6. What was the election like in Louisiana? 7. What historic patterns did the outcome of the balloting Tuesday mark? 8. What did Democratic opposition prevent the US president from? 9. Did the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy win her bid? 10. How will the election problem be resolved in Alabama? 11. How did the election go off in California? 12. How did Democrats react to the outcomes of the elections?


1 were to be held

2 a bill

3 to bring the country to the point of

4 IMF — International Monetary Fund

5 a runoff election — это последний тур выборов, когда ни один из кандидатов не получил абсолютного большинства

UNIT 5. HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN ISSUES

SECTION A

I


Systematic violations of women's rights in Afghanistan

Women in Afghanistan have suffered a catastrophic assault on their human rights during more than twenty years of war and under the repressive rule of the Taliban. Now, as women face further peril with the intensification of conflict following the September 11 attacks on the United States, the international community must make a firm commitment to support women's human rights.

Throughout Afghanistan's civil war, the major armed factions — primarily the Taliban and the United National Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, a coalition of mainly Tajik, Uzbek, and ethnic Hazara parties — have repeatedly committed serious abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law. Women have borne the major part of this violence and discrimination. In the civil war, women have suffered massive and systematic human rights abuses.







Peril; abuse; an assault; to face smth; to make a commitment; a faction; violence; to commit; international community.


Опасность/риск; наступление; жестокое обращение; взять на себя обязательство/пообещать; международное сообщество; группировка; столкнуться с чем-либо; насилие; совершать.


1. What have women suffered in Afghanistan for more than 20 years? 2. What are the Afghan women facing now and why? 3. What commitments should the international community make? Why? 4. What abuses were committed during the Afghan civil war? 5. What abuses did the women suffer during the war? 6. Why do you think women have borne the major part of violence and discrimination?

5. Render the article in English using the active words and phrases.

II


Discrimination against Palestinian Arab children in Israel's schools

The report on discrimination against Palestinian Arab children in Israel's schools is based on Human Rights Watch investigations at twenty-six Arab and Jewish schools and on nationwide statistics compiled by the Israeli government. Nearly one-quarter of Israel's 1.6 million schoolchildren are Palestinian Arab citizens and are educated in schools run by the Israeli government, but operated separately from those of the Jewish majority. The report found differences in almost every aspect of the education system.

The Education Ministry does not allocate as much money per head for Palestinian Arab children as it does for Jewish children. Their classes are 20 per cent larger on average. They get far fewer enrichment and remedial programs1 — even though they need them more — in part because the Ministry uses a different scale to assess need for Jewish children. Their school buildings are in worse condition, and many communities lack kindergartens for three and four-year-olds.

One of the largest gaps is in special education, where disabled Palestinian Arab children get less funding and fewer services, have limited access to special schools, and lack appropriate curricula.


To allocate; to compile; on average; investigation; curriculum (pl. curricula); an access to smth; to assess; lack; per head.



В среднем; учебный план/курс обучения; составлять (отчет); расследование; выделять (средства); доступ к чему-либо; оценивать; нехватка; на человека.

4. Read the article again and complete the following statements.

1. ... is based on Human Rights Watch investigations. 2. Nearly one quarter of Israel's schoolchildren are ... 3. The report found ... 4. The Education Ministry does not... 5. Arab children get fewer enrichment and remedial programs because the 6. Disabled Palestinian Arab children ...


III


Sri Lanka: 180,000 refugees return home

«For 19 years, northern Sri Lanka was closed to the world as a civil conflict developed, claiming 64,000 lives and displacing more than 800,000 people. Last year, both sides declared a ceasefire, and prospects for peace grew. In January, the government lifted its embargo against the north and in September the first round of formal peace talks was held in Bangkok.

Meanwhile, the displaced people began to return, voluntarily, to their former homes in the Vanni, the northern land controlled by the guerrilla army called the Tamil Tigers. By October, 180,000 people had gone back. Relief activities began in the Vanni for the first time in 19 years — giving food aid to farming families, orphans, traumatized children and war widows.


To lift an embargo; displaced people; a ceasefire; a widow; guerilla army; relief activities; voluntarily; a prospect for.


Перемещенные лица; добровольно; снять эмбарго; прекращение огня; партизанская армия; действия по оказанию помощи; вдова; перспектива.

4. Read the article again and answer the questions using the active words and phrases.

1. Why was Sri Lanka closed to the world for 19 years? 2. When and why did the prospects for peace grow? 3. What had happened by October? 4. What do relief workers do in the area? 5. What to your mind is the role of relief activities in the areas where there are refugees and

displaced people? 6. Would you like to take part in relief activities? Why?


IV


Afghanistan delays speedy return of refugees

Afghanistan's interim government has delayed signing an agreement with Iran and the United Nations on the return of several hundred thousand refugees, just weeks before the scheduled start of a program of assisted repatriations.

However, the UN refugee agency says it is still hopeful that, with or without a formal agreement, organized voluntary returns will begin next month. The three sides are proceeding on the basis that an estimated 400,000 Afghans could go back to their homeland from Iran within a year.

Relief workers suggested Kabul was concerned about the impact of a sudden influx of refugees, as well as Iran's stated intention to deport Afghans who have refused to take part in its registration program.

Over the course of nearly two years, Iran has registered 2.35 million Afghans and estimates that several hundred thousand remain unregistered.

The representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)2 in Iran said that they were preparing transport and relief supplies for the returnees in coordination with the Afghan government. He added that he did not expect Iran to carry out mass expulsions.

More than 100,000 Afghans have already left Iran before the start of the UN-assisted program.


To estimate; to delay; an expulsion; an interim government; an impact; relief supplies; to carry out; a refugee; an influx of refugees.


Выдворение (из страны); приток беженцев; оценивать/предполагать; переходное/временное правительство; откладывать; помощь (беженцам); беженец; производить/выполнять; влияние.

3. Read the article again and express your agreement or disagreement with the following statements.

Agreement: Yes, you are right./I can't but agree./It's OK. I agree./Yes, it's true.

Disagreement: I'm afraid, you're not quite right./No, I can't agree with that./I'm sorry, but that's wrong.

1. Afghanistan has signed an agreement with Iran and the UN on the return of its refugees.


2. The UN refugee agency says the return will begin next month. 3. The three sides estimate that about 200,000 people will be able to return home within a year, 4. Kabul is concerned about the relief workers acting in the country. 5. All Afghans living in Iran have been registered. 6. Iran is going to carry out mass expulsions from the country. 7. More than 100,000 Afghans have left Iran.

SECTION B

I


Helping poor nations

The US president's plan to add $5 billion to the foreign aid budget shows that his administration is rethinking the importance of helping underdeveloped countries. Obviously, that is a good thing — not only because the money may ease the hopelessness that breeds terrorism. Foreign aid, well spent, will also liberate entrepreneurial energies, protect human rights and help millions achieve better lives.

The president's vision, however, is larger than his financial commitments. He wants to spend the extra $5 billion over three years. Shamefully, America, once the world's most generous aid giver, now gives less, relative to the size of its economy, than any other developed country, and much of what it does provide goes to military rather than humanitarian purposes. Many Americans have supported the retreat from foreign aid under the assumption that the money is wasted anyway. The president's plan would use economic development funds as a reward for countries that agree to combat corruption, strengthen the rule of law, respect human rights and maintain open markets.

And after a decade in which foreign assistance spending remained virtually flat, this proposal marks a significant advance. A three-year rise of $5 billion can do much good fighting AIDS and other infectious diseases, ridding of malnutrition, spreading computer literacy and helping Third World business to market their goods in the developed world.

Washington's leadership cannot be reduced to a show of military might. This proposal could help lead America back towards its traditional role as a generous partner in spreading economic development


Developed country; foreign aid; entrepreneurial energies; to combat corruption; underdeveloped country; computer literacy; to waste money; human rights; commitments; malnutrition; AIDS; the rule of law.

3. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases. Reproduce the sentences from the article with them.

Компьютерная грамотность; зря тратить деньги; предпринимательская активность; развитая страна; страна с низким уровнем развития экономики; права человека; бороться с коррупцией; обязательства; иностранная помощь; СПИД; плохое питание; верховенство закона.

4. Read the article again and answer the following questions.

1. What fact shows that the US administration is rethinking the importance of helping poor countries?

2. What can money ease and what results can it bring if spent well? 3. Does the USA spend as much money on foreign aid as other developed countries? 4. Where does most of the American money go? 5. Why did many Americans support the retreat from foreign aid? 6. What countries will be rewarded from the economic development funds according to the

president's plan? 7. What can this $5 billion aid bring to the underdeveloped countries? 8. What this proposal could bring to America itself?


1. Why do you think the US administration began rethinking the importance of helping poor nations?

2. Do you think developed countries should help underdeveloped ones? What kind of help should it be? What amount is appropriate to your mind?

3. Why do you think Americans consider that foreign aid is wasted in the underdeveloped countries? Do you agree?

4. Why do you think American aid goes mostly to military purposes but not humanitarian ones? 5. Do you agree with the author that the US leadership cannot be reduced to showing military

might? 6. Do you agree that the US has traditionally been a generous partner in spreading economic

development? Give reasons.

II


Civil and political rights, including the questions of freedom of expression

Written statement submitted by the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP), a non-governmental organization in special consultative status

The UN Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.

Under this agenda item, the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP) would like to bring before the Commission on Human Rights the case of the Pontians, living in the historic region of Pontos, from Sinope (Sinop) to Trapezous (Trabzon) now in Turkey. Our concern is about the restrictions to their freedom of expression showing their cultural identity formed over thousands of years.

Historical background

The presence of the Pontians is traced back in the 8th century B. C., before the emergence of the Pontian Kingdom in the North Coast of Asia Minor. Indeed, Pontian culture roots are to be found in their history, notably during the classical era (with philosophers and historians such as Diogenes, Strabon, etc.) of the Hellenistic period and then in the Byzantine epoch.

After the Ottoman conquest in the middle of the 15th century their living conditions, their unity and communal life as a Christian people, were deeply affected by the system of the Ottoman power and administration, based on the distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims. In the 19th century, due to the Ottoman-Russian wars, the Pontians were subjected to several exoduses. The systematic elimination of the Christian Pontians through mass murder and ethnic cleansing took place in the first quarter of the 20th century and especially between 1916 and 1923, as part of a longstanding policy of thorough turkization of the whole Asia Minor.

