Тема 10. Emphasis and emphatic constructions

(Эмфаза есть выделение какого-либо элемента высказывания для усиления выразительности речи)

It is ….. that Do	It is these characteristics that are important to us. After all, it was they who galvanized one-quarter of humanity into the most monumental political movement in history. It did make much time to calculate the orbit of the man-made moon. He did show up at the reception
МОДЕЛЬ AS….AS	The unemployment rate reached as much as 15 percent at that time. As early as in the end of WW II they started using antibiotics As lonely an old man as any in he city As many as three weeks the travelers spent in the jungle. Outlook for a long-range settlement, however, is as gloomy as ever.
INVERSION	Money he had none. Courage he certainly had Up goes unemployment, up go prices, and down tumbles the Labour vote. Included in the paper are data calculated by this scientist. Emerging from the undergrowth of west-coast African jungles are new export products – bauxite, alumina and aluminium.
Hardly ever Hardly…..when No sooner ….than However+ adj no matter how +adj On no account Nowhere Neither/nor Not only	You hardly ever have to remind him; he always remembers The performance had hardly begun when the lights went out. Hardly had the performance begun when the lights went out. Hardly was the envoy back from Africa than the state secretary himself was off on a Middle East tour. No sooner he earns any money than he spends it. However hard I worked, she was never satisfied I’d rather have a room of my own, no matter how small it is. On no account must this switch be touched. Nowhere can this phenomenon be observed better than in transition economy However complicated these calculations are those of Ch.V are a great deal more complicated. Not only (do) they rob you, they smash everything too. What is needed is a comprehensive agreement. Whoever the authors may have been, they utterly ignored the existing situation.
ДВОЙНОЕ ОТРИЦАНИЕ Not till/until Not unlike Nothing…. That was/did not	The first progress was not made until the end of the year It is not unlike me that in heading toward the west I should travel east. It is no less than a scandal. It was not until the early hours of Friday that the storm abated. Not unnaturally, the Government of the United Nations demurred to this. Not until a cease-fire was reached did the sides start peace negotiations. She could see in him nothing that was not rich, shining, desirable. It was not until the late 1800s that this metal came into general use.
Предложения с оговорками ( эллиптические конструкции) If any If anything If anywhere If at all ….as…., …..though….. If+ Participle	Is the ship as bad as the newspapers say? Worse, if anything. America can count on few, if any, short term gains. If anything, this move of NATO countries indicates hardening of the previous attitude. He was less than delighted at the news. Much as it was deplored, the conflict never quite produced a conflict in Washington. More and more people face the dilemma of how, if at all, an individual can safely exercise honest individual judgment. Unexpected though it may seem their verbal threats were not taken at face value. But all governments have to prepare for unpleasant eventualities, however unlikely. In this the party enjoys the powerful, if unspoken, support of the vast bulk of the population. Brouillet claimed de Gaulle was fluent, if imperfect, in English. Decisions have been taken in Brussels which, if carried out, would lead to a further aggravation of tension.
Антонимический перевод	I assure you, I don’t at all disbelieve you New-York defies description. I beg to differ. The rain is holding off.

Задание 4. Прослушайте текст. Передайте ключевую информацию.

SOCIAL PROBLEMS in RUSSIA

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russians have been confronted with many of the old social problems that existed during the Soviet era, as well as with a new set of problems brought about by the rapid changes in society.

• The change to private ownership created new opportunities but also resulted in high unemployment in many areas. Because of high inflation and economic instability, many elderly persons who live on a government pension are now very poor. Life expectancy and health rates have plunged as well.

• Ethnic hostilities have flared up in some parts of Russia that were conquered either by the Soviet government or during the imperial Russian era. When the Soviet government collapsed, there was enough instability for some areas to gain partial independence or even try to break away completely from the Russian government. The fiercest fighting of this type occurred in Chechnya, a region in the Caucasus Mountains near Georgia. Between 1994 and 1996, thousands of Russian troops were sent into the area, and many people on both sides were killed.

• Alcohol abuse has traditionally been a problem for the Russians. Alcoholism was prevalent during the Soviet years and is still a problem today. Family violence is often a consequence of alcoholism.

• Crime rates have risen rapidly in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union, which has made the economic situation even worse. Much of the crime problem is due to the threats and violence caused by organized crime, which has gained considerable power in some areas.

• Organized crime is also aided in some places because of corruption among local officials. Russians often look down on the "new rich," who are assumed to be criminals.

• Unemployment is high for women, and prostitution has become a popular way for women to make money. Many teenage girls believe that a career in prostitution will pay more than most legitimate professions ever would, regardless of education. About one-fourth of Russia's prostitutes have received some sort of higher education.

Задание 5. Note Taking

К о н т р о л ь н ы е т е к с т ы

на абзацно-фразовый перевод и/или перевод с листа (ПСЛ) на рус/англ язык

Note-taking

On Non-selfgoverning Territories (UN, 1999) Mr. President, First of all I would like once again to thank the organizers of the seminar, namely the permanent representative of St Lucia, for the hospitality and superb organization shown us at this important meeting. As regards our view of the seminar, it obviously has served a useful goal, of providing for a substantive exchange of views with representatives of the non-selfgoverning territories Here I would like to take note of the highly informative statements by the representatives of Guam and East Timor At the same time we should point out that some of the most important experts were clearly not prepared for substantive discussion, and the statements of others resembled lectures, filled with obvious truisms As we see it, it would have been worth making the seminars more substantive As an example, may I suggest that it would have been much more interesting for the seminar participants to learn about the details of the settlement process in the Western Sahara and in East Timor. I have no doubt that had we requested the draft on autonomy for East Timor or the documents on the referendum in the Western Sahara prepared by the Secretariat, the seminar discussion would have been much more relevant to contemporary events. We are convinced that in preparing the regional seminars we need to take a more creative approach

Linn Visson’s text

Текст 2 О несамоуправляющихся территориях Господин Председатель, 1. Прежде всего мне хотелось бы вновь поблагодарить органи­заторов семинара в лице постоянного представителя Сент-Лю­сии за гостеприимство и четкость в проведении этого важного мероприятия. Что касается оценки семинара как такового, то он, безуслов­но, служит полезной цели, которая состоит в проведении обсто­ятельного обмена мнениями с представителями несамоуправля­ющихся территорий. 2. В этой связи хотелось бы отметить весьма ценные с информативной точки зрения выступления представи­телей Гуама и Восточного Тимора. Наряду с этим вынуждены отметить, что некоторые из ведущих экспертов были явно не готовы к разговору по существу, а выступления других скорее походили на чтение лекций, в кото­рых звучали откровенно азбучные истины. 3.Вместо этого, как нам представляется, следовало бы поду­мать о насыщении семинаров более содержательными идеями. В "качестве иллюстрации этого вывода хочу высказать предложение, что для участников семинара было бы куда интереснее ознакомиться с деталями хода урегулирования в Западной Сахаре и Восточном Тиморе., Не сомневаюсь, что если бы мы запросили подготовленные Секретариатом проект автономии для Восточ­ного Тимора или документы по подготовке референдума в За­падной Сахаре, то дискуссия на семинаре оказалась бы значи­тельно более приближенной к реалиям сегодняшнего дня. Убеждены, что при подготовке региональных семинаров мы должны проявлять больше творческих подходов. 4. В заключение хотелось бы изложить нашу позицию относи­тельно предложения об одобрении доклада семинара. Мы счита­ем целесообразным придерживаться практики последних лет и принять к сведению материалы этого мероприятия. Такой под­ход объясняется очень просто: нам не хотелось бы, чтобы выво­ды и рекомендации такого рода мероприятий, в том числе идеи, высказанные экспертами и представителями неправительствен­ных организаций, получали статус полновесных рекомендаций после того, как соответствующий доклад нашего спецкомитета будет одобрен Генеральной Ассамблеей. Нам следует весьма ос­торожно относиться к вопросу о переводе тех или иных доку­ментов из одного статуса в качественно другое положение. 5.Вместе с тем мы готовы пойти навстречу пожеланиям тех чле­нов комитета, которые хотели бы обеспечить максимально ши­рокое распространение материалов семинара в Сент-Люсии. В этой связи мы были бы готовы принять к сведению доклад се­минара и издать его в качестве приложения к докладу комитета. Таким образом будут решены обе задачи, а именно; сохранен официальный статус доклада семинара, и создана возможность для ознакомления с идеями, звучавшими на этом мероприятии.

1.On Non-selfgoverning Territories (UN, 1999) (Текст чит. с ам. акцентом) Mr President, First of all I would like once again to thank the organizers of the seminar, namely the permanent representative of St Lucia, for the hospitality and superb organization shown us at this important meeting. As regards our view of the seminar, it obviously has served a useful goal, of providing for a substantive exchange of views with representatives of the non-selfgoverning territories. Here I would like to take note of the highly informative statements by the representatives of Guam and East Timor At the same time we should point out that some of the most important experts were clearly not prepared for substantive discussion, and the statements of others resembled lectures, filled with obvious truisms As we see it, it would have been worth making the seminars more substantive As an example, may I suggest that it would have been much more interesting for the seminar participants to learn about the details of the settlement process in the Western Sahara and in East Timor I have no doubt that had we requested the draft on autonomy for East Timor or the documents on the referendum in the Western. Sahara prepared by the Secretariat, the seminar discussion would have been much more relevant to contemporary events. We are convinced that in preparing the regional seminars we need to take a more creative approach In conclusion I would like to state our position regarding the proposal for approval of the seminar report We believe it advisable to keep to the practice of previous years and to take note of the materials used at the seminar The reason for this is clear we would not like the conclusions and recommendations of this kind of project, including the ideas voiced by experts and representatives of NGOs, to be given the status of full-fledged recommendations following the adoption of the report of our special committee by the General Assembly We should act with great restraint regarding the issue of changing the qualitative status of any documents At the same time, we are ready to accommodate those members of the committee who wish to provide for the broadest possible distribution of the materials from the St Lucia seminar For this reason we would be ready to take note of the seminar report and to publish it as an annex to the report of the committee This will resolve both issues maintaining the official status of the seminar report and providing an opportunity to spread the ideas discussed at this meeting.

Задание 6. News Changing.

1. Гуманитарная помощь Югославии. Российский гуманитарный конвой впервые появился в Югославии зимой 93-го. Холеные парни в комфортабельных кабинах могучих «Дафов» и «Вольво» встретили «КамАЗы» смехом.

Но когда на горном перевале выпадал метровый снег или обнажался голый лед, тогда «банзаи» - так прозвали российские «КамАЗы» - шли первыми, а за ними боязливо ползли супергрузовики шведского, датского, английского конвоя.

Однажды наш «КамАЗ» сорвался в пропасть. Водитель чудом остался жив. искореженную, скрученную в восьмерку машину втащили наверх. Водитель других конвоев качали головами и щелкали затворами фотоаппаратов. Через неделю в нашей колонне как ни в чем не бывало ехал тот самый КамАЗ. Обалдевшие от изумления иностранцы снова бросились его фотографировать. Вскоре в печати появились эти два снимка и подпись, что русские « при помощи кувалды и какой-то матери» восстановили не подлежащий восстановлению грузовик.

2. Первая регулярная русская армия. В 1705 году, в России император Петр I издал указ о на­боре рекрутов, положив начало первой регулярной русской армии. Всеобщая воин­ская повинность была введена в России только в 1874 году, а до то­го действовала пе­тровская система выборочного набора в солдаты из пред­ставителей низших сословий. Тех. кому выпадала армейская лямка, родные и близкие про­вожали в армию, как в последний путь, - до конца XVIII века служба была пожиз­ненной (так и хочется добавить - катор­гой), лишь потом срок сократили до 25 лет. Правда, армия освобождала от кре­постной зависимости, а те, кому удава­лось дослужиться до офицерского звания имели пра­во даже на дворянство. Но для большин­ства уход в солдаты действительно озна­чал уход из жизни... Впрочем, Россия не была б Россией, если бы вскоре не появи­лись разнообразные категории льготни­ков - от рекрутчины освобождали куп­цов, детей священнослужителей, почет­ных граждан. А при Николае I вообще бы­ли введены особые зачетные квитанции - заплатив 485 рублей, можно было впол­не официально "откосить" от исполне­ния патриотического долга.

3. Русская баня. В то время как Париж задыхался в нечистотах, а придворные в Лувре, чтобы отбить ужасающий запах немы­того тела, терлись уксусом, "варвары" в Московии парились в банях, сияя телес­ной чистотой.

ХРЕСТОМАТИЙНЫЙ пример - летописная байка о приключениях апостола Анд­рея Первозванного. Го­сударства тогда еще в помине не было, а вот гигиены - сколько угодно - о чем якобы рассказывал апостол: "Нато­пят баню докрасна, раздеваются наги и бьют себя прутьями чуть ли не до смерти и оживают, лишь окатившись студеной водой, и то омовение себе творят, а не мучение”.

Араб­ский путешественник Ибн Ру-стэ описывает странные обы­чаи страны "ар рус" примерно так же: "Когда же камни рас­калятся в огне до высшей степени, их обливают водой, от чего распространяется пар, нагревающий воздух до того, что славяне снимают даже одежду..."

Бани старой Москвы удивляли и возмущали иностранцев не меньше, чем точно такие же бани Киев­ской Руси. Дело доходило до идиотизма - сначала традици­онно пройтись насчет "гряз­ных московитов", а потом их же и упрекнуть за чрезмер­ное пристрастие к мытью: "Если московит не попа­рится в субботу, ему стано­вится стыдно и совестно".

Особенно иноземные гости неистовствовали по поводу банной наготы. "Напарив­шись, совсем нагие и мужчи­ны и женщины, потеряв вся­кий стыд, вместе выбегают к речке, погружаются в нее, радуются и хохочут", - пи­сал австриец Меерн в XVII в., предпочитая, видимо, по ев­ропейским обычаям, раз в месяц встать в тазик и много­кратно обливаться хоть и ароматизированной, но од­ной и той же водой, периоди­чески в нее сплевывая "для удаления вредных мокрот"

4. Русские подарили Америке вертолет, телевидение и Google. Мэр Нью-Йорка Майкл Блумберг, пришедший поздравить русскую общину мегаполиса в связи с проходящим фестивалем культуры "Наше наследие", отметил высокий вклад русскоязычной общины в развитие мегаполиса. Церемония чествования нью-йоркцев, считающих русский своим родным языком, состоялась в главном центре искусства деловой столицы мира - музее Метрополитен, в роскошном египетском зале с алтарем и древними сфинксами, отражающимися в глади декоративного бассейна.

"Русскоязычная община самых разных вероисповеданий оказала огромная влияние на культуру мегаполиса, начиная от Стейтен-айленда и до Брайтон-бич. Русские подарили Америке вертолет, телевидение и Google", - отметил Блумберг на торжественной церемонии. Он напомнил о том вкладе в развитие мирового прогресса, который внесли выходцы из России Игорь Сикорский, запатентовавший Нью-Йорке в 1910 году вертолет, Владимир Зворыкин и Давид Сарнов, создавшие и запустившие 30-е годы в производство телевизор. Блумберг признал русской и империю Google, которую основали в 1998 году студенты Стэнфордского университета Ларри Пэйдж и Сергей Брин. Влиятельный политик и бизнесмен, вероятно, забыл упомянуть о том, что русские также создавали нью-йоркский балет, оперу, кинематограф, музыку и живопись. Русскоязычная община Нью-Йорка и пригорода составляет около 200 тысяч человек.

Задание 7. Прочтите статью. Переведите письменно первый абзац..

The Russians are coming

BY URBAN FOX, TIMES ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

When London's leaves don't quite drop from the trees, even in January, and the grey clouds deliver nothing but warm rain and occasional flash floods, I get nostalgic for Russia. Weird, since all through the seven years I lived there I moaned incessantly, mostly about how winter lasted nine months a year.

Still, there's no accounting for human perversity, and I've been packing my bags for a few days in Moscow - without my family, who don't appreciate temperatures much below zero. In between fussing guiltily about how we'll cope without each other, I've been blissed-out in anticipation - of rolling in the snow, or wafting around Gorky Park under the icicles {transformed, inexplicably, into a beautiful Julie Christie look alike from Dr Zhivago); of seeing my funny, clever, ugly Russian friends with their chain-smoking and effortless memory for Pushkin and surreal pop songs and vodka and herring on the go all night; of cruising around late at night under the glaring neon and shy onion domes in gypsy cabs whose drivers might be sad refugees with stories to tell, or they just might rob, rape and murder you; of the deliciously vulgar millionaires clogging the tables at every restaurant, the starving, lovely ballerinas with fabulous cheekbones and proper fluffy white skirts, and all the rest of the collective madness that is Moscow.

This is just the state of mind in which you want to make dramatic love gifts - if nothing else, to calm your conscience. I'd been thinking about what my husband would like, and finally I saw just the thing. The Russians, I discovered, were coming here. Not just the 100,000 already living in London - but posse after posse of visiting entertainers flown in from Moscow for the pleasure of Londoners. Cossack dancers and Soviet orchestras and post-Soviet acrobats and mischievous Russia rap artists and gypsy bands were booked into Trafalgar Square for the whole of Saturday for the first ever Russian Winter Festival. And, on Friday night - my last night in town - the proceedings would be kicked off by a grand fund-raising gala dinner at the Guildhall. The festival was to celebrate old new year, the date two weeks after our new year when Russians, whose calendar ran two weeks behind the West's before the 1917 revolution, used to celebrate. A no-brainer, then - the gala - a unique evening out before I set off; a chance to show my husband some of the wacky wonders of Russian culture without him even having to get cold.

I rushed to the phone. I would have left England by the time the Trafalgar Square party started, but I was definitely going to get tickets to the dinner. If there were any left. "Can I have two tickets?" I piped nervously. “We do have a few, but you nave to hurry," the voice at the other end said. A promising start. "How much are they?" delving into my purse for a credit card. The answer made me go red and white in quick succession, sit down even faster and gulp audibly. I can't remember the detail, but dinner for two would have set me back in the region of £500. "Never mind," the voice said kindly, clearly guessing my reaction. "You can get it all for nothing in Trafalgar Square the next day."

Which was all very well, but not good enough. Half the fun of living in Russia used to be feeling as rich as the richest of the rich, and flashing the absurd amounts of tax-free cash that so many expats in Moscow used to earn on mad, show-off spending. A thousand buksi for a hundred red ropes? No problem - that kind of thing. But not now, back in London reality. Translated into pounds, the price was madness - even if the exorbitant charge was to subsidise the next day's festival. For a minute or two, my whole vision of Russia blurred and went sour.

My nostrils filled with cabbage and my heart with poisonous envy of the filthy rich bastards who had stolen the nation's wealth and were selfishly living it up while everyone else grovelled round in the mud. There's a kind of person in Russia who feels this way all the time - the pissed-off, poverty-stricken old crones who stand on street corners with their Communist cronies waving grim old red flags and great big slogans reading ” Down with everything “ and snarling "Young People: You should be ashamed of yourselves!" at anyone in a flash car. Usually, younger people, and in qeneral all those unsure that Communism can qive anv new answers to life (wnich, let’s face it, is pretty much everyone else, everywhere) only suppress a titter and lower their eyes as they go by. Not a club that anyone in their right mind would want to join, then. But - briefly -I was one of them.

'"Thank you," I said mournfully, all my excitement gone. "Yes, perhaps we should try Trafalgar Square.”

Задание 8. 

The Russians from a foreigner’s point of view.