The Pontians who could remain in Pontos had become Muslims or were compelled to islamization, thus escaping destruction and dispersion. It is known that the population exchange according to the Lausanne Treaty (1923) between Greece and Turkey was defined on the basis of religion and not on the basis of the ethnic identity of the populations of both sides.

An ancient culture in jeopardy of survival

Even though the islamized Pontians of Pontos were for decades deprived of the right to communicate with the Pontians of Greece and of the countries of the ex-Soviet Union, and even though they suffered, for decades, systematic policies of disarticulation of their communities, they continue to insist on their particular Pontian identity. «We are Pontians», they declare still today. Especially in the last decades this sense of a particular identity is increasing and is being coupled with actions of intellectual and cultural enhancing. However, even careful attempts of the new Pontian intellectuals to express verbally or in writing the history, the cultural identity of this people, are facing harsh measures by the Turkish authorities. During the last years the lives of the Pontian intellectuals who dare to express their views are reliably reported to be threatened, some of them with death. This repression is accompanied by pseudo-scientific attempts to distort the three thousand year-old rich history of this people and of this area. Those attempts are made by Turkish propagandists and by so-called professors. The official discourse claims that this historic people is of Turkish descent. A typical example of this conduct of the authorities is a television series performed some time ago in Trapezous, in which a retired officer of the Turkish army and a would-be professor hammered on the one hand, the Turkish descent of the Pontians on the other, uttered threats towards the Pontians who claim the right to keep contacts with Pontians in Greece. Moreover, Pontian travelers from Greece during their visits in Pontos, are subjected to strict control and surveillance by the Turkish authorities.

Repressive measures endanger language

It appears that a sizeable part of the islamized Pontians, especially the communities of Trapezous, Tonia, Ophe, Sourmena (Surmene), Matsouka as well as those of the peripheral municipalities of Constantinople (Istanbul) have preserved intact their Pontian language. Thus, in those areas, the language which is known to be the closest to the ancient Greek is kept alive. In fact, this language is today illegal in Pontos and in Turkey. Of course there is no school where the Pontians could learn, cultivate and develop their language. The existing schools are Turkish. The young Pontian boys and girls — especially those from the inland — due to the fact that their families cling to their own language and do not know Turkish, have their first contact with this language in the Turkish schools and are forced to learn it with harsh educational methods. It is reported that in the elementary schools there exists a network of young student-informers in charge of denouncing to their teachers the Pontian pupils speaking between themselves their own language, who are then taken up by their teachers or even the police with brutal methods of persuasion. In the high schools, the task of terrorization is apparently devoted to racist and fascist groups, like «Grey Wolves». Those educational conditions exclude the Pontian students from university and higher studies. Students of Pontian descent who try to express their Pontian

conscience and culture through periodicals run a risk of being sentenced to jail by the Turkish authorities.

The Turkish state through policies stemming from its constitutional and legal framework together with its authoritarian structures, eliminates the words Pontos and Pontians, and represses individual and collective attempts of peaceful expression of the thought and conscience of the Pontian identity.

Expression of the Pontian culture must be saved

Describing this situation, the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP) would like to insist on the lack of freedom of expression of a particular people, the Pontians in present-day Turkey. This situation ought to be known by the international community. Further, interventions towards its alleviation is a step for safeguarding a living culture which has enriched mankind.


Ethnic cleansing; to be deprived of; to enhance; a harsh measure; to distort; a descent; to be subjected to; surveillance; intact; brutal; to run a risk of; to be sentenced to; to eliminate; an alleviation; to safeguard.


Ослабление; быть лишенным чего-либо; защищать; убрать (устранить); укреплять; наблюдение; нетронутый; жестокий; этническая чистка; рисковать; происхождение; быть приговоренным к; подвергаться; искажать; жесткая мера.


1. What is the non-government organization LIDLIP concerned about? 2. When did the Pontian ethnic cleansing take place? 3. What rights are Pontians deprived of? 4. Has the sense of Pontians' particular identity weakened recently? 5. What sort of measures do Turkish authorities take? 6. What attempts do pseudo-scientists make? 7. What are Pontian travelers from Greece subjected to? 8. What did Pontian people preserve intact? 9. What do students of Pontian descent run a risk of? 10. What measure is necessary to safeguard the Pontian culture according to LIDLIP?

5. Imagine that you work for LIDLIP and using the article make a formal report on the case of the Pontians at the UN Commission on Human Rights including the following:

1. A summary of the problems the Pontians face in Turkey today. 2. Your proposals for the Turkish authorities and the international community to improve the

situation.

6. Translate the following text into English.

Госдепартамент США опубликовал заявление своего официального представителя о ситуации с беженцами из Чечни. «Мы приветствуем решение России не заставлять беженцев возвращаться в Чечню против воли. Возвращение на родину должно быть добровольным, без всякого давления или принуждения. Те, кто не желает возвращаться в Чечню, должны иметь возможность остаться в других областях России».

Американский дипломат также заявил, что в разрешении любой ситуации с беженцами должны принимать участие такие международные организации, как ООН и ОБСЕ. По его словам, их деятельность носит конструктивный характер и способствует улучшению гуманитарной обстановки в местах проживания беженцев.


«Treat the enemy that has been conquered with courtesy and generosity». (Kwan-Tsze)

SECTION С


International humanitarian law and human rights

International humanitarian law has a brief but eventful history. It was not until the second half of the nineteenth century that nations agreed on international rules to avoid needless suffering in wars — rules they bound themselves to observe in a Convention.

What is international humanitarian law? This body of law can be defined as the principles and rules which limit the use of violence in times of armed conflict. The aims are:

To protect persons who are not, or are no longer, directly engaged in hostilities — the wounded, shipwrecked, prisoners of war and civilians;

To limit the effects of violence in fighting to the attainment of the objectives of the conflict.

Three main currents have contributed to the making of international humanitarian law. They are the «law of Geneva», represented by the international Conventions and Protocols established under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) with the protection of the victims of conflict as their central concern; the «law of The Hague», based on the results of the Peace Conferences in the capital of the Netherlands in 1899 and 1907, which dealt principally with the permissible means and methods of war, and the efforts of the United Nations to ensure that human rights are respected in armed conflicts and to limit the use of certain weapons.

As French and Austrian armies fought the battle of Solferino in northern Italy in June, 1859, the idea of international action to limit the suffering of the sick and wounded in wars was born in the mind of Henri Dunant, a young Swiss citizen.

Dunant found himself, more or less by accident, among thousands of French and Austrian wounded after the battle, and with a few other volunteers did what he could to ease their suffering. With four friends, Henri Dunant then set up the International Committee for Aid to the

Wounded (soon to be renamed the International Committee of the Red Cross). Dunant's ideas met a wide response. In several countries national societies were founded and at a diplomatic conference in Geneva in 1864 the delegates of 16 European nations adopted the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field. This document, the First Geneva Convention, enshrined the principles of universality and tolerance in matters of race, nationality and religion.

The Peace Conferences at The Hague in 1899 and 1907 adopted conventions defining the laws and customs of warfare and declarations forbidding certain practices, including the bombardment of undefended towns, the use of poisonous gases and soft-nosed bullets. The conferences failed to agree on a system of compulsory arbitration as a means of settling disputes which threaten peace.

The United Nations role

The maintenance of peace, and the prevention of armed conflict are the vital concerns of the United Nations. Respect for human rights at all times and in all places is a fundamental principle of the Organization.

In 1949, the International Law Commission decided not to put the law of armed conflict on its agenda as attention to this branch of international law might be seen as a lack of trust in the capacity of the United Nations to maintain peace and security.

From the outset, however, United Nations bodies have cited the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, and have urged States to ratify, or to be guided by them. The application of humanitarian law features constantly in the debates and decisions of the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

The Teheran Conference

The International Conference on Human Rights in Teheran in 1968 (the International Year for Human Rights) declared that humanitarian principles must prevail during periods of armed conflict.

In the same year, the United Nations General Assembly, in resolution 2444 (XXIII) affirmed a resolution of the Twelfth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (Vienna, 1965) which laid down three basic principles of action in armed conflict:

The right of parties to a conflict to adopt means of injuring the enemy is not unlimited; It is prohibited to launch attacks on civilian populations as such; a distinction must be made at all times between persons taking part in hostilities and members of the civilian population so that the latter are spared as much as possible.

With the adoption of resolution 2444, the General Assembly declared as unacceptable the idea of waging war against the entire population in an attempt to force the adversary to give up. The resolution also marked the acceleration of the movement to bring the three currents of international humanitarian law — Geneva, The Hague, and the United Nations — into one main stream. It recognized the interaction between rules to protect the victims of war, to establish rules of combat, and to protect human rights in armed conflicts.

Conclusion

The prevention of armed conflict is, and must remain, the first purpose of international co-operation. The second is to preserve humanity in the face of the reality of war. That is the intention of international humanitarian law.

In a little more than 100 years, an impressive body of international humanitarian treaty law has been established. There are today clear limits to the types of action that will be tolerated in armed conflict. However, treaties and conventions — even when solemnly ratified — cannot save lives, prevent ill-treatment, or protect the property of innocent people unless the will exists to apply these agreements in all conditions. Nor will they be effective unless everyone directly involved — combatants and civilians alike — realizes that the basic issue is one of respecting fundamental human rights.


To be engaged in smth; a prisoner of war; an attainment; an objective; to contribute to; under the aegis of; an amelioration; customs of warfare; to enshrine; tolerance; compulsory; arbitration; to settle a dispute; vital; a maintenance; an application; a minority; a party to a conflict; to lay down; to prohibit; to launch an attack; to spare; to wage war; an adversary; an ill-treatment; a combatant.


Участник боевых действий; цель; плохое обращение; жизненно важный; способы ведения войны; запретить; под эгидой; меньшинство; разрешить спор; быть вовлеченным во что-либо; сохранение мира; заложить (принцип); вести войну; военнопленный; обязательный; достижение; внести вклад во что-либо; терпимость; применение; участник конфликта; подвергнуть нападению; щадить; противник; закрепить (в законе); улучшение.