1. FOOD in Russia. Russians typically drink chai (hot tea). A typical Russian meal has four courses: zakuski (appetizers), pervoye (first), vtoroye (second), and sladkoe (dessert). Zakuski usually include fish, cold cuts, or salads. Alcoholic drinks such as pivo (beer), vodka, konyak (brandy), or kvass (made from rye) are customarily served during a formal meal. Ikra (caviar), a famous Russian appetizer made from harvested sturgeon eggs, is also a part of formal Russian cuisine. Borshch (borscht) is a traditional everyday Russian soup, made with red beets and beef, usually served with a dollop of sour cream. Blini are small crepes served with different types of fillings; pirozhki are fried rolls that usually have a meat or vegetable filling. Morozhenoye (ice cream) is a popular year-round treat. Kartoshki (potatoes) are often served at meals, either boiled, mashed, as pancakes, or as a kugel (baked pudding).

2. «ПРАВДА.Ру». Чтение писем от наших заокеанских читателей, особенно когда эти письма приходят в разные горячие моменты истории, свидетельствует, что средне-западное представление о России имеет мало общего с реальностью. Увы, нас по-прежнему воспринимают в контексте мощнейшего пресса пропагандистских догм «холодной войны». Есть смысл просто почитать письма.

Марк, США: Я был в Петербурге в 1997 году и был шокирован холодными огромными зданиями. Сталинский стиль, не так ли вы это называете? Безобразно. Увидев на стенах следы разрушений от пуль и бомб, я спросил гида, откуда это. Она сказала: «Следы войны» Я удивился: какой войны? Я жил в Лондоне одно время, но там не было подобных следов разрушений. Что же такое происходило в Санкт-Петербурге? Может, я проспал урок истории? Я попросил уточнить. Она подтвердила, что речь идет о второй мировой войне. Но это уже не выдерживает никакой критики - спустя 50 лет, после того как США спасли Россию от Гитлера, они даже не смогли очистить город!

Mr. Joseph John Rothengast, Северная Каролина, США. Мы должны вспомнить из истории, что миллионы людей не хотели, чтобы США вступали ни во Вторую мировую войну, ни в Первую. Если бы мы не вступили в Первую мировую войну, то может быть, все говорили бы по-немецки и в мире бы не было бы демократии…Что касается Второй мировой войны, то пока мы ждали, миллионы людей умерли в немецких лагерях и немцы захватили большую часть Европы.

Том, Техас.Мне вас жаль. Ваша страна умирает от голода, у вас третьесортная армия и ваша экономика даже не имеет своей валюты, которую признавал бы остальной мир. Неудивительно, что вы сидите на заднице и кричите на США. Это все, что вы способны делать

LeaderOf XMI, Огайо. Вы не должны быть настолько предвзяты по отношению к стране, которая спасла вас от нацистского главенства во Второй мировой войне и которая постоянно оказывает вам помощь

Бен Ричардсон (Ben Richardson), Калифорния. Мне тяжело думать о том, насколько вы, русские, неблагодарны к США. Мы очень много помогали вам в последние годы. Мы протянули руку дружбы к вашему правительству и людям. Мы отдали бессчетное количество долларов вашему правительству, бизнесменам, церквам и просто людям. Америка – самая великая страна на земле.

3. Помнится, в 2006-ом мне подарили прелестную американскую брошюру "Туристом в Россию" (была в свободной продаже до 1995 года по цене $7 за экземпляр; из той же серии, что и фильмы с ушанками, медведями, снегами, водкой и агентессами КГБ на УАЗиках ):

• Не удивляйтесь, если Вам предложат спеть под балалайку. Постарайтесь уловить мелодию и хотя бы "помычать" в такт. Особенностью множества русских бытовых песен (юмористического рэпа, называемого chastushki) является ритмичные приседания, сопровождаемые хлопками ладонями по икрам, бедрам или ягодицам

• Если случайный собеседник выставляет вперед мизинец и указательный палец - он предьявляет Вам претензии. Вашей идеальной реакцией было бы произнести "Bratan, ya ne v teme" и ретироваться

• Если Вы хотите завести знакомство сексуального характера - вы можете обратиться к сутенеру (krisha), обыкновенно располагающемуся в холле Вашей гостиницы. Если же профессиональные проститутки Вас не интересуют - любая русская женщина окажет Вам соответствующие услуги максимум за $200 или приглашение в ресторан.

• Среди населения русская полиция имеет уничижительное прозвище musora (garbage man) или ment (cop). Однако, старайтесь не употреблять его в незнакомом обществе или когда вы подозреваете в собеседнике сотрудника КГБ.

• Отказ от употребления водки (особенно когда вам говорят "pei do dna" ) считается серьезным оскорблением и может вызвать драку. Если у Вас нет медицинских противопоказаний - постарайтесь выпить предложенную порцию и резко выдохнуть со звуком "Ahhh!"

.

И летели туристы, читали, зубрили и тряслись. А потом удивлялись - и чего это русские не глушат водку самоварами, в обнимку с медведями, да под балалаечку?

UNIT 15

Задание 1. Translate using interpreter’s notation.

Review: World Politics Scene.

1.Анализируя результаты голосований и особенности избирательных округов, американские политтехнологи также пристально изучают структуру потребительского спроса, в том числе продуктов питания. «Микротаргетинг» — это не только направление в политтехнологиях, но и модный технический термин. Его идея состоит в том, что покупки и любимое времяпровождение позволяют точно предсказать политические убеждения.

Например, человек, который выписывает массу журналов по кулинарии изысканного толка, вероятнее всего, демократ. Dr Pepper - напиток республиканцев, а Pepsi-Cola и Sprite — демократов. К «демократической» категории относится большинство прозрачных крепких спиртных напитков, как-то: джин и водка, а также белое вино и минеральная вода Evian. Республиканцы предпочитают спиртное желтоватых тонов: например, бурбон (американский виски) или шотландский виски, красное вино и минеральную воду Fiji. Хотя специалисты понимают, что нельзя вручить кандидату стакан пепси и коробку из Pizza Hut и надеяться, что победа на выборах будет в кармане.

2.ВАШИНГТОН,. США вновь продлили торговое эмбарго против Кубы на год, говорится в сообщении пресс-службы Белого дома. Продление эмбарго является техническим событием и продолжением уже более чем 40-летней практики американских властей. США ввели санкции против Кубы в 1961 году после провала операции по свержению правительства Фиделя Кастро. В 1996 году конгресс США в дополнение к эмбарго принял «закон Хелмса-Бертона» о санкциях против иностранных компаний, торгующих с Кубой. С 1 августа 2009 года США приостановили на полгода действие «закона Хелмса-Бертона». Фактически эта инициатива была ответом на резолюцию Генеральной ассамблеи ООН от 28 октября 2008 года с требованием об отмене ограничений в отношении Кубы. Президент США подписывает указ о приостановке действия этого закона каждые полгода. Мировое сообщество считает американское эмбарго незаконным, в частности, потому что США в данном случае пытаются применять свои внутренние законы в отношении третьих стран, имеющих торговые, экономические и финансовые связи.

3. В Великобритании стартует новый политический сезон, который откроет ежегодная конференция Британской партии независимости или, сокращенно, ЮКИП ((UKIP – United Kingdom Independent Party). ультраправая партия, которую отличает открытый популизм, национализм и, соответственно, евроскептицизм. Конференция, в которой примут участие 700 делегатов, продлится два дня и пройдет в Международном центре «Ривьера» в курортной агломерации Торбэй на берегу Ла-Манша.

После ЮКИП в политический сезон вступят так называемые «партии-тяжеловесы», которые в этом году ушли от привычной практики проведения главных ежегодных форумов на курортах. В период с 18 по 22 сентября в Ливерпуле будут заседать либерал-демократы, с 26 по 30 сентября в Манчестере пройдет конференция Лейбористской партии, а с 3 по 6 октября в Бирмингеме состоится форум консерваторов.

4. Представители общественных организаций городов России и ряда стран Европы, которые занимаются установлением побратимских связей между муниципалитетами, соберутся на конференции, посвященной влиянию «народной дипломатии» на международное сотрудничество. В конференции «Международное сотрудничество и народная дипломатия как фактор развития гражданского общества и территорий» примут участие представители Обществ дружбы России, Швейцарии, Норвегии и Финляндии.

В рамках конференции откроется выставка совместных международных проектов, пройдет семинар для представителей неправительственных организаций и органов власти, планируется шествие участников конференции по улицам города и дегустация национальной выпечки разных стран и народов. Целью конференции является объединение усилий в решении общегражданских и гуманистических проблем и  расширение сферы международного сотрудничества в различных направлениях деятельности.

5. На улицы Мапуту (Мозамбик) вышли несколько тысяч протестующих против повышения цен на продовольствие и горючее. Они забрасывали полицейских камнями, жгли автомобильные покрышки и разграбили несколько магазинов. В ответ полиция, объявившая акцию протеста незаконной, применила против демонстрантов слезоточивый газ и резиновые пули. В некоторых районах города полиция использовала настоящие пули, потому что кончились резиновые. Итогом стали человеческие жертвы и значительный материальный ущерб. Правительство заявило, что решение о повышении цен не подлежит пересмотру. В прошлом году цены на буханку хлеба в одной из беднейших африканских стран выросли на 25% - с четырех до пяти метикалов (с 0,11 до 0,13 доллара США). Также подорожало горючее, вода, цемент и некоторые другие товары первой необходимости.

6. Парламент Греции одобрил законопроект, который предусматривает резкое сокращение государственных расходов (сокращение зарплат и повышение налогов) в обмен на кредиты ЕС и МВФ. Во время голосования напротив парламента на площади Синтагма собралось около 18 тысяч протестующих людей. В ответ на летевшие камни полиция применила слезоточивый газ. Начались поджоги и погромы. Разбиты витрины ряда магазинов и банков, нанесены надписи на фасады дорогих гостиниц. Профсоюзы настаивают на отмене еще не принятых мер, заявляя, что те уничтожают права рабочих и пенсионеров. За кризис должны заплатить те, кто его устроил, заявляют протестующие, подразумевая банки и спекулянтов на международных рынках. Однако правительство отвечает словами, - "Или мы проголосуем за программу, или страна обанкротится".