4. Read the text again and finish the following statements.

1. The international humanitarian law can be defined as... 2. The aims of international humanitarian law are ... 3. International humanitarian law was contributed by ... 4. The First Geneva Convention enshrined ... 5. The Peace Conferences at The Hague failed to agree on ... 6. The maintenance of peace, and the prevention of armed conflict are ... 7. The United Nations General Assembly affirmed a resolution of the Twelfth International

Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (Vienna, 1965) which... 8. Three basic principles of action in armed conflict are ... 9. With the adoption of resolution 2444, the General Assembly declared as unacceptable ... 10. The prevention of armed conflict is … 11. The second purpose of international cooperation is... 12. However, treaties and conventions cannot... 13. Treaties and conventions will not be effective unless...

5. Answer the following questions using the active vocabulary.

1. How can the international humanitarian law be defined? 2. What are the aims of international humanitarian law? 3. What contributed to international humanitarian law? 4. What did the First Geneva Convention enshrine? 5. What did the Peace Conferences at The Hague focus on? 6. What are the vital concerns of the United Nations?

7. What did the resolution of the Twelfth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (Vienna, 1965) lay down?

8. What are three basic principles of action in armed conflict? 9. What cannot treaties and conventions do? 10. How is it possible to make treaties and conventions effective?



1. Do you think the «law of Geneva» and the «law of The Hague» are still important? Give your grounds.

2. Why do you think some nations or leaders violate international humanitarian law? 3. What are the limits of international humanitarian law today? 4. What do you think may be done to improve the current international humanitarian law?

1 Enrichment and remedial programs — программы по обеспечению продуктами питания и лекарствами

2 UN High Commissioner for Refugees - Верховный комиссар ООН по делам беженцев

UNIT 6. GLOBALIZATION

SECTION A

I

1. Read the interview and look up the meaning of the underlined words and phrases in the dictionary.

Kofi Annan of Ghana is the seventh person to hold the post of U. Secretary General since 1946. Yet he was the first secretary general ever to be elected from the ranks of the United Nations staff. Prior to his appointment, he served as Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. Mr. Annan lays out his thoughts on the importance — and limitations — of globalization.

What is your view on globalization?

«It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity».

How crucial is the role of governments?

«We cannot wait for governments to do it all. Globalization operates on Internet time. Governments tend to be slow moving by nature, because they have to build political support for every step».



How important are open markets?

«Open markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of poverty, while keeping prosperity in the industrialized world».

What are the limits of the global market?

«We must ensure that the global market is based on broadly shared values and practices that reflect global social needs, and that all the world's people share the benefits of globalization».

How can one make the global market more attractive?

«We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face».

What needs to happen to make the global village a reality?

«Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community».

How strong is the global economy?

«Globalization is a fact of life. But I believe we have underestimated its fragility».

How important are women in bringing about global change?

«There is no development strategy more beneficial to society as a whole — women and men alike — than the one which involves women as central players».

«More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development».

Where do you see the primary role of the UN?

«If the United Nations does not attempt to chart a course for the world's people in the first decades of the new millennium, who will?»

What is the major challenge for the UN?

«We have the means and the capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will».

(On the UN's goal of cutting the level of global poverty in half by 2015)


Slow moving; short-term profit; equality; to hold the post; vital; to deal with .(problems); a prerequisite; to lay out one's thoughts; beneficial; shared values; political will; to pull out of poverty; laws of gravity; by nature; prosperity; the means and capacity; fragility; underestimate; decade.


Благосостояние; политическая воля; краткосрочная выгода; общие ценности; занимать пост; недооценивать; выгодный; обязательное условие; изложить мысли; медленно действующий; равенство; жизненно важный; вытащить из нищеты; средства и силы; хрупкость; решать проблемы; десятилетие; законы земного тяготения; по природе.

4. Complete the following statements using the active vocabulary

1. We have to choose between a global market driven only by... 2. Arguing against globalization is like arguing... 3. We have the means and capacity to ... 4. Women's equality is... 5. Governments tend to be slow moving ... 6. Open markets offer the only realistic hope of... 7. We shouldn't underestimate ...

5. Give your own answers to the questions that Mr. Annan was asked.


1. What are shared values? What shared values can you think of? 2. What to your mind did Mr. Annan mean by «a global market which has a human face»? 3. What skills and resources do you consider vital «in helping to build a more robust global

community»? 4. Why do you think Mr. Annan is worried that the fragility of the global world is being

underestimated? 5. Can the United Nations really influence the direction of globalization?

II

1. Read the interviews and look up the meaning of the underlined words and phrases in the dictionary.

Women are playing a central role in contributing to the growth of the global economy. This is increasingly true in business and in politics — two realms traditionally dominated by men. Some of the global economy's leading women thinkers lay out their views.

Are the fruits of globalization available to all?

«It would be wrong to be blind to the economic benefits that globalization has brought to some. The real question is how can we humanize globalization, how can we shape it in such a way that it can benefit all — instead of some».

(Mary Robinson, UN high commissioner for human rights, September 2000)

What risks come with globalization?

«Polarization rather than progressive globalization is what is in the future — unless corrective actions are taken in time».

(Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratung, Sri Lanka's President, on unchecked economic liberalization, October 1997)

What is an example of this polarization?

«My 26-year-old daughter in London is earning almost as much money as I do — and she is just working as a secretary».

(Helen Clark, New Zealand's Prime Minister, on why many young professionals leave New Zealand for good, February 2001)

How can globalization be made to work for all?

«Globalization could be the answer to many of the world's hard problems. But this requires strong democratic foundations based on a political will to ensure equality and justice».

(Sharan Burrow, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, on globalization, September 2000)

How does one succeed in the business world today?

«You shouldn't have a long-term strategy anymore, because you won't be able to move fast enough».

(Orit Gadish, chairman of Bain & Co., April 2001)


Foundations; to benefit; a long-term strategy; to take actions; to ensure smth; a benefit; to contribute to; to require; realm; justice.


Принимать меры; долгосрочная программа/стратегия; приносить пользу; основа/фундамент; требовать; выгода/польза; справедливость; область/сфера; обеспечивать; способствовать/вносить вклад.

4. Say whether you agree or disagree with the following statements. Use introductory phrases for agreement and disagreement.

Agreement: Yes, I agree with it. /I can't agree more. /Absolutely/It's obvious /Exactly.

Disagreement: I'm afraid I can't agree. /I'm sorry, but that's not quite right. /To my mind it's wrong.

1. There is no denying that globalization will bring economic benefits to all. 2. Globalization doesn't carry any risks. 3. Globalization could be the answer to many of the world's hard problems. 4. To ensure equality and justice strong democratic foundations are needed. 5. You won't be able to move fast enough in a global world. 6. Women are playing a central role in contributing to global economy. 7. Business and politics are the two realms that are dominated by men.

8. We can make globalization work for all today.


1. What role do women play in the modern world? Is this role changing? 2. Are the fruits of globalization available to all? Can it bring real benefits to poor nations? 3. What risks can globalization bring? 4. Why do you think women are still not fairly represented in the global economy? 5. Can you open up your country and at the same time protect your national industry? 6. Do you think globalization is a natural process?

III

Translate the following texts into English.

1

Приведет ли глобализация к более справедливому распределению богатства в мире? Независимо от того, что могут говорить критики глобализации, она скорее всего не приведет нас к неравенству. Если же такое случится, то глобализация потерпит неудачу.

2

В эпоху глобализации возрастет роль ООН и некоторых региональных организаций в улаживании внутренних конфликтов, так как ведущие державы в силу своих собственных проблем, отсутствия доброй воли или ограниченности ресурсов постараются минимизировать свое прямое вовлечение во внутренние конфликты других стран.

3

Однако глобализация может ослабить некоторые страны. Дело в том, что распространение рыночных отношений опережает возможности некоторых стран, где отсутствует рыночная экономика, адаптироваться к этим отношениям. Тем более глобализация не может влиять на политические системы этих стран.

SECTION B

I


Global Trends 2015:

A dialogue about the future with non-government experts

The international system in 2015 will be shaped by some trends: population; natural resources and the environment; science and technology; the global economy and globalization; national and international governance; the nature of conflict; and the role of the United States. These trends will influence the capacities, priorities, and behavior of states and societies and thus substantially define the international security environment.

Population trends

The world in 2015 will be populated by some 7.2 billion people, up from 6.1 billion in the year 2000. The rate of world population growth, however, will have diminished from 1. 7 per cent annually in 1985, to 1.3 per cent today, to approximately 1 per cent in 2015.

Increased life expectancy will contribute to a shift towards an aging population in high-income developed countries. Beyond that, demographic trends will sharply diverge. More than 95 per cent of the increase in world population will be found in developing countries, nearly all in fast expanding urban areas.

India's population will grow from 900 million to more than 1.2 billion by 2015; Pakistan's probably will go up from 140 million now to about 195 million.

Some countries in Africa with high rates of AIDS will experience reduced population growth or even declining populations despite relatively high birthrates. In South Africa, for example, the population is projected to drop from 43.4 million in 2000 to 38.7 million in 2015.

Russia and many post-Communist countries of Eastern Europe will have declining populations. As a result of high mortality and low birthrates, Russia's population may drop from its current 146.5 million to as low as 130 to 135 million in 2015, while the neighboring states of Central Asia will experience continued population growth. In Japan and West European countries such as Italy and Spain, populations also will decline in the absence of sharp increases in birthrates or immigration.

North America, Australia, and New Zealand — the traditional magnets for migrants — will continue to have the highest rates of population growth among the developed countries, with annual population growth rates between 0.7 per cent and 1.0 per cent.

Divergent aging patterns

In developed countries and many of the more advanced developing countries, the declining ratio of working people to retirees will strain social services, pensions, and health systems. Governments will seek to make the problem milder through such measures as delaying retirement, encouraging greater participation in the work force by women, and relying on migrant workers. The shift towards a greater proportion of older voters will change the political dynamics in these countries in ways difficult to foresee.

At the same time, a high proportion of young people trend will persist in some developing countries, in Sub-Saharan Africa and a few countries in Latin America and the Middle East. This factor will be destabilizing, particularly when combined with high unemployment or communal tension.

Movement of People

Two major trends in the movement of people will characterize the next 15 years — urbanization and cross-border migration — each of which poses both opportunities and challenges.

Divergent demographic trends, the globalization of labor markets, and political instability and conflict will fuel a dramatic increase in the global movement of people through 2015. Legal and illegal migrants now account for more than 15 per cent of the population in more than 50 countries. These numbers will grow substantially and will increase social and political tension

and perhaps alter national identities even as they contribute to demographic and economic dynamism.

States will face increasing difficulty in managing migration pressures and flows, which will number several million people annually. Over the next 15 years, migrants will seek to move:

To North America primarily from Latin America and East and South Asia. To Europe primarily from North Africa and the Middle East, South Asia, and the post-Communist

states of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. From the least to the most developed countries of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Sub-

Saharan Africa.


To foresee; a trend; to diminish; life expectancy; to diverge; to shape; a birthrate; to strain; a voter; to contribute to smth; mortality; a communal tension; AIDS; to persist; a cross-border migration; to experience; a ratio.


Напрягать; смертность; СПИД; продолжительность жизни; миграция за пределы страны; расходиться; соотношение; формировать; уровень рождаемости; избиратель; вносить вклад; уменьшить; переживать/испытывать; религиозная и расовая напряженность; сохраняться; тенденция; предвидеть.

4. Read the article again and complete the following sentences.

1. The international system in 2015 will be shaped by ... 2. The rate of world population growth will... 3. Life expectancy will contribute to ... 4. Some countries in Africa with high rates of AIDS will experience ... 5. As a result of high mortality and low birthrates, Russia's population ... 6. In developed countries the declining ratio of working people to retirees will strain... 7. The shift towards a greater proportion of older voters will change ... 8. A high proportion of young people trend will persist in ... 9. Two major trends in the movement of people are ...!


1. What trends will shape the international system in 2015? 2. Will the rate of world population growth have increased by 2015? 3. What will increased life expectancy contribute to in high-income developed countries? 4. How will demographic trends diverge? 5. How will high mortality and low birthrates affect Russian population? 6. Will the declining ratio of working people to retirees in developed countries ease social services,

pensions, and health systems? 7. What will the shift towards a greater proportion of older voters result in developed countries? 8. Will a high proportion of young people trend decline in some developing countries? 9. What may a high proportion of young people factor be combined with? 10. What two major trends in the movement of people will characterize the next 15 years?

6. Using the article and the active vocabulary dwell on what population trends will emerge in:

1. high-income developed countries; 2. developing countries; 3. Russia and former Soviet Union


1. How will increased life expectancy and as a result a shift towards an aging population in high-income developed countries affect their societies?

2. Why will North America, Australia, and New Zealand continue to have the highest rates of population growth among the developed countries?

3. Why will the declining ratio of working people to retirees strain social services, pensions, and health systems in developed countries?

4. Why is it hard to foresee how the shift towards a greater proportion of older voters will change the political dynamics in developed countries?

5. Why will a high proportion of young people trend be destabilizing in some developing countries, in Sub-Saharan Africa and a few countries in Latin America and the Middle East?

6. Do you find it is true that the growing number of legal and illegal migrants will increase social and political tension? Explain your point.

II


Global Trends 2015:

A dialogue about the future with non-government expert. Natural resources and environment

Food

Driven by advances in agricultural technologies, world food grain production and stocks in 2015 will be adequate to meet the needs of a growing world population. Despite the overall adequacy of food, problems of distribution and availability will remain.

The number of chronically malnourished people in conflict- ridden Sub-Saharan Africa will increase by more than 20 per cent over the next 15 years.

The potential for famine will still exist where the combination of repressive government or internal conflict and natural disasters prevents or limits relief efforts, as in Somalia in the early and North Korea more recently.

Donors will become more reluctant to provide relief when the effort might become endangered in military conflict.

The use of genetically modified crops has great potential for meeting the nutrition needs of the poor in developing countries. Popular and political opposition in the EU countries and, to a lesser extent, in the United States, however, has clouded the prospects for applying this technology.

Water

By 2015 nearly half the world's population — more than 3 billion people — will live in countries that are «water-stressed» — have less than 1,700 cubic meters of water per capita per year — mostly in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and northern China. Water has been a

source of contention historically, but no water dispute has been a cause of open interstate conflict; indeed, water shortages often have stimulated cooperative arrangements for sharing the resource. But as countries press against the limits of available water between now and 2015, the possibility of conflict will increase.

Nearly one-half of the world's land surface consists of river basins shared by more than one country, and more than 30 nations receive more than one-third of their water from outside their borders.

Turkey is building new dams and irrigation projects on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which will affect water flows into Syria and Iraq — two countries that will experience considerable population growth.

Egypt is proceeding with a major diversion of water from the Nile, which flows from Ethiopia and Sudan, both of which will want to draw more water from the Nile for their own development by 2015. Water- sharing arrangements are likely to become more contentious.

Water shortages occurring in combination with other sources of tension — such as in the Middle East — will be the most worrisome.

Energy

The global economy will continue to become more energy efficient through 2015. Traditional industries, as well as transportation, are increasingly efficient in their energy use. Moreover, the most dynamic growth areas in the global economy, especially services are less energy intensive than the economic activities that they replace. Energy production also is becoming more efficient.

Global economic growth, along with population increases, will drive a nearly 50 per cent increase in the demand for energy over the next 15 years. Total oil demand will increase from roughly 75 million barrels per day in 2000 to more than 100 million barrels in 2015, an increase almost as large as OPEC's current production. Over the next 15 years, natural gas usage will increase more rapidly than that of any other energy source — by more than 100 per cent — mainly stemming from the tripling of gas consumption in Asia.

Asia will drive the expansion in energy demand, replacing North America as the leading energy consumption region and accounting for more than half of the world's total increase in demand.

China, and to a lesser extent India, will see especially dramatic increases in energy consumption. By 2015, only one-tenth of Persian Gulf oil will be directed to Western markets; three-quarters

will go to Asia.

Nuclear energy use will remain at current levels.

Meeting the increase in demand for energy will pose neither a major supply challenge nor lead to substantial price increases. Estimates of the world's total stock of oil have steadily increased as technological progress in extracting oil from remote sources has enabled new discoveries and more efficient production. Recent estimates indicate that 80 per cent of the world's available oil still remains in the ground, as does 95 per cent of the world's natural gas.

The Persian Gulf region — absent a major war — will see large increases in oil production capacity and will rise in its importance to the world energy market. Other areas of the world —

including Russia, coastal West Africa, and Greenland — will also increase their role in global energy markets. Russia and the Middle East account for three- quarters of known gas reserves.

Latin America — principally Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil — has more than 117 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and potentially 114 billion barrels of undiscovered oil, according to the US Geological Survey. With foreign participation, Latin American production could increase from 9 million barrels per day to more than 14 million.

Caspian energy development is likely to be high by 2015. New transport routes for Caspian oil and gas exports that do not transit Russia will be operating.

Oil-producing countries will continue their attempts to increase prices but are unlikely to achieve stable high prices. Energy prices are likely to become more unstable in the next 15 years, as periodic price rises are followed by price collapses.

By 2015, global energy markets will have developed along two patterns. Asia's energy needs will be met either through coal from the region or from oil and gas supplies from the Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and Russia. Western Europe and the Western Hemisphere will draw on the Atlantic Basin for their energy sources at world prices.

Environment

Current environmental problems will persist and in many cases grow over the next 15 years. With intensive land use, significant degradation of farming land will continue as will the loss of tropical forests. Given the promising global economic prospects, greenhouse gas emissions will increase substantially.

Environmental issues will become major issues in several countries, particularly in the developed world. The consensus on the need to deal with environmental issues will strengthen; however, progress in dealing with them will be uneven.

The outlook to 2015 is mixed for such localized environmental problems as high concentrations of ozone and chemicals in the air and the pollution of rivers and lakes by industrial and agricultural wastes.

Developed countries will continue to manage these local environmental issues, and such issues are unlikely to have a major constraint on economic growth or on improving health standards.

The developing countries, however, will face intensified environmental problems as a result of population growth, economic development, and rapid urbanization. An increasing number of cities will face the serious air and water quality problems that already are troubling in such urban centers as Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Lagos, and Beijing.

Russia and Ukraine will struggle with problems coming from decades of environmental neglect and abuse, including widespread radioactive pollution from badly managed nuclear facilities. These problems are unlikely to be adequately addressed. As these countries pursue economic growth, they will devote insufficient resources to environmental recovery.

Central and Eastern European countries face similar problems, nevertheless, driven by their desire to gain EU membership, several will become more effective in addressing these problems and will raise their environmental standards.

Over the next 15 years the pressures on the environment as a result of economic growth will decrease as a result of less energy-intensive economic development and technological advances. For example, increases in the utilization of solar and wind power, advances in the efficiency of energy use, and a shift towards less polluting fuels, such as natural gas, will contribute to this trend. Global warming will challenge the international community as indications of a warming climate.


Insufficient; nutrition; to be uneven; famine; a natural disaster; a source of contention; to drive; wastes; consumption; greenhouse gas emissions: to meet the needs of smb; pollution; malnourished; constraint; abuse; a shortage; to address smth; to decrease; relief.


Уменьшаться; потребление; источник соперничества/противостояния; нехватка; голод (как стихийное бедствие); стихийное бедствие; плохо питающийся; стимулировать; отходы; помощь; нарушение в пользовании; парниковый эффект: отвечать чьим-либо нуждам; питание; загрязнение; быть неровным (о процессе); оказывание давления; браться за что-либо; недостаточный.


1. Will the problem of the world food grain production have been resolved by 2015? 2. Will the number of chronically malnourished people diminish in Sub- Saharan Africa? 3. Where will the potential for famine still exist? 4. What will the attitude of donors to provide relief be like? 5. What will help to meet the nutrition needs of the poor in developing countries? 6. What role did water play historically? 7. What will the energy trend be like in global economy? 8. What will global economic growth drive? 9. Where will gas consumption be especially high? 10. What are the most important oil producing regions and countries? 11. What patterns will global energy markets have developed along? 12. Will current environmental problems slacken? 13. Why will greenhouse gas emissions increase substantially? 14. How does this report describe the progress in dealing with environmental issues? 15. Are environmental issues likely to have a major constraint on economic growth of developed

countries? 16. What problems will Russia and Ukraine face in their environment? 17. Will the pressure on the environment increase according to this report?