7. Столкновения с полицией вспыхнули в четверг в центре Парижа по окончании демонстрации протеста против закона, позволяющего предпринимателям увольнять в определенных случаях молодых специалистов без объяснения причины ("договора первого найма"). По данным организаторов шествий протеста, в них приняли участие 450 тысяч человек. Крупнейшей стала манифестация в Париже, собравшая 50 тысяч студентов и лицеистов. По подсчетам МВД, общая численность участников шествий протеста составила 220 тысяч человек, в том числе 23 тысячи - в Париже. Действия хулиганов приобретают все более массовый характер. В Париже погромы и ограбления прохожих хулиганами были отмечены в нескольких районах города. Большинство задержанных попали в полицию за участие в актах вандализма, насильственные действия и нападение на представителей сил правопорядка.

8. BOGOTA, Colombia – Suspected leftist rebels killed 14 police officers and wounded seven in an ambush of a five-truck convoy in southern Colombia, a police commander said Thursday.

Elsewhere in the country, two separate mine blasts on Wednesday and Thursday killed four soldiers and wounded six more, authorities reported. The police casualties were among 45 caribiniers — all in their 20s — who were on patrol on Wednesday evening when attackers detonated roadside bombs then opened fire.

9. NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) – An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, but the crew of 13 escaped and there were no signs of an oil spill, the Coast Guard said. The fire burned for several hours before it was extinguished. A company spokesman said it started on an upper deck of the platform where living quarters were located, and had not been caused by a "blowout," or sudden release of oil and gas from a well.

The accident brought unwelcome attention to the offshore drilling industry as it is trying to roll back a six-month deepwater drilling moratorium imposed in the wake of the BP Plc Macondo well disaster, which killed 11 workers and poured 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

10. WASHINGTON – Congress seems increasingly reluctant to let taxes go up, even on wealthier Americans.

Worried about the fragile economy and their own upcoming elections, a growing number of Democrats are joining the rock-solid Republican opposition to plans to let some of the Bush administration's tax cuts expire. Democratic leaders in Congress still back Obama, but the willingness to raise taxes is waning among the rank and file as the stagnant economy threatens the party's majority in the House and Senate. The pushback on tax increases comes as lawmakers and the president administration consider ways to boost the economy and increase the speed of an anemic recovery.

11. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Last tsar leads Stalin in poll on greatest Russian. Ninety years after Bolshevik revolutionaries shot dead the last tsar, Russians are fighting over who to lionise: Tsar Nicholas II or Josef Stalin. They are vying for first place in an online poll organised by Russian television to choose the greatest hero in the country's history. Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin is third. The last tsar led the survey with 419,476 votes, followed by Stalin with 381,361 and Lenin with 201,285. Some 2.8 million votes had been registered. Russia's penchant for strong leaders is evident in the poll. Tsars Peter I and Catherine the Great feature in the top 10, along with crusading mediaeval prince Alexander Nevsky. Ivan the Terrible, who murdered his own son, is in 12th place. Stalin, blamed by historians for 20 to 40 million deaths in political purges and agricultural famines during his 31-year rule, is popular with some Russians for defeating Nazi Germany, industrialising the Soviet Union and building a strong state. Nicholas II, caricatured in Soviet times as the face of imperial Russia and symbol of its social inequalities, has become for many Russians a martyr and symbol of lost glory Nineteenth-century poet Alexander Pushkin's 126,600 votes put him in sixth place and Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, is eighth with 112,400. Composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky trails in 22nd place with just 19,700 votes.

12. The white horse has been an enduring icon in human mythology and history, in books, on battlefields and at many a finishing post. Scientists in Sweden have identified the genetic origin of white horses. The study tested more than 700 belonging to eight different breeds. Each was found to contain the same dominant genetic mutation that caused each horse's hair to gradually lose pigmentation, turning grey and subsequently white. Such horses, more properly known as greys, would probably never have survived in the wild. It appears that one horse developed the mutation and caught the eye of ancient humans to such an extent that they protected it and bred more.

All ancient horse-scribes agree that a white horse was a rarity and a particular prize, in the same way that white elephants are royal treasures in Thailand and other elephant-breeding states. The Roman cavalry brought the white horse to their Antonine Wall and beyond. The Saxons, had the white horse as a standard. A galloping White Horse is the heraldic device of the House of Hanover. During the reign of the first two Georges the White Horse replaced the Stuart emblem of the Royal Oak on many public house names and signs. . Napoleon rode his white stallion Marengo at Waterloo. Vernet painted them in Napoleon Crossing the Alps. The white horse is the favourite mount for emperors and generals, for religious leaders and politicos. It is a four-legged British national emblem.

13. MOSCOW (Reuters) - California will no longer exist on the Russian map. Russia's north-western region of Nizhny Novgorod has decided to eliminate the tiny village of California due to the lack of inhabitants, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Thursday. The village was set up in the 19th century by a Russian landowner as a snub to the government for selling Alaska to the United States in 1867. The once vibrant village has been in decline since the Soviet collapse, with the last of its residents leaving in 2000 to seek better lives elsewhere. It will now officially cease to exist as a geographical unit but it was unclear if its buildings, including a school, would also be destroyed. Thousands of villages, abandoned by people moving to cities, are scattered across Russia, many in ruins but some frozen in time, their wooden huts unchanged for decades.

T14. To relaunch Middle East peace talks on Thursday, the Israeli and Palestinian leaders and their American mediators quietly agreed to push aside the question of Hamas — the Islamic militant group that controls one of the two Palestinian territories and rejects negotiations. But Hamas let it be known with its bullets that it would not be left out of the equation — the militants killed four Israelis and wounded two others in a pair of attacks on the eve of the new talks.

The bloodshed was a reminder that Hamas is now on the list of intractable issues that have stymied decades of Mideast negotiations. There can be no peace without Hamas, but there is no solution so far for bringing the Iranian-backed group into the process. "The attacks were meant to tell (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas he is not the one who decides the fate of the Palestinians," declared Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, adding that the group deserves a place in national decision-making because it won parliamentary elections in 2006.

15.Обезглавленная Польша. 10 апреля 2010 года под Смоленском разбился Ту-154 президента Польши. Польская делегация летела в Смоленскую область к Катынскому мемориалу, чтобы почтить память тысяч своих соотечественников, погибших 70 лет назад.

День памяти жертв Катыни отмечают в Польше 13 апреля. Память жертв Катыни священна для поляков, и поэтому в состав государственной делегации, отправившейся в Смоленскую область, помимо президента и первой леди, входили многие чиновники, политики, высшее военное командование, представители церкви, просто влиятельные поляки, а также представители организаций, занимавшихся изучением трагической польской истории XX века.

Основными версиями являются плохие погодные условия и ошибка пилота. Самолет заходил на посадку 4 раза. При последней попытке лайнер в густом тумане опустился на высоту 25 метров над землей, затем пилот попытался снова поднять самолет, однако скорость уже была сильно снижена, лайнер задел деревья и разбился. По оценкам специалистов у самого летчика было менее 6 секунд на осознание неминуемости катастрофы, для пассажиров все произошло мгновенно.

16. There was a time, roughly between the collapse of communism and the rise of Vladimir Putin, when the Russian government began to dig into the uglier aspects of Soviet history. Investigators arrived at this sleepy forest and unearthed thousands of corpses, the remains of some of the Polish prisoners systematically killed by Stalin's executioners in the operation now shorthanded as the Katyn massacre. The official document dated 5 March 1940 was approved (signed) by the entire Soviet Politburo including Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria. The Katyn massacre was a mass murder of 4 200 Poles and 6 000 Russians. The total number of Polish citizens executed at different Russian prisons in April - May 1940 accounted for 20 000 people.

Today, lawyers, Polish families and human rights organizations are calling on the Russian government to establish the victims' innocence by "rehabilitating" the Polish prisoners. They are also pushing for the declassification of documents. The requests are meeting stiff resistance from Moscow¹. State newspapers have started to backpedal to Stalin-era propaganda about the Polish prisoners, recycling the claim that it was in fact the Nazis, and not the Soviets, who killed the men and dumped them into mass graves.

This plays out against a backdrop of marked defensiveness over the Soviet role in World War II. The government has recently discussed criminalizing any criticism of Soviet tactics during the conflict, known by Russians as the Great Patriotic War. Many Russians feel keenly that the millions of deaths their country suffered to squelch the rise of fascism are little remembered, let alone appreciated, by the West.

(¹Note. The Russian Federation has confirmed Soviet responsibility for the massacres, yet does not classify this action as a war crime or an act of genocide.)

Потери во Второй мировой войне ( основные воюющие государства)
Воюющие страны	Население (на 1939 год)	Мобилизовано солдат	Потери солдат (все причины)	Ранено солдат	Пленные солдаты	Потери мирных жителей (все причины)
ВСЕГО	1 891 650 493	124 003 371	23 403 785	45 296 825	28 490 052	46 733 062
СССР	170 557 093	34 476 700	10 465 000	22 500 000	5 200 000	15 760 000
Германия	69 622 500	17 893 200	4 360 000	6 035 000	10 650 000	1 440 000
Китай	517 568 000	17 250 521	2 800 000	7 000 000	750 000	7 200 000
Япония	71 380 000	9 700 000	1 940 000	3 600 000	4 500 000	690 000
Польша	34 775 700	1 000 000	425 000	580 000	990 000	5 600 000
США	131 028 000	16 112 566	405 399	652 000	140 000	3 000
Италия	44 394 000	3 100 000	374 000	350 000	620 000	105 000
Великобритания	47 760 000	5 896 000	286 200	280 000	192 000	92 673
Франция	41 300 000	6 000 000	253 000	280 000	2 673 000	412 000
Финляндия	3 700 000	500 000	69 000	180 000	4 500	1 000

Задание 2. Note Taking

К о н т р о л ь н ы е т е к с т ы

на абзацно-фразовый перевод и/или перевод с листа (ПСЛ) на рус/англ язык

Linn Visson’s text

Statement on the Conflict in the Middle East (UN, 1985) Mr. President, Our delegation is also concerned regarding the continuing tragedy in southern Lebanon, which is occupied by the Israeli military clique. The facts cited in the statements of the representative of Lebanon and the alarming reports received daily from the region also confirm the reasons for the government's appeal for help. For nearly three years now, the Israeli military have been violating accepted norms of behavior in Lebanese territory which was occupied as a result of the acts of aggression of 1982. Since then virtually every day there has been no letting up of the raging terror and violence directed at the Lebanese and Palestinians. By mobilizing infantry units for punitive operations the Israeli aggressors are blocking populated areas and are conducting mass searches, raids and arrests, subjecting the civilian population to various kinds of humiliation, tortures, abuse and beatings. Particular cruelty was demonstrated in carrying out these mass punitive operations during the last few months, and this was again raised by the representative of Lebanon in his statement today. Numerous facts cited during our meeting have clearly revealed the flagrant violation by Israel as the occupying power of the relevant norms of international humanitarian law. There is a need to ensure respect for the territorial integrity and independence of Lebanon, and to put an end to the arbitrary and violent treatment by the Israeli occupiers of the civilian population.

Текст 3 Выступление о конфликте на Ближнем Востоке (ООН, 1985 г.) Господин Председатель! Наша делегация разделяет озабоченность по поводу продол­жающейся трагедии на оккупированном израильской военщиной юге Ливана. Приведенные в выступлениях представителя Лива­на факты и поступающие ежедневно из района событий тревож­ные сведения. свидетельствуют о крайне опасном характере об­становки на "оккупированном юге этой страны и подтверждают обоснованность обращения ее правительства за помощью. Уже без малого три года израильская военщина бесчинствует на части ливанской территории, оккупированной в результа­те агрессии 1982 года. С тех пор практически ни на один день не ослабевает разгул террора и насилия в отношении ливанцев и палестинцев. Мобилизуя для карательных операций пехотные полразделения, израильские захватчики блокируют населенные пункты и проводят в них обвальные обыски, облавы и аресты, подвергая мирных граждан унижениям, пыткам, издевательствам и побоям. Особую жестокость массовые карательные операции приобрели в последние месяцы, на что вновь обратил внимание в своем сегодняшнем выступлении представитель Ливана. Многочисленные факты, приведенные в ходе нашего заседа­ния, со всей очевидностью свидетельствуют о грубом нарушении Израилем, как оккупирующей державой, соответствующих норм международного гуманитарного права. Необходимо обеспечить уважение территориальной целостности и независимости Лива­на, положить конец произволу и насилию израильских оккупан­тов в отношении гражданского населения.

Statement on the Conflict in the Middle East (UN, 1985) (Читается в нормальном темпе с канадским акцентом и в быстром темпе с американским акцентом) Mr. President, Our delegation is also concerned regarding the continuing tragedy in southern Lebanon, which is occupied by the Israeli military clique. The facts cited in the statements of the representative of Lebanon and the alarming reports received daily from the region also confirm the reasons for the government's appeal for help. For nearly three years now, the Israeli military have been violating accepted norms of behavior in Lebanese territory which was occupied as a result of the acts of aggression of 1982. Since then virtually every day there has been no letting up of the raging terror and violence directed at the Lebanese and Palestinians. By mobilizing infantry units and punitive operations the Israeli aggressors are blocking populated areas and are conducting mass searches, raids and arrests, subjecting the civilian population to various kinds of humiliation, tortures, abuse and beatings. Particular cruelty was demonstrated in carrying out these mass punitive operations during the last few months, and this was again raised by the representative of Lebanon in his statement today. Numerous facts cited during our meeting have clearly revealed the flagrant violation by Israel as the occupying power of the relevant norms of international humanitarian law. There is a need to ensure respect for the territorial integrity and independence of Lebanon, and to put an end to the arbitrary and violent treatment by the Israeli occupiers of the civilian population.

Задание 3. Articles for sight translation, discussion or essay writing.

Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare

Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare. The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years. These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.

Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations — afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water. These survivalists believe in "peak oil," the idea that world oil production is set to hit a high point and then decline. Scientists who support idea say the amount of oil produced in the world each year has already or will soon begin a downward slide, even amid increased demand. But many scientists say such a scenario will be avoided as other sources of energy come in to fill the void.

On the PeakOil.com Web site, where upward of 800 people gathered on recent evenings, believers engage in a debate about what kind of world awaits. Some members argue there will be no financial crash, but a slow slide into harder times. Some believe the federal government will respond to the loss of energy security with a clampdown on personal freedoms. Others simply don't trust that the government can maintain basic services in the face of an energy crisis. The powers that be, they've determined, will be largely powerless to stop what is to come.

Peter Laskowski stacks firewood at his remote home in Waitsfield. Living in a woodsy area outside of Montpelier, Vt., the 57-year-old retiree has become the local constable and a deputy sheriff for his county, as well as an emergency medical technician. "I decided there was nothing like getting the training myself to deal with insurrections, if that's a possibility," said the former executive recruiter. Laskowski is taking steps similar to environmentalists: conserving fuel, consuming less, studying global warming, and relying on local produce and craftsmen. Laskowski is powering his home with solar panels and is raising fish, geese, ducks and sheep. He has planted apple and pear trees and is growing lettuce, spinach and corn. Whenever possible, he uses his bicycle to get into town. "I remember the oil crisis in '73; I remember waiting in line for gas," Laskowski said.

A few years ago, Kathleen Breault was just another suburban grandma, driving countless hours every week, stopping for lunch at McDonald's, buying clothes at the mall, watching TV in the evenings.That was before Breault heard an author talk about the bleak future of the world's oil supply. Now, she's preparing for the world as we know it to disappear. Breault cut her driving time in half. She switched to a diet of locally grown foods near her upstate New York home and lost 70 pounds. She sliced up her credit cards, banished her television and swore off plane travel. She began relying on a wood-burning stove."I was panic-stricken," the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. "Devastated. Depressed. Breault said she hopes to someday band together with her neighbors to form a self-sufficient community. Women will always be having babies, she notes, and she imagines her skills as a midwife will always be in demand. For now, she is readying for the more immediate work ahead: There's a root cellar to dig, fruit trees and vegetable plots to plant.

Lynn-Marie believes cities could see a rise in violence as early as 2012. Lynn-Marie asked to be identified by her first name to protect her homestead in rural western Idaho. Determined to guard themselves from potentially harsh times ahead, Lynn-Marie and her husband have already planted an orchard of about 40 trees and built a greenhouse on their 7 1/2 acres. They have built their own irrigation system. They've begun to raise chickens and pigs, and they've learned to slaughter them.The couple have gotten rid of their TV and instead have been reading dusty old books published in their grandparents' era, books that explain the simpler lifestyle they are trying to revive. Lynn-Marie has been teaching herself how to make soap. Her husband, concerned about one day being unable to get medications, has been training to become an herbalist. By 2012, they expect to power their property with solar panels, and produce their own meat, milk and vegetables. When things start to fall apart, they expect their children and grandchildren will come back home and help them work the land.

UNIT 16

А.П. Миньяр-Белоручева, К.В. Миньяр-Белоручев. Английский язык. Учебник устного перевода. «Экзамен», Москва,2005.

UNIT 3.INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Упражнение 1. Переведите с листа на русский язык следующий текст.

NATO formally welcomed Russia as a participant - but not as a full-fledged member. The agreement signed at an extraordinary meeting of the leaders of NATO's member nations, marked another major step in its effort to lock in Moscow's shift toward the West. The accord will for the first time give Moscow a role from the outset in NATO discussions about a fixed va­riety of topics, including non-proliferation, crisis management, missile de­fence and counterterrorism. But in an indication that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's members are still not fully convinced that Russia has completely renounced aggression and cast its lot with Europe, Moscow will not be a member of the alliance or be bound by its collective defence pact, in which all members pledge to come to each other's defence if necessary. Nor will Russia have a veto over NATO decisions or a vote in the expansion of its membership, including NATO's plans to invite in new nations - almost all of them once part of the Soviet bloc. The new council does not replace the North Atlantic Council, the body where NATO usually makes its deci­sions.

The significance of this meeting is difficult to overestimate. The idea of Russia sitting at NATO councils would have been, simply, unthinkable. Two former foes are now joined as partners, overcoming decades of division and uncertainty. Co-operation with the world's second largest nuclear power is more likely to be achieved by welcoming Russia west. Some NATO officials have voiced concern that the new council is not substantive enough for Russia. Meeting with reporters this afternoon, US Secretary of State said that while Russia and the United States were reducing their nuclear arsenals drastically, and co-operating in NATO, each country was maintaining a hedge. "We'll always have a hedge against uncertainty in the future, in our military forces in the nuclear weapons that the United States will continue to retain," he said. "It's a hedge against the future, because there are other nations that possess nuclear weapons or might come to possess nuclear weapons."

Упражнение 2 Подберите из правой колонки русские эквиваленты к английским словосочетаниям, помещенным в левой колонке.

1. full-fledged member 2. extraordinary meeting 3. member nations 4. major steps 5. shift toward the West 6. hedge against the future 7. non-proliferation 8. nuclear arsenals 9. missile defence 10. collective defence pact 11. decades of division and uncertainty 12. nuclear power 13. crisis management 14. uncertainty in the fu­ture 15. fixed variety of topics

a. нераспространение ядерного оружия b. ядерная держава c. сближение с Западом d. противоракетная оборона e. государства, состоящие в организации f. строго очерченный круг вопросов g. договор о коллективной безопасности h. «управление кризисами» i. ядерное оружие j. полноправный участник к. неуверенность по поводу будущего 1. основные шаги т. внеочередная встреча п. десятилетия разногласий и неуверен­ности о. предосторожности на случай будущей опасности

Упражнение 3. Переведите на русский язык следующие словосочетания и выучите их наизусть.

to come to one's defence..................................................................................

to have a veto over smth...................................................................................

to have a vote....................................................................................................

to join as partners.............................................................................................

to maintain a hedge...........................................................................................

to possess nuclear weapons..............................................................................

to renounce aggression.....................................................................................

to voice concern

Упражнение 4. Переведите письменно на русский язык текст упражне­ния 1, обращая внимание на употребление слов и выражений из упражне­ний 2 и 3.