1. food resources; 2. water resources; 3. energy; 4. environment.


1. Why is there popular and political opposition to the use of genetically modified crops in the EU countries?

2. Do you agree that the possibility of conflict will increase because of water shortages? 3. Why do you think Asia is forecasted to become the leading energy consumption region? 4. Why will nuclear energy use remain at current levels? 5. How do you think new transport routes for Caspian oil and gas exports bypassing Russia will

affect Russian interests? 6. Why will oil-producing countries continue their attempts to increase prices but are unlikely to

achieve stable high prices?

7. Why is progress in dealing with environmental issues forecasted as uneven? 8. To what extent do you believe the assessment of the environment issues for

7. Make presentations on the topics below and answer the questions of the audience:

1. How will natural resources and environment affect the world? 2. Natural resources and environment in Russia by 2015.

8. Translate the following article into English.

Сегодня в условиях глобализации экономики знание иностранного языка является ключевым фактором успеха. И английский язык занимает лидирующее положение, так как еще со времен Адама Смита, известного экономиста XVIII века, является языком финансов.

С ростом финансовых рынков значение английского языка только возрастает. Это справедливо и для других областей, а не только тех, где английский язык используется традиционно — финансы и авиация. Так, распространение компьютерных технологий — особенно Интернета — привело к тому, что английский язык используется сейчас в самых отдаленных уголках мира. Молодое поколение в Сеуле, Софии, Сантьяго растет с хорошим знанием английского языка.

В глобальном мире знание английского языка — необходимое условие высокооплачиваемой работы и успешной карьеры в бизнесе.

Даже антиглобалисты отдают должное английскому языку. Выходя с протестами на улицу, они несут лозунги, написанные по-английски, косвенно подтверждая, что процесс глобализации уже необратим.


«Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding». (Albert Einstein)

SECTION С


Clash of globalizations

What is the state of international relations today? All previous models come up hard against three realities. First, rivalries among great powers (and the capacity of smaller states to exploit such tensions) have most certainly not disappeared. For a while now, however, the existence of nuclear weapons has produced a certain degree of prudence among the powers that have them. The risk of destruction that these weapons hold has moderated the game and turned nuclear arms into instruments of last resort. But the game could heat up as more states seek other WMD as a way of narrowing the gap between the nuclear club and the other powers. The sale of such weapons thus becomes a hugely contentious issue, and efforts to slow down the spread of all WMD, especially to dangerous «rogue» states, can paradoxically become new causes of violence.

Second, if wars between states are becoming less common, wars within them are on the rise — as seen in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, much of Africa, and Sri Lanka. Uninvolved states first tend to hesitate to get engaged in these complex conflicts, but then they (sometimes) intervene to prevent these conflicts from turning into regional catastrophes.

Third, states' foreign policies are shaped not only by realist geopolitical factors such as economic and military power but by domestic politics. Even in undemocratic regimes, forces such as xenophobic passions, economic grievances, and transnational ethnic solidarity can make policymaking far more complex and less predictable.

In fact, globalization has three forms, each with its own problems. First, is economic globalization, which results from recent revolution in technology, information, trade, foreign investment, and international business. The main actors are companies, investors, banks and private services industries, as well as states and international organizations. The specialization and integration of firms make it possible to increase aggregate wealth, but the logic of pure capitalism does not favor social justice. Economic globalization has thus become a formidable cause of inequality among and within states, and the concern for global competitiveness limits the aptitude of states and other actors to address this problem.

Next comes cultural globalization. It stems from the technological revolution and economic globalization, which together foster the flow of cultural goods. Here the key choice is between uniformization (often termed «Americanization») and diversity. The result is both a «disenchantment of the world» (in Max Weber's words) and a reaction against uniformity. The latter takes form in a renaissance of local cultures and languages as well as assaults against Western culture, which is denounced as an arrogant bearer of secular, revolutionary ideology and a mask for US hegemony.

Finally, there is political globalization, a product of the other two. It is characterized by the preponderance of the United States and its institutions and by a vast array of international and regional organizations. It is also marked by private institutions that are neither governmental nor purely national — say, Doctors Without Borders or Amnesty International1.

For one thing, globalization is neither inevitable nor irresistible. Rather, it is largely an American creation, rooted in the period after World War II and based on US economic might. Second, globalization's reach remains limited because it excludes many poor countries. Third, the attractive idea of improving the human condition through the abolition of barriers is dubious. Globalization is in fact only a sum of techniques (audio and videocassettes, the Internet) that are at disposal of states or private actors. Self-interest and ideology, not humanitarian reasons, are what drive these actors.

Another contradiction is also at work. There is the relationship between globalization and violence. The traditional state of war, even if it is limited in scope, still persists. There are high risks of regional explosions in the Middle East and in East Asia, and these could seriously affect relations between the major powers. The classic distrust among international actors who prefer to try to preserve their security alone or through traditional alliances, prevent a more satisfactory institutionalization of world politics — for example, an increase of the UN's powers. Globalization far from spreading peace, thus seems to foster conflicts and resentments.



A rivalry; prudence; last resort; a contentious issue; a «rogue» state; a grievance; to stem from; diversity; a disenchantment; an aptitude; WMD (weapon of mass destruction); an uniformity; to denounce; secular; preponderance; irresistible; dubious; to foster.


Недовольство; многообразие; неоднозначный; осмотрительность; светский; спорный вопрос; государство «изгой»; стимулировать; разочарование; способность; единообразие; обвинять; непреодолимый; превосходство; крайнее средство; ОМП (оружие массового поражения); происходить из чего-либо; соперничество.


1. Did the rivalry among great powers diminish? 2. What has the existence of nuclear weapons produced among nuclear powers? 3. What sort of instrument is nuclear weapon? 4. What problems do nukes and WMD create? 5. What wars — between states or within states — become more common? 6. What are states' foreign policies shaped by? 7. What does economic globalization result from? 8. Does economic globalization bring equality to all states? 9. What does cultural globalization stem from? 10. Why is cultural globalization often rejected? 11. What is political globalization characterized by? 12. What relationship is there between globalization and violence according to the article?



Agreement: I couldn't agree more./I fully agree with you./It appears to me to be true.

Partial agreement: To some extent it is true./It is right but up to a point.

Disagreement: I'm afraid it's not quite right./I would object to.../Just the opposite.

1. Under globalization rivalry among great powers will certainly disappear. 2. Globalization makes policymaking far less complex and more predictable. 3. Economic globalization has become a formidable cause of inequality among and within states. 4. Cultural globalization leads to uniformity bringing the nations closer to each other. 5. Political globalization is characterized by the preponderance of the United States and its

institutions. 6. Globalization is neither inevitable nor irresistible. 7. Globalization fosters conflicts and resentments.

7. Make a presentation on the topic below and answer the questions of the audience.

How does globalization affect Russia?

1 Неправительственные организации

UNIT 7. US-RUSSIAN RELATIONS

SECTION A

I

1. Read the article and look up the meaning of the underlined words in a dictionary.

US and Russia near accord on nuclear arms cuts

The US Defense Secretary said Wednesday that the United States and Russia were likely to agree to a legally binding document establishing mutual cuts of about two-thirds in their nuclear weapons arsenals. His Russian counterpart said he hoped such an accord could be signed at a summit meeting in Moscow.

Russian and American presidents had agreed earlier «that they would like to have something that would go beyond their two presidencies».

The US Defense Secretary said: «The United States was reducing its nuclear arsenal in part, because large numbers of arms were no longer needed when Russia and the United States are basing our relations on friendship, not on fear».

The Washington talks between the US Defense Secretary and the Russian Defense Minister were aimed at advancing talks on arms cuts as well as defining other areas of concordance on terrorism and other issues.


Presidency; a legally binding document; mutual cuts; an accord; to reduce; to go beyond; to base one's relations on; a counterpart; to be aimed at.


Законодательно обязывающий документ; сокращать; основывать отношения на; президентский срок; выходить за (рамки); договор/соглашение; коллега (человек, занимающий аналогичную должность); иметь целью; совместные сокращения.

4. Say whether the following statements are true or false. Use the introductory phrases for agreement or disagreement.

Agreement: Yes, that's true./I can't but agree./Yes, I fully agree.

Disagreement: I'm afraid it's not quite right./No, I can't agree with it./I'm sorry, but that's not correct.


1. The US Defense Secretary said that Russia and the USA had signed an accord on weapons reduction.

2. The USA and Russia are likely to sign an agreement that the two countries will be obliged to fulfill.

3. This agreement will be valid only during the terms of both presidents. 4. Large numbers of arms are no longer needed because the situation in tin-world has improved a

lot. 5. Russia and the United States found other areas of cooperation, such as a struggle against

terrorism.


II

1. Read the article and look up the meaning of the underlined words and phrases in a dictionary.

Russians wonder what they'll gain

Disillusionment with Russia's friendship with the USA has grown recently as many Russians see few gains from the relationship. Russia wants to preserve good ties with the USA, according to analysts and lawmakers, yet hard-liners say the president has given up too much to an ungrateful Washington.

The doubts about the United States came after a year of remarkable change. Russian president Putin was the first world leader to call the American president with condolences after the terrorist attacks. Later, he not only allowed US forces to use bases in Central Asia but also agreed to US withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and to NATO membership for the former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

He closed Soviet-era bases in Cuba and Vietnam, accepted the deployment of US military advisers to the former Soviet republic of Georgia and swallowed a three-page treaty on strategic arms cuts instead of the pact he wanted.

In return, as Russians see it, they have received little. Overall, foreign direct investment has gone down. Soviet debt has not been restructured or forgiven. Russia is no closer to membership in the World Trade Organization.

Now, as Russian policymakers and opinion leaders study the balance sheet, the United States has failed to live up to many promises of a new partnership envisioned following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, particularly in strengthening economic ties.


Strategic arms cuts; withdrawal from; hard-liners; to live up to one's promises; to preserve good ties; condolences; 1972 ABM Treaty; NATO membership; deployment.


Сдержать обещания; договор по ПРО 1972 г.; соболезнования; сторонники жесткой линии (в политике); сокращение стратегических вооружений; размещение; членство в НАТО; сохранять добрые отношения; выход из.