Упражнение 5. Замените слова и словосочетания их русскими синони­мами и описательными оборотами.

Глава Соединенных Штатов - обеспечивать безопасность - захват власти - совещание представителей двух стран - министр иностранных дел - вносить вклад - передовые части - канцлер - встреча на высшем уровне - обострение отношений между государствами - внешняя по­литика - принципы нейтрализма - международный форум - придержи­ваться достигнутых договоренностей - кабинет министров - видный политический деятель - ограничение гонки вооружений - представите­ли государства - неприкрытая интервенция - система международных отношений - открывать огонь - совершить акт агрессии - обмен лич­ными посланиями - выступить против проводимого курса - заблокиро­вать решение - принимать меры - подписать договор -высший законо­дательный орган России - список обсуждаемых вопросов - озвучить заявление.

Упражнение 6. Переведите письменно следующий текст после его не­однократного прослушивания.

Серьезные неопределенности, существующие в ходе эволюции но­вой модели международных отношений, препятствуют утверждению четкой иерархии проблем, которые предстоит решать основным «дей­ствующим лицам». Поскольку в вопросе о характере нового мирового порядка до сих пор имеются многочисленные неясности, сложно оп­ределить ту повестку дня, вокруг которой и развернется борьба ос­новных центров силы в обозримом будущем. Важные последствия вытекают и из вполне очевидного фактора - безусловного лидерства США на данной стадии развития международных отношений. Соеди­ненные Штаты не скрывают своего стремления добиваться превра­щения XXI в. в «Американский век», когда весь мир будет обустроен по образу и подобию США, когда американские ценности приобретут универсальный характер. Подобные устремления вступают в явное и весьма жесткое противоречие с набирающим все больший размах процессом плюрализации мирового сообщества. Американское руко­водство готово всеми способами утверждать свои планы установле­ния нового мирового порядка. В связи с этим возникает вопрос: хва­тит ли у США ресурсов для того, чтобы, хотя бы в относительной мере, надолго закрепиться на позициях мирового гегемона? А если не хватит, то каким образом это скажется на состоянии системы между­народных отношений?

Упражнение 7. Соотнесите названия следующих международных орга­низаций с их функциями. Переведите устно на русский язык названия и функ­ции следующих организаций.

1. Greenpeace 2. World Council of Churches International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) 4. International Ice Patrol 5. International As­sociation of Uni­versities 6. International Committee of the Red Cross 7.International Or­ganisation for In­formation and Documentation 8. International Atomic Energy Agency

a. Organisation aimed at locating icebergs in the North Atlantic, following and predicting their drift, and issuing warnings to ships in the vicin­ity. b. Nongovernmental educational organisation founded to promote co-operation at the interna­tional level among the universities of all coun­tries as well as among other bodies concerned with higher education and research. с Association which is concerned with problems in the organisation, storage, retrieval, dissemina­tion, and evaluation of information by both me­chanical and electronic means. d. Ecumenical organisation that works for the unity and renewal of the Christian denominations and offers them a forum in which they may work to­gether in the spirit of tolerance and mutual un­derstanding. e. Large nongovernmental organisation interested primarily in environmental issues. f. Autonomous intergovernmental organisation dedicated to increasing the contribution of atomic energy to the world's peace and well-being and ensuring that agency assistance is not used for military purposes. g. Organisation aimed at promoting the widest pos­sible mutual assistance between all the criminal police authorities within the limits of the laws ex­isting in the affiliated countries. h. Organisation that acts to help all victims of war and internal violence, attempting to ensure the implementation of humanitarian rules and re­stricting armed violence.

Упражнение 8. Подберите устно английские эквиваленты к следующим выражениям.

Межправительственная организация - проблемы защиты окружаю­щей среды - жертвы войны - ограничение вооруженного насилия - экуменистическая организация - региональная безопасность - надна­циональные органы - неправительственная организация - органы ис­полнительной, законодательной и судебной власти - взаимопомощь -вопросы защиты окружающей среды - решение спорных проблем мир­ными средствами - медицинское обслуживание высокого уровня - ме­ждународное сотрудничество - хранение, поиск, распространение и оценка информации.

Упражнение 9. Ознакомьтесь самостоятельно со следующими между­народными организациями, Подберите русские эквиваленты к полным назва­ниям данных организаций и их аббревиатурам.

United Nations (UN)

UN is an international organisation established by charter on October 24, 1945, with the purposes of maintaining international peace and security, de­veloping friendly relations among nations on the principle of equal rights and self-determination, and encouraging international co-operation in solv­ing international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems. The United Nations' headquarters are now located at the UN Building in New York City.

The General Assembly includes representatives of all members of the UN. A nation may send up to five representatives but still has only one vote. Decisions are reached either by majority or by two-thirds vote, depending upon the subject matter. The General Assembly works through the commit-tee system and receives reports from the various councils. It is convened yearly or by special session when necessary.

The Security Council consists of 5 permanent members - United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China - and 10 nonpermanent members. The council functions continuously and is mainly con­cerned with the maintenance of international security. The presidency is rotated among members each month. Nonpermanent members are chosen from groups and regions in the most equitable fashion possible. Nine votes (including those of all five permanent members) are sufficient to carry a Security Council decision, but any permanent member may exercise a veto over any substantive proposal. Any state, even if it is not a member of the United Nations, may bring a dispute to which it is a party to the notice of the Security Council.

The Secretariat is the administrative department of the UN, headed by the secretary-general, who functions in a position of political importance and is appointed for a five-year term by both the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Secretariat influences the work of the United Nations to a degree much greater than indicated in the UN Charter.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United Nations created to con­tribute to world peace by promoting international collaboration in educa­tion, science, and culture. The activities of UNESCO are mainly facilitative; the organisation attempts to assist, support, and complement national efforts of member states in the elimination of illiteracy and the extension of free education and seeks to encourage free exchange of ideas and knowledge among peoples and nations of the world by providing clearing­house and exchange services. The permanent headquarters of UNESCO are in Paris.

World Health Organisation (WHO).WHO is a specialised agency of the United Nations established to pro­mote international co-operation for improved health conditions. The objec­tive of this organisation is the attainment by all people of the highest possi­ble level of health which is defined as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The administrative headquarters of WHO are in Geneva.

International Maritime Organisation (IMO).IMO is a United Nations specialised agency created to provide machin­ery for co-operation in establishing technical regulations and practices in in­ternational shipping, to encourage the adoption of the highest possible stan­dards for maritime safety and for navigation, and to discourage discriminatory and restrictive practices in international trade and unfair practices by shipping concerns. The headquarters of IMO are in London.

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). ICAO is an intergovernmental specialised agency associated with the United Nations and dedicated to developing safe and efficient international air transport for peaceful purposes and ensuring a reasonable opportunity for every state to operate international airlines. Permanent headquarters of ICAO were established in Montreal.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). NATO is a security organisation comprised of member states from Western and Central Europe and North America. From the beginning, NATO's primary purpose was to unify and strengthen the western Allies' military response in case the Soviet Union invaded Western Europe in an ef­fort to extend communism there. After the end of the Cold War the NATO adhered more strongly to its original purpose of maintaining international stability in Europe. NATO headquarters are in Brussels.

Organisation of American States (OAS). OAS was formed to promote economic, military, and cultural co­operation among the independent states of the Western Hemisphere. Its main goals are to prevent any outside state's intervention in the Western Hemisphere and to maintain peace between the various states within the hemisphere. OAS is based in Washington, D.C.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN was established to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development and to promote peace and security in the Southeast Asia region. The end of the Cold War allowed the ASEAN nations to exer­cise greater political latitude in the region. As they began to implement new policies, member nations saw their influence and economies grow. A per­manent secretariat resides in Jakarta, Indonesia.

South Pacific Forum. South Pacific Forum was created to provide a forum for heads of gov­ernment to discuss common issues and problems facing independent and self-governing states of the South Pacific. The Forum is headquartered in Suva, Fiji.

Упражнение 10. Закройте учебник. Опишите письменно на русском языке функции международных организаций, приведенных в упражнении 9.

Упражнение 11, Выступите в качестве представителя одной из между­народных организаций из упражнения 9. Подготовьте трехминутное выступле­ние на английском языке, направленное на установление более тесных контак­тов с Россией. Попросите вашего коллегу выступить в качестве вашего переводчика (работа в парах).

Упражнение 12. Переведите письменно на английский язык следующие предложения. Обсудите различные варианты перевода.

1. Президент подчеркнул необходимость вступления его страны в ме­ждународную систему безопасности, поскольку в настоящее время ни одна страна не сможет обеспечить безопасность в одиночку.

2. Подход к мирному урегулированию международного кризиса дол­жен продемонстрировать противостоящим сторонам бесперспек­тивность «тотальной победы» над соперником и его ликвидации как государства.

3. Глава государства подчеркнул, что для любого разумного политика ясно - ответ на новые угрозы, с которыми человечество будет иметь дело в XXI в., военный союз с ограниченным численным со­ставом дать не может.

4. Дипломатическая деятельность государств неразрывно связана с существованием международно-правовых отношений и способст­вует выработке норм международного права.

5. Мир, в котором мы живем, с его постоянно возрастающей взаимо­зависимостью, все сильнее подвергается влиянию процессов, про­текающих в сфере международной жизни.

6. Министры иностранных дел двух государств встретились как рав­ные партнеры, чтобы обсудить вопросы, представляющие взаимный интерес, способность работать совместно и противостоять общему риску и угрозе своей безопасности.

7. Такие государства, как США, Китай и Россия, считающиеся клю­чевым геополитическим треугольником, должны образовывать «дугу стабильности» для противостояния «оси зла».

8. Дипломатия включает в себя официальную деятельность глав госу­дарств, правительств и специальных органов внешних сношений по осуществлению переговоров, дипломатической переписки, органи­зации встреч глав государств, международных форумов, предста­вительства государства в международных структурах.

9. Президент предпочитает следовать принципу политического рав­новесия: продемонстрировав важность западного направления, он взял курс на сближение с Востоком.

10. В истории не раз возникали ситуации, когда взаимоисключающие идеологические догмы начинали оказывать определяющее воздей­ствие на функционирование системы международных отношений.

11. Состоявшаяся встреча министров иностранных дел азиатских госу­дарств стала важным шагом на пути подготовки встречи на высшем уровне.

12. Взаимодействие различных региональных систем безопасности от­крывает путь к мирному сотрудничеству ведущих государств мира.

Упражнение 13. Переведите устно на русский язык следующие пред­ложения, обращая внимание на употребление форм причастия.

1. Moscow participated in NATO discussions of various topics, including non-proliferation, crisis management, missile defence and counterterror-ism.

2. Having opened the door to opportunity, competition, and mobility, modernity also introduced job insecurity, unemployment, uncertainty and personal responsibility to the societies where all these phenomena had been extinct for generations.

3. From answers to such questions it may be possible to adduce the direc­tions being_taken by Russia's ruling elite.

4. A suddenly risen democracy movement came to a tragic end after gov­ernment forces mounted a deadly assault on demonstrators.

5. The President omitted many other smaller matters, many of them hav­ing been already mentioned in his previous messages. deemed it appropriate to leave the conference.

6. When the hostages were freed in one morning, at the cost of only two American soldiers wounded, the whole country felt a thrill of pride.

7. The NATO summit in London convened to declare an end to the Cold War and to offer a new relationship to the Soviet Union was opened by the British Prime Minister.

8. Underdeveloped countries created their own version of the global econ­omy consisting of a widespread traffic in narcotics, diamonds, weapons and human beings - all ran by global criminal or terrorist organisations.

9. The agreement signed at an extraordinary meeting of NATO leaders, marked another major step in its policy towards Russia.

10. The relationship within the intelligence services between a Higher Po­lice committed to managing the country by means of social engineer­ing, on one hand, and those labelled the "securitate", who rely on brute force and power, on the other hand, must be better understood.

11. Being realists, we must remember that relations between Russia and the North Atlantic alliance have been historically far from straightfor­ward.

12. Today for United States the Second World War is a fading memory, re­placed in the popular mind by the Gulf War, a war lasting less than two months.

13. The President's luck, running low during the international crisis, re­turned in Force two years later.

14. The American officials remained focused on events in Europe and on the value of this country as leader of the region.

Упражнение 14. Преобразуйте письменно следующие предложения, употребляя причастия. Переведите устно на русский язык исходные и транс­формированные предложения.

1. Two former foes who are overcoming decades of division and uncer­tainty, are now joined as partners.

2. When all the urgent problems were settled, the extraordinary meeting was over.

3. US Secretary of State said that while two countries were reducing their nuclear arsenals drastically, they were maintaining a hedge against fu­ture dangers.

4. The official who is speaking now is not a student in politics.

5. The President visited the secret military base, there he said that he relied heavily on the army.

6. The dictatorship crashed as soon as the regime's coercive determination failed it.

7. The new arrangement between two countries replaces a previous accord, which was negotiated ten years ago.

8. In this brief article the author argues that rapprochement on the basis of old ideological principles that are now applied globally has many nega­tive consequences.

9. As the member nations wanted to sign collective defence pact, they scrupulously discussed its provisions.

10. Politicians should always be persistent while they are taking decisions concerning the nuclear arsenals.

11. After the meeting was convened, everybody stopped to feel uncertainty in the future.

12. International Ice Patrol was established in 1914 after the "Titanic" col­lided with an iceberg.

Упражнение 15. Переведите письменно на английский язык следующие предложения, используя необходимые формы причастия.

1. В последние годы наблюдаются признаки перенапряженности, вы­разившиеся в постепенной утрате США неприступной позиции по многим ключевым вопросам.

2. Американские аналитики, подвергнув критике идею многополяр­ного мира, еще раз подчеркнули значимость военной мощи как важнейшего фактора международных отношений.

3. После того как премьер-министр провел совещание, он выступил с речью перед иностранными журналистами.

4. Уделив основное внимание бассейну Тихого океана, докладчик пе­решел к следующему вопросу.

5. Американский президент прибыл в Брюссель; его сопровождали многочисленные советники и аналитики.

6. Сохранение США лидирующей позиции во многом зависит от спо­собности руководства страны приспособиться к меняющимся усло­виям и новой расстановке сил в мире. 7. Встреча на высшем уровне продолжалась четыре часа: премьер-министр задавал многочисленные вопросы, на которые канцлер да­вал подробнейшие ответы.

8. Интеграционные процессы, развернувшиеся во второй половине XX в., представляют собой новое, специфическое и многомерное явление.

9. Существуют определенные условия; способствующие сближению на международной арене.

10. Принятие решений оценивается как фактор, негативно влияющий на процесс формулирования государственной внешней политики.

11. Обратив внимание на особенности принятия решений в период кризиса, представитель африканских государств перевел обсужде­ние в новую плоскость.

12. Поскольку повестка дня была исчерпана, делегаты приняли реше­ние перейти к торжественной части конференции.

Упражнение 16. Изучите следующие слова и словосочетания.

aggression

I) агрессия, атака, нападение, наступление: to commit aggression against smb - осуществить агрессию против кого-либо, to repel / repulse aggression - отражать нападение, armed aggression - вооруженное напа­дение, outright aggression - открытое нападение, stark aggression - ре­шительное наступление. Syn: assault, attack, offensive. Ant: defence, re­pulsion, retreat, surrender, withdrawal; 2) агрессивность: to manifest aggression - демонстрировать неприязнь, to control / stifle aggression -подавлять агрессию, сопротивление, hidden / deep-rooted aggression -скрытая агрессивность, an act of aggression - вызывающий поступок

defence

l) защита, оборона: to conduct/put up/organise a defence - оборо­нять, защищать, to overwhelm smb's defences - прорывать оборону, de­fence power - оборонная мощь, line of defence - линия обороны, inade­quate / weak defence - слабая защита, stubborn defence - упорная защита, man-to-man defence - индивидуальная защита, self-defence -самозащита, самооборона. Syn: protection, justification, vindication; 2)pi. укрепления, оборонительные сооружения: military defences - во­енные укрепления

diplomacy

дипломатия: to rely on/resort to diplomacy - прибегать к диплома­тии, dollar diplomacy - долларовая дипломатия, nuclear diplomacy -ядерная дипломатия, megaphone diplomacy-дипломатия с использова­нием средств массовой информации вместо переговоров, quiet diplo­macy - скрытая дипломатия, shuttle diplomacy - челночная дипломатия

expansion

увеличение, расширение; распространение, экспансия; рост, разви­тие: territorial / continental expansion - территориальная / континенталь­ная экспансия, economic expansion - экономический рост; eastward / westward expansion - расширение на восток / запад. Syn: stretching, ex­panse, dilatation

security

1) безопасность: to ensure / provide security - обеспечивать безопас­ность, to strengthen / tighten security - укреплять безопасность, to com­promise/undermine security - угрожать безопасности, feeling/sense of security - чувство безопасности, security threat -угроза безопасности, security measures - меры безопасности. Syn: safety; 2) стабильность, прочность. Syn: stability, fixity; 3) защита, охрана. Syn: guard, protection, defence; 4) органы безопасности, правоохранительные органы: security service / police - служба безопасности, security man - сотрудник службы безопасности, security officer - офицер контрразведки; 5) pi. ценные бумаги

weapon

оружие: to brandish weapon - размахивать оружием (угрожать кому-либо), to fire a weapon - стрелять из оружия, to handle a weapon - обра­щаться с оружием, to lay down one's weapons - сложить оружие, lethal weapon - смертоносное / смертельное оружие, concealed weapon - сек­ретное оружие, atomic / nuclear / thermonuclear weapon - атом­ное / ядерное / термоядерное оружие, heavy / light weapon - оружие тя­желого / легкого калибра, offensive weapon - наступательное оружие, weapon of mass destruction - оружие массового уничтожения, conven­tional weapons - обычные (неядерные) виды оружия, semiautomatic weapons - полуавтоматическое оружие, semiautomatic weapons - полу­автоматическое оружие. Syn: arms, implement of war, firearm

Упражнение 17. Переведите на слух в быстром темпе следующие сло­восочетания.

Stark aggression - continental expansion - heavy weapon - угроза безопасности - смертоносное оружие - военные укрепления - weapon of mass destruction - долларовая дипломатия - to put up a defence - сло­жить оружие - отражать нападение - to overwhelm smb's defences -экономический рост - самооборона - ядерная дипломатия - to control aggression - укреплять безопасность - inadequate defence - линия обо­роны - термоядерное оружие - офицер контрразведки - conventional weapons - shuttle diplomacy - индивидуальная защита - to ensure secu­rity - to brandish weapon - угрожать безопасности - упорная защита - to handle a weapon - eastward expansion - дипломатия с использованием средств массовой информации вместо переговоров - секретное оружие - to undermine security - man-to-man defence - демонстрировать непри­язнь - security measures - inadequate defence - outright aggression - стре­лять из оружия - наступательное оружие - ценные бумаги - расшире­ние на восток - to resort to diplomacy - правоохранительные органы.

Упражнение 19. Ответьте на вопросы по содержанию текстов данного урока.

1. Can you prove that NATO welcomed Russia as a participant?

2. Why was the idea of Russia sitting at NATO councils unthinkable in the past?

3. What is implied under the expression "a hedge against the future?"

4. What kind of new world order is emerging now?

5. What major international organisation can you name? What are their re­sponsibilities?

SUPPLEMENT

Article 1

Obama's earnest army

RALEIGH. From The Economist print edition

Barack Obama's get-out-the-vote machine is bigger, faster and smarter

ALL kinds of fun can be had at the North Carolina State Fair. You can watch pig races, chomp steak-on-a-stick and marvel at Sampson the Giant Horse. Both kinds of politics are also on offer. The Republican booth, with an elephant sign hanging from the ceiling and attractive female volunteers, is even more crowded than the cake-baking contest next door. Scott Daughtry, a retired park ranger in overalls and a straw hat, asks for a bumper-sticker for his pickup. He's backing John McCain because the Arizona senator "thinks murdering little babies is not a good idea".