1. Why has the disillusionment with Russia's friendship with the USA grown recently? 2. What steps did Russia make to preserve good ties with the USA after the terrorist attacks of

September 11? 3. What concessions did the Russian president make to help the USA fight terrorism? 4. What did Russia receive in return?


1. Do you think that Russia really has given up too much to Washington? 2. Can you say that Washington has been really ungrateful? Why? 3. Why do you think Russia has made so many concessions to the USA though it received little in

return? 4. What to your mind are the prospects for Russian-American relations?

III

1. Read the article and look up the underlined words and phrases in a dictionary.

At brief summit

Russian and American presidents on Friday jointly pledged their full support for the newly adopted United Nations resolution on Iraq and called on Baghdad «to comply fully and immediately» with its disarmament demands or «face serious consequences».

But the Russian president made clear in comments to reporters after the 90-minute meeting that he remains concerned that Washington is only waiting before launching a military attack on Iraq. He said, «We agree that we have to make sure that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction in its possession». But, he added, «We do believe that we have to stay within the framework» of the UN resolution.

Russian officials say they have reached an understanding with the U.S. administration on Russia's economic interests in Iraq, including concerns about the price of oil as a result of an Iraqi oil boom should President Saddam Hussein be overthrown.

While denying that there has been a specific agreement, US officials say they are aware of Russian concerns and are taking them into account in planning for a post-Saddam Iraq. «We understand that Russia has got interests there, as do other countries», the US president told an independent Russian television station. «And of course those interests will be honored».

«Putin is a very pragmatic politician», said a spokesman of a research organization that has focused on US -Russian relations. «Instead of trying to stop things that are going to happen anyway, he tries to get the most he can, both for his country and for himself politically». At the top of Putin's list of economic concerns is the fear of collapsing oil prices once UN trade sanctions against Baghdad are removed and Western investment begins to pour into the neglected Iraqi oil sector.

While acknowledging that discussions have taken place with the Russians over the price of oil, US officials dismissed suggestions that the United States can influence the market very much. «Generally, we would like to see stability in the oil price», said a US official involved in Russia negotiations. «Sharp changes unsettle the markets».


To take into account; to launch a military attack on; to unsettle the market; to reach an understanding on (some issue); to comply with; to remove sanctions; concerns; within the framework; a newly adopted resolution; to pledge; to overthrow; weapons of mass destruction.


В рамках; снять санкции; начать военные действия; недавно принятая резолюция; озабоченность; достичь понимания по (какому-либо вопросу); принимать во внимание/учитывать; оружие массового поражения; подчиняться/действовать в соответствии с; дестабилизировать/расшатывать рынок; пообещать; свергнуть.

4. Complete the following statements using the active words and phrases.

1. Russian and American presidents jointly pledged ... 2. They called on Baghdad ... 3. But the Russian president remains concerned that... 4. The Russian leader said: «We agree that we should make sure that... 5. ... on Russia's economic interests in Iraq. 6. US officials say that Russian concerns ... 7. At the top of the list of economic concerns is the fear that.... 8. Americans say they would like to see stability in ...


1. What is the Russian position like as far as the situation in Iraq is concerned? 2. What is Russia concerned with? 3. Does Russia have any economic interests in Iraq? What are they? 4. How can the situation in Iraq influence Russian economy? 5. Do you think Russian interests will be taken into account by the USA? 6. What do you know about the present-day situation in Iraq? How has it changed?


7. Translate the following article into English using Translation Notes.

ПЕКИН /ИТАР-ТАСС/. Китай не одобряет развертывание Соединенными Штатами системы противоракетной обороны1. Об этом сообщил на брифинге официальный представитель МИД КНР2. «Как и другие страны, мы обеспокоены возможным негативным воздействием системы ПРО на глобальную и региональную безопасность», — заявил он.

По словам дипломата, американская противоракетная программа «не должна подрывать стабильность в регионе в общемировом масштабе». «Мы считаем, что только путем тесного сотрудничества международное сообщество может противостоять угрозе распространения оружия массового уничтожения», — добавил он.

SECTION B

I



1. Read the interview and Look up the underlined words and phrases in a dictionary.

Interviewer — Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada.

Interviewee — Analyst and expert on Russian-American relations.

QUESTION: US and Russian presidents are meeting on Friday. What «sharp angles», if any, now exist in relations between the two countries?

ANSWER: Russia and the US have some issues over which they disagree. We and the Americans do not exactly see eye to eye on the Iraqi issue, and on a number of other problems such as NATO's expansion, and some problems in the military and political field. But their existence does not alter the central feature — that today we are witnessing the consolidation of a new model of Russian-American relations, a partner-like model, one that emerged following September 11, with Russia and the US recognizing a common enemy — international terrorism — and acknowledging common interests in other fields as well.

QUESTION: Can we say that Russia and US relations are much closer than those between NATO allies?

ANSWER: Indeed, the Europeans and the Americans have very serious disagreements, not only in the economy, where the European Union and the United States have always been main rivals, but also in the political area. And here I can state that on some issues Russia and the US are closer to each other. This concerns many aspects of the struggle against international terrorism and some other issues of global security, where the Europeans hold a position different from the US, or do not show a particular interest in these problems at all.

But on other major problems, such as the role of the UN, or the UN Security Council in the modern world, and the Iraqi issue, Russia and Europe are closer than the US and Europe or the US and Russia. We now have a kind of triangle — Russia, the United States and Europe — where on most issues the sides are agreed and understand each other, but on some there are discrepancies. A distinctive feature of the present-day situation is that our disagreements with America and the European Union are not greater than those between the US and the EU, and in some instances the differences among western allies are much more serious.

QUESTION: What option in Iraq will suit the US — an obedient Baghdad or one resisting inspections? What does the US actually want from Iraq?

ANSWER: Different groups in Washington give different assessments of the situation. And if the inspections show that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction (WMD) then the use of force will become very likely. If the inspections present convincing evidence that Iraq is violating the UN resolutions, then, as 10 years ago, the UN Security Council may mandate the use of force against Baghdad. But if the outcome of inspections is unclear and unpersuasive, then the Europeans, the Chinese and many others would not think that Iraq breached its commitments. And this is a case where the Americans may resort to unilateral action. That is, the party of war in Washington in the case of unclear reports from international inspectors would take an international forceful action without a new UN Security Council resolution.

QUESTION: Won't American foreign policy doctrine clash in time with the Russian foreign policy line?

ANSWER: The USA's foreign policy doctrine, proclaiming the role of the US as the only superpower, is in contradiction with the positions taken by all other countries. No one wishes to accept as a norm the situation when one state decides for all. Neither we, nor the Europeans, nor the Chinese agree with that. But any doctrine, I want to remind you, is a declarative document. Real politics never matches the doctrine, it is connected with circumstances or some or other factors associated both with domestic political issues and with an alignment of forces on the world stage.


To breach one's commitments; disagreements; discrepancies; to be likely; to emerge; to violate a resolution; a partner-like model; to hold a position; a rival; to resort to (force); the present-day situation; to be in contradiction with; to mandate the use of force; alignment of forces; the only superpower; domestic political issues; unilateral action.


Соперник; разногласия; распределение/расстановка сил; нарушить свои обязательства; несоответствия; вероятный; нарушить резолюцию; разрешить применение силы; появиться; современная ситуация; вопросы внутренней политики; противоречить; единственная сверхдержава; прибегать к (силе); одностороннее действие; модель сотрудничества в духе партнерства; занимать позицию/придерживаться позиции.

4. Complete the following statements using the active words and phrases.

1. Russia and the USA do not see eye ... 2. But today we are witnessing a consolidation of... 3. Europeans and Americans have many serious... 4. On some issues Europeans hold ... 5. We now have a triangle — ... 6. If the inspectors present evidence that Iraq violates... 7. The USA's foreign policy doctrine...

5. Answer the following questions.

1. Are there any sharp angles between Russia and the USA according to the interview? 2. Have our positions become closer after the September 11 terrorist attacks? 3. Can we say that today Russian position on many international issues is closer to the USA than

that of European countries? Give examples. 4. What does the USA want from Iraq? 5. What does American military doctrine proclaim? What to your mind can it lead to?

II

1. Read the article and look up the underlined words and phrases in a dictionary.

On the way to nuclear deal

Verification measures to be discussed at meeting with Russian president

A deal between the United States and Russia to sharply reduce nuclear weapons is «just about done», and the two countries are now looking for ways to verify that they abide by the proposed limits, US Secretary of State said today.

The US Secretary of State, who is scheduled to meet Russian President on Monday, said discussions were focusing on how to apply verification measures included in the earlier START I and START II arms control treaties to the new limits proposed for offensive weapons.

The US administration has said it was willing to reach a written agreement extending these measures, such as mutual inspections. Asked by reporters whether this agreement could take the shape of a formal treaty, a senior State Department official said today the administration was not ruling out any option.

At a meeting with Russian president in the United States last month, the US President announced he was prepared to reduce the US stockpile to between 1,700 and 2,200 long-range nuclear warheads. Russian president said he was willing to cut his weapons to roughly 2,000 warheads.

«The offensive weapons are just about done. All we have to do is hear a number from them and then talk through the verification and other issues», Secretary of State said on his airplane en route to Moscow, the sixth stop on his tour of European and Central Asian countries. There will be a «big concentration on transparency so both sides know what the other is doing [and on] exchange of information on our various programs».

Secretary of State sounded less optimistic, however, about breakthrough in talks on the ABM Treaty that could allow the US administration to proceed with testing a missile defense, system, now barred by the 1972 accord. US officials consider the treaty outmoded, but Russian president has called it central to maintaining stability between the nuclear powers.

«There is still this disagreement with respect to our missile defense programs», Secretary of State said. «Increasingly, the ABM Treaty constrains what the president feels we must do in order to get our missile defense systems».

While US officials want to scrap the treaty, many in the administration have been willing to reach an interim understanding with Russia that could allow testing to proceed while putting off a final decision about withdrawing from the accord. Secretary of State said he would be seeking «new ideas» in talks with Russian officials about how to permit the Pentagon's test program to move ahead. The United States is eager to proceed in the coming months with tests that could violate the treaty.

Although missile defense remains one of the administration's top foreign policy priorities, the most noticeable progress in talks with Russia has been in the field of reducing offensive weapons, which has become Moscow's priority in nuclear talks.

Although Bush has also called for sharp reductions in warheads, US officials have consistently said they want to avoid a new, burdensome arms control treaty. But in response to Russian president's insistence on written commitments, US president said last month he would be willing to put a new agreement on paper. «We're willing to do this in written form», a senior State Department official repeated today. «Not necessarily a treaty».

«What we don't want to lose is the verification and notifications and other provisions of START I and some of the provisions of START II», Secretary of State said.

In a statement released Friday, the State Department said, «A significant aspect of the START Treaty's regime lies in its use of verifiable methods to monitor its implementation». These include «the right to do on-site inspections and other verification measures». The treaty also calls for «data exchanges and notifications on each side's strategic systems as well as exchanges of telemetry data from missile flight tests».


To be scheduled to do smth; to verify; to abide by; to focus on; to apply; verification measures; START I; to rule out; an option; a stockpile; transparency; a breakthrough; the ABM Treaty; testing a missile defense system; outmoded; to constrain; to scrap; to withdraw; an accord; a top foreign policy priority; a notification; a provision; to do on-site inspection.


Проводить инспекцию на местах; прозрачность; договор по ПРО; средства проверки; уделять внимание; договор СНВ-1; положение/статья договора; запас; вариант; планируется; придерживаться; применять; испытание системы противоракетной обороны; договор; ограничивать; главный приоритет внешней политики; прорыв; разрушать; устареть; уведомление; проверять; выйти (из договора), исключать.

4. Read the article again and complete the following statements using the active words and phrases.

1. The US Secretary of State is scheduled to... 2. Both the US and Russia are now looking for ways to ... 3. The discussions were focusing on how to ... 4. The US President announced he was prepared to reduce ... 5. There will be a big concentration on transparency so ... 6. The Secretary of State sounded less optimistic about a breakthrough in ... 7. US officials consider the ABM treaty outmoded, but Russian president... 8. The ABM Treaty constrains... 9. US officials want to scrap ... 10. Missile defense remains... 11. What the US does not want to lose is ... 12. Verification measures include ...


1. Who is the US Secretary of State scheduled to meet? 2. What deal does the article focus on? 3. What ways do Russia and USA look for in the nuclear field? 4. What do the discussions between the Russian president and US Secretary of State focus on? 5. What is the US president prepared to do? 6. Does the US Secretary of State sound optimistic about any breakthrough in the talks? 7. How do the US officials consider the ABM treaty? 8. What does the ABM Treaty constrain? 9. What remains one of the US administration's top foreign policy priorities? 10. What important provisions are there in the START I and START II agreements?

6. Using the «package words» express your agreement or disagreement with the following.

1. The discussions between the Russian president and the US Secretary of State focus on human rights issues.

2. The US administration considers the ABM Treaty outmoded. 3. The ABM Treaty does not prevent the US administration from developing its missile defense

systems. 4. The reduction of offensive weapons is Moscow's top foreign policy priority.



1. What is the US position on the missile defense systems? 2. What is Russian position on the missile defense systems? 3. Why do you think the US administration considers the ABM Treaty outmoded? 4. How does the US stance on the missile defense system and its desire to scrap treaties in this

field may affect international security? 5. What do you think both sides should do to come to an agreement?

III

Translate the following text into English.

Визит в Россию представителей администрации США

ВАШИНГТОН /ИТАР-ТАСС/. Отправляющаяся на этой неделе в Москву группа высокопоставленных сотрудников администрации США намерена обсудить с российским правительством не только экономическую ситуацию в РФ и ряд внешнеполитических вопросов, но и проблемы нераспространения ядерных и ракетных технологий. Об этом сообщил в беседе с корреспондентом ИТАР-ТАСС официальный представитель Белого дома.

Он подчеркнул, что продолжающиеся в России финансово-экономические трудности беспокоят Соединенные Штаты по поводу утечек из страны технологий и материалов.

По его словам, сейчас между США и Россией установлен хороший канал для обсуждения этих проблем.

Представитель Белого дома подтвердил, что особую озабоченность США выражают по поводу сотрудничества России с Ираном, который они подозревают в стремлении заполучить ядерное оружие и новые средства его доставки. Однако правительство России неоднократно заявляло, что его сотрудничество с Тегераном носит исключительно мирный характер и не нарушает никаких международных соглашений в области нераспространения.


«Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate». (John F. Kennedy)

«Diplomacy not backed by strength will always be ineffective at best and dangerous at worst». (George Schultz)

SECTION C


National security strategy of the United States

(an extract)

We are attentive to the possible renewal of old patterns of great power competition. Several potential great powers are now in the midst of internal transition — most importantly Russia, India, and China. In all three cases, recent developments have encouraged our hope that a truly global consensus about basic principles is slowly taking shape.

With Russia, we are already building a new strategic relationship based on a central reality of the twenty-first century: the United States and Russia are no longer strategic adversaries. The Moscow Treaty on Strategic Reductions is emblematic of this new reality and reflects a critical change in Russian thinking that promises to lead to productive, long-term relations with the Euro-Atlantic community and the United States. Russia's top leaders have a realistic assessment of their country's current weakness and the policies — internal and external — needed to reverse those weaknesses. They understand, increasingly, that Cold War approaches do not serve their national interests and that Russian and American strategic interests overlap in many areas.

United States policy seeks to use this turn in Russian thinking to refocus our relationship on emerging and potential common interests and challenges. We are broadening our already extensive cooperation in the global war on terrorism. We are facilitating Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization, without lowering standards for accession, to promote beneficial bilateral trade and investment relations. We have created the NATO-Russia Council with the goal of deepening security cooperation among Russia, our European allies, and our selves. We will continue to bolster the independence and stability of the states of the former Soviet Union in the belief that a prosperous and stable neighborhood will reinforce Russia's growing commitment to integration into the Euro-Atlantic community.

At the same time, we are realistic about the differences that still divide us from Russia and about the time and effort it will take to build an enduring strategic partnership. Lingering distrust of our motives and policies by key Russian elites slows improvement in our relations. Russia's uneven commitment to the basic values of free-market democracy and dubious record in combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction remain matters of great concern. Russia's very weakness limits the opportunities for cooperation. Nevertheless, those opportunities are vastly greater now than in recent years — or even decades.


A renewal; an adversary; to serve one's national interests; to overlap; to facilitate; to bolster; to reinforce; enduring; uneven; dubious; record; to combat.


Неровный/неравномерный; усиливать; возобновление; противник; поддерживать; отвечать чьим-л. интересам; способствовать; свидетельство; прочный; сомнительный/неоднозначный; вести борьбу; совпадать.


1. What renewal is possible? 2. What is the central reality of the twenty-first century? 3. Do Cold War approaches serve Russian national interests? And why? 4. Do Russian strategic interests run counter American ones? 5. Where does USA facilitate Russia to enter? 6. What is a proclaimed goal of the US foreign policy in the states of the former Soviet Union? 7. How can this goal boost Russian commitment to integration into the Euro-Atlantic community? 8. What sort of strategic partnership do Russia and USA still have to build? 9. What poisons Russian-US relations according to the document?


6. Using the given «package words» express your agreement or disagreement with the following statements and comment on them.

Agreement: I couldn't agree more./I fully agree with.../It appears to me to be true.

Partial agreement: To some extent it is true./I agree but up to a point.

Disagreement: I'm afraid it's not quite right./I would object to .../On the contrary.

1. The United States and Russia are no longer strategic adversaries. 2. Russia's top leaders have a realistic assessment of their country's current weakness and the

policies. 3. Russian and American strategic interests overlap in many areas. If yes, where. 4. A prosperous and stable neighborhood will reinforce Russia's growing commitment to

integration into the Euro-Atlantic community. 5. Distrust of the US motives and policies by key Russian elites slows improvement in Russian-US

relations. 6. Russia has an uneven commitment to the basic values of free-market democracy and dubious

destruction.

1 противоракетная оборона — antiballistic missile defense

2 Эту фразу нужно объединить с предыдущим предложением. Источник информации в англоязычном тексте стоит либо в конце предложения и отделяется запятой (напр. ..., said the Foreign Ministry spokesman), либо начинает предложение (напр. According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman...)

UNIT 8. INTERVIEWS AND PRESS CONFERENCES

1. Read the following sample interviews, paying attention to the way the interviewers ask questions and interviewees answer them.

SAMPLE 1. Press conference of the US Secretary of Defense



Q: Mr. Secretary, can you confirm, sir, today, and since you have admitted there are US troops in the area, that US troops are now inside Pakistan finding or hunting for those wanted terrorists, the most wanted terrorists, al Qaeda and Taliban? And if you have spoken with anybody — any one of them, or their leader?

Secretary: As you know, my policy is to have other countries characterize what it is they're doing rather than we characterize it for them. And I have really nothing to say except that the borders of Afghanistan, around 360 degrees, tended to be relatively porous over the decades.

Q: Mr. Secretary, I would switch — for a minute to Moscow, the discussions on the nuclear arms reduction. What is the value of this process of negotiating a written agreement, from the US point of view? What's the value of doing that?

Secretary: Well, when the president made his announcement, he indicated that the United States of America was going to do what he said; namely, bring down strategic offensive nuclear weapons down into the 1,700 to 2,200 level. That was a statement based on our own national security interests. The president of Russia, on a subsequent occasion, announced that they, too, intended to go down to roughly that level. What's taking place between the United States and Russia is the development of a new relationship, a new framework between our two countries.

Q: Did you get the sense from your discussions on this topic in Moscow that it will be accomplished by the time the president leaves?

Secretary: You never know. Something's not over till it's over.

It is a process, it's been going along very well. I've had numerous meetings with the defense minister of Russia. Secretary of State has had numerous meetings with the foreign minister of Russia. And the US president has had several meetings with the Russian president. And there are more ahead of us. So we just stay on the track. It's a constructive, useful process. And I enjoyed my stop in Moscow.

Q: Mr. Secretary, in your meetings this afternoon with the Chinese vice-president will you raise the issue of America's concern and this building's concern over the shifting of Chinese medium-range missiles to an area where they now threaten Taiwan and apparently a buildup of some size, up to 300 or more, we're told by press reports?

Secretary: I have not met the vice president of the People's Republic of China. He's coming in this afternoon. I look forward to it. And I don't really think it's appropriate to discuss what he or I might or might not bring up in the course of the discussion.

Q: Is it a concern to you, sir, that these missiles are being shifted?

Secretary: (Pause) How would one answer that on the eve of a visit? (Laughter.) My instinct is to leave it where I left it and not, you know, preview things that might or might not be discussed.

SAMPLE 2. US Secretary of Defense at the joint media availability with

Russian Defense Minister in Moscow

Secretary of Defense: It is a pleasure for me to welcome Russian Minister of Defense to the Pentagon on this, his first official visit as Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation.

We've had good discussions over the past days. As busy as we've been, I think it's worth stopping for a moment to recognize how much US President and President of Russia have accomplished during such a brief period of their presidencies in putting decades of mistrust behind us and helping to forge a new relationship between our two countries, based on friendship, cooperation, and the pursuit of common interests.

The US and Russia do indeed have many common interests. We have a common interest in improved economic ties, a common interest in fighting terrorism and dealing with the new threats we both face in this dangerous new century. We have a common interest in working together to reduce offensive nuclear weapons, weapons that really are a legacy of past hostilities and which are really no longer needed when Russia and the US are basing our relationships on friendship, not on fear of mutual annihilation.

Defense Minister: We have just had a substantive round of negotiations with Secretary of Defense. In general, they dealt with the prospects for concluding an agreement or a treaty on reducing the strategic offensive weapons. As you might have noticed, the US-Russian consultations, and not only focusing on the reduction of the strategic offensive weapons, have been very intensive in recent months. Upon our mutual agreement with Mr. Secretary, we are ready to disclose certain secret in our joint work.

The matter is that four or five days ago, we passed to the US side a set of new ideas, which, in our opinion, could serve a foundation for a future agreement. We listened to the US view and proposals on that account very carefully. My personal belief is that today we have reached certain progress.

As you know, in several days Russian Foreign Minister is flying to Washington. I think that by that time the Russian side will be ready to respond to the US comments and provide the comments of their own, and I hope that even greater progress will be made. And as for the agreement itself, whether it will be signed or not, of course it will be up to the presidents of the two countries to decide. But both sides spare no effort to provide the presidents with the most effective language of the agreement.

Thank you very much.

Secretary of Defense: As the minister said, our two presidents have asked the foreign ministries and the defense ministries to think through very carefully our new relationship. Secretary of State and Foreign Minister have met any number of times, and Defense Minister and I have met any number of times in various countries and several cities. And as he indicated, we're making progress, and the meetings will continue later this week in Washington.

Thank you.

Q: A question to both Mr. Minister and Mr. Secretary. Were you able to agree on those issues which remained pending by today?

Minister of Defense: I would stop short of making comments in public on the subject, which is very delicate now. Besides, I would give an opportunity to our foreign ministries to do their share and — since they are the major players, they play the major role in negotiating that agreement. As far as the military establishments are concerned, we had a chance to exchange our ideas and views very frankly, very candidly, on those drafts, which we had passed to each other recently.

Secretary of Defense: I agree.

Q: Mr. Secretary, I wonder if — this is Charlie Aldinger of Reuters. I wonder if I might ask you whether you feel that it's probable or possible that you will reach an agreement by the summit. And no matter what, will the United States proceed with its plan to shelve, rather than destroy, some nuclear weapons?

Secretary of Defense: As the minister indicated, it's up to the presidents to make the final decisions with respect to agreements like this. They will do so in an orderly way, as the days proceed, leading up to the summit. What they'll decide is up to them. And it seems to me that the one thing I will say is that US President has indicated that regardless of the outcome of these discussions, the United States of America intends to reduce offensive deployed weapons to the levels that the president indicated, of 1,700 to 2,200.

Q: Minister X, I'm Bob Burns, the Associated Press.

Could you tell us whether you discussed prospects for many military operations in Afghanistan and the future of American military presence in Central Asia?

Minister of Defense: You are quite right. We did discuss that issue, as well as a number of other issues with Secretary of Defense. And I hundred per cent agree that in the course of our regular meetings, we discuss not only the issues relating to the strategic offensive weapons but a much broader range and scope of issues where the role of the two countries is very big. And it involves the Afghan issue and the issue of terrorism in general.

And speaking philosophically, I would like to mention that we discussed most acute issues relating to international security, such as terrorism, non-proliferation and reduction of weapons systems in general. But it's not a mechanical approach, which we use now, just talking about the number of platforms and warheads. We are trying to predict, to forecast the relations between the two countries for five, seven and nine days — years, so — and even the draft of the strategic offensive weapons reductions is a document which provides a longer period of relations. And for that end — both for the US side and for the Russian side, it's a matter of principle to be aware of the geopolitical environment which may emerge in five, seven or 10 years.

Q: A question to Secretary Y. You've just returned from Afghanistan, and you were briefed definitely on the outcome of the antiterrorist operation. Can you share some details of the operation with us? And the second question is that there is much talk of big US losses in the course of the operation. Can you comment on that?

Secretary of Defense: As I understand it, your first question involves a general comment on what's taking place in Afghanistan with respect to the efforts to stabilize the country. We've made good progress. The Taliban are no longer running the country. The al Qaeda are not currently using Afghanistan as a training camp and bases for launching terrorist attacks on innocent people around the world.

With respect to your second question, I have no information, and I am not acquainted with the report that you're referring to and wouldn't even want to begin to comment on its accuracy or lack of accuracy, except I would say that experience suggests that first reports are often wrong.

Good.

Minister of Defense: Thank you.

Secretary of Defense: Thank you, sir.

2. Learn the following «package phrases» which are used during press conferences and interviews. Discuss the meanings with your teacher.

I. How to open

A formal opening

1. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I have a great honor today and great privilege to introduce ...

2. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us this afternoon. 3. Good morning. It is a pleasure for me to be back in ... 4. It is my great pleasure once again to receive ... 5. Mr. Secretary/President, it's an honor, in fact, to have you here with us, and I'll turn the floor

over to you. 6. My apologies for being a little later than we had planned. I want to welcome you. We're very

pleased to have you here. We're honored to have you here.

Less formal opening

1. Good afternoon, and thank you all very much for your time. 2.I know how busy Fridays can be, so I'll just have a few brief remarks at the top here and open it up to your questions.

2. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to get started here. Thanks for making yourself available to us and Mr. X.

3. Good morning everybody. I really don't have any opening remarks. Let's get right to the issue at hand.

4. Good morning. I just want to open up here with several main points. 5. Good morning. I don't know if I need to start with any preliminaries, so I'll open it up for

questions from the audience.

II. How to start and give the floor

1. I'll turn it over to ... 2. Mr. N, sir, the floor is yours. 3. I just want to say a few things and then turn it over to ... 4. And with that, I'll turn it over to ... 5. And with that I will open the floor to questions and comments. 6. I'd like to make a short statement and then answer your questions. 7. And with that, I'll open up for questions. 8. I think with that introduction, I'd like to open this up for any questions. My colleagues and I will

be as open as we possibly can. However, we cannot give you any information concerning...

III. How to ask questions

1. I'm wondering if you can expand a little more about ... ? 2. Can you give us a sense of ... ? 3. What's your sense of the ... ? Can you give us the latest on ... ? 4. Could you fill us in on the latest on ... ? 5. Can you paint a picture for us of what ... ? 6. Can you shed any light on ... ? 7. Is there a chance you could paint a picture of (what's happening)? 8. Can you update us on ... ?

9. Any hot breaking news you can update us on ... ? 10. Can you bring us up to date on ... ? 11. May I do a follow-up, please? What's your best guess about... ? 12. Can I follow up on ... ? What are your thoughts on the fact that... ?

IV. How to start answering questions

1. My understanding is that... 2. My sense is that... 3. My guess is that ... 4. To my knowledge ... 5. It is a good question. I am glad you asked me about it.

V. How to avoid answering questions

1. Not to my knowledge. 2. Not that I know of. 3. I'm not inclined to get into it at the moment. Sorry. 4. I really don't want to speculate about it. I'm honestly not sure of the details of it. 5. I don't want to get into details and the substance of.... I'd rather keep it a little more general. 6. I cannot get into specifics of... — 7. I'd prefer not to get into that. 8. I don't care to get into the subject anymore. Sorry. 9. I'm really not in the position to discuss it. 10. I really can't say that much about that. Sorry. I just can't shed a lot of light on that for you. 11. What's beyond that I can't say at this point. 12. We don't have anything to announce with respect to that.

VI. Thanking for participation

1. We appreciate you taking the time to chat with us. 2. Thank you very much for your time. 3. It's very good of you to spend the time. 4. Thanks very much, Mr/Mrs .... I appreciate your time. 5. We certainly appreciate your time this afternoon. Thanks for joining us and answering some of

the questions that we had. And we wish you certainly the best of luck. 6. Mr. Secretary, our time has expired. Thank you, sir. 7. I wish we could talk more on this topic but our time is up. I want to thank you for joining us

today.

3. Read the assignment and act out press conferences on the problems given in it, or interview your partner on any topic covered in this textbook.

One student plays the role of a chairperson opening and closing the briefing, the other student or students brief on the topic. After that the rest of the class asks questions. All students should use as many phrases as possible from the list above. Pick up the topic of a briefing from the list below.

1. You are a NATO official. Brief on the topic «NATO's Role and Tasks Today». 2. You are NATO and Russian officials. Brief on the topic «Should Russia Join NATO?» 3. You are an expert on conflict resolution. Brief on the topic «Future Interstate Conflicts». 4. You are Russian and US officials holding a press conference on missile defense systems. 5. You are a US official. Brief on the new US national security strategy.

6. You are experts on Russian and US foreign policy. Brief on the topic US- Russian-Chinese Triangle.

7. You are Russian experts on foreign policy. Brief on the topic «The Role of the UN in a Global World».

8. You are a deputy of the State Duma (Russian Parliament). Brief foreign journalists on the Russian electoral system and the role of mass media in parliamentary and presidential elections.

Documents

Беловинцева, Иванов - Читаем газету, обсуждаем международную политику