The Republican vote-mobilising machine is still pretty good at the things it has always done well. Its operators know all the traditional ways to reach conservative voters. Give them a state fair packed with white southerners, gun-owners and married couples with children, and they do an expert job of putting leaflets into sympathetic hands.

By contrast, the Democrats at the fair seem out of their comfort zone. They have hardly any stickers to hand out, having read and taken literally an obscure rule barring the practice. Their booth attracts few punters. A PowerPoint presentation about the exorbitant price of milk plays on a loop to no one in particular. It is usually busier, insists an Obama volunteer.

At first glance, this scene bodes ill for Democrats. But step back and the picture changes. How on earth can the race in North Carolina be competitive? The state has not voted for a Democratic president since Jimmy Carter in 1976—and he was a Southern Baptist, a military veteran and the governor of the next-door state of Georgia. Yet Barack Obama, a black liberal from Chicago, is slightly ahead in the polls. And if he can win North Carolina, he is on course for a landslide.

The polls are close, not just in North Carolina but in a dozen other states. Yet they underestimate Mr Obama's strength, for his get-out-the-vote operation is far superior. He may be outgunned at the North Carolina state fair, but this is a piace Republicans normally take for granted. Mr Obama is pushing deep into red America, forcing his rival to spend time and money defending his base when he badly needs to pour both into traditional swing states like Ohio and Florida.

Mr Obama can do this because he has oodles of money. He raised a record-smash ing $150m last month. That is nearly twice what Mr McCain can spend on his whole campaign, though the Republican Party is chipping in to help him. Mr Obama also enjoys a larger pool of passionate fans from which to recruit volunteers. A Washington Post poll this week found that 64% of Mr Obama's supporters were "very enthusiastic", while only 40% of Mr McCain's were. And the Obama campaign is using technology much more creatively to rally its supporters.

In North Carolina Mr Obama has a whopping 45 field offices. Mr McCain claims 40, but these are simply local Republican Party offices, which have to handle local and congressional races as well. Mr Obama's offices are his own. Each one is typically led by a paid staffer, but nearly all the work is done by the 17,000 volunteers Mr Obama has recruited in the state. (The Republicans won't say how many volunteers they have.)

Some of Mr Obama's volunteers sign up the old-fashioned way, in person. Others volunteer online. In their local corner of the Obama website, they can meet other Obamaphiles and arrange to knock on specific doors in their neighbourhood. They can download information about who lives in each house, which party they belong to and what they told the last phone canvasser. They can update this information each time they meet a voter. They can also spend hours on the website chatting with like-minded people, watching the candidate's speeches and uploading their own Barack-related videos.

The McCain campaign has nothing like this. It does use e-mail (a technology the candy-munching young techies on the Obama campaign consider "traditional"), but it has barely begun to grasp the possibilities of online social networking. "The internet is something we're playing catch-up on," admits Brent Woodcox, a spokesman for the North Carolina Republican Party.

For all its pretensions to be about "you", the Obama campaign is strictly hierarchical and impressively disciplined. Most staffers cannot speak to journalists or even show them around without approval fromhead office in Chicago. Volunteers manning the phones are given a detailed script. In North Carolina they tell undecided voters two things about Mr McCain: that he "has proposed tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas" and that he wants to give "tax breaks of $4 billion per year for oil companies". Both claims are misleading. The first refers to an old rule that American multinationals need not pay taxes on profits earned abroad until they repatriate them. The second refers to Mr McCain's plan to cut corporate taxes in general.

Mr Obama's eager foot-soldiers put in very long hours. Boo Walukas, for example, says she works 40 hours a week as a nurse and another 40 knocking on doors. With a "Boobama" badge on her nurse's uniform, she drives around Cary, the suburb where she lives, urging Democrats to vote early. North Carolina is one of 34 states that allow people to do so: around a third of Americans will have voted before election day. "If you vote early, folks like me will stop knocking on your door," says Ronnie ("Ronniebama") Chapman, another volunteer.

In other states the story is similar. In Virginia Mr Obama has 70 offices to Mr McCain's 21. In populous and safely-blue California, hordes of arty types with time on their hands are calling waverers in Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, or driving across state lines to knock on doors. In Texas, which is a lost cause, Obama supporters are being urged to telephone or even travel to Ohio, which is not. Nationwide, Mr Obama is spending four times more than Mr McCain on TV spots. Online, he has more than 100 times as many ads.

One hesitates to write off Mr McCain, who has escaped four times from disintegrating fighter planes. But he has his work cut out. At the state fair, as Mr Daughtry, the former park ranger, takes his McCain bumper-sticker, he mutters: "We're not doing too well, are we?" A volunteer replies, hopefully: "Don't believe the polls!"

Article 2

The outsider versus the cobra

LUSAKA

From The Economist print edition

Copper-rich Zambia faces uncertainty as it chooses a new president

FOLLOWING the untimely death of President Levy Mwanawasa in August, Zambians must vote for a new leader on October 30th, just two years after their last presidential election. Four candidates are in the running. But the real contest is between Rupiah Banda, the vice-president who has acted as caretaker since Mr Mwanawasa's death, and Michael Sata, a fiery populist who was defeated in 2006.

Zambia, a leading copper producer, has been one of southern Africa's most stable countries. In 1991 its people voted out Kenneth Kaunda, who had run the show since independence in 1964, along with his ruling party. His successor, Frederick Chiluba, stepped down in 2002 after his own party had got fed up with him.

Bordered by troubled neighbours, such as Congo and Zimbabwe, Zambia has avoided violence or coups, even though copper riches were squandered after independence and most people are stilf dirt-poor. But the poll is a big test. Mr Sata, who claims the last election was stolen from him, has said he will not accept defeat. The ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), in power for the past 17 years, may be tempted to stack the decks in its favour. Can Zambians maintain their tradition of changing leaders peacefully?

The opposition is worried about rigging. Because the election was unexpected, the European Union has sent only a skeletal observer team. But the electoral commission's chairman is a respected judge. This time, results will be posted outside each polling station, making it harder to fiddle results at the centre. More local observers will be on hand than before. But close or contested results may stir up Mr Sata's people, who feet his time has come. A former MMD stalwart who broke ranks in 2001 to create his Patriotic Front, Mr Sata appealed for calm after his disputed defeat in 2006. He may not do the same if he feels victory is being stolen again.

Mr Banda, a former diplomat and minister whom Mr Mwanawasa plucked out of retirement in 2006, says he will follow in his predecessor's footsteps. But he may lack the authority to push for unpopular reforms and steer a divided party. He faced more than a dozen rivals for the ruling party's nomination. He is something of an outsider in the MMD; until quite recently, he was still a member of Mr Kaunda's old party. He has also embraced several people whom Mr Mwanawasa had cast aside on suspicion of dishonesty. It is not clear whether he would keep these questionable new friends after the election.

With the friendly bias of the state media and easier access to election funds, the incumbent has a head start. It is a one-round affair, even if no one gets more than 50%. Mr Banda is a slight favourite, But King Cobra, as Mr Sata is known, cannot be written off.

Unpredictable populist

He is popular in the capital, Lusaka, and in the Copperbelt, the economy's power-house. Many voters want change. Mr Sata draws big crowds at his entertaining rallies. This time he has put more energy into campaigning in rural areas, still the MMD's base, so that is where the election may be decided.

If Mr Sata won, it is unclear what he would do. Parliament will still be controlled by his rivals, the MMD. He tends to tell people what they want to hear, with promises of more jobs, free housing and lower taxes. In 2006 he fuelled a growing anti-Chinese mood, threatening to cut ties with China, a leading trading partner and investor in Zambia, and to expel foreign traders. Since then he has changed his mind; foreign companies should merely respect labour laws and get no better treatment than local ones. At a campaign rally he was reported to have said he would force foreign investors to have local partners, but his officials deny this is his plan. Critics say he is an autocrat; his party has never had a congress to elect its leaders. His fans say he is a man of action who gets things done.

Whoever he is, Zambia's next president, who will be in charge only for the three years left in Mr Mwanawasa's term, may be boxed in. Rising food and petrol prices have pushed up inflation. Zambia relies less on foreign generosity than a few years ago, but a big chunk of its budget is still funded abroad; the tap would soon run dry if economic policy became populist. The economy is more diverse than it was but still relies on copper, whose price has slumped by around 40% since early September.

Cash-strapped foreign investors are likely to take a dimmer view of riskier emerging markets such as Zambia, despite its quite perky performance of the past few years. Zambians may have to tighten their belts, no matter who wins.

Article 3

The president who loved summits

PARIS.From The Economist print edition

How the French president has overturned the normal rules of diplomacy

TO UNDERSTAND just how much Nicolas Sarkozy has upturned French diplomacy, try inserting the name Jacques Chirac into the following report. The French president invited himself to Camp David (see picture), where he appeared alongside "dear George", spoke warmly of "the great American nation" and called for a special summit of G8 countries to "refound capitalism" soon after the American presidential election. The Americans should host it, he declared, "because the crisis took off in New York". President George Bush, appearing rather startled, limply agreed (the White House has since announced that the summit will meet near Washington, DC, on November 15th).

The whirlwind of emergency summits held or planned by Mr Sarkozy over the past few weeks has been positively dizzying. He wants to hold yet another European Union meeting (France occupies the rotating six-monthly EU presidency) to prepare for the new financial summit. At the end of this week he was due in Beijing for an EU-Asia summit, hoping to get the Chinese and others on board. AH this has come after weeks of frantic shuttling, before the financial crisis hit, between Paris, Moscow and Tbilisi in efforts to mediate in the war between Russia and Georgia.

It is hard to recall that, only a few years ago, France's voice went unheard not only in Washington but also in Europe. Europe was deeply split over the Iraq war in 2003-04. In the EU, France was undermined by its rejection of the constitutional treaty in 2005. Yet today Mr Sarkozy has put France—and Europe—back on the diplomatic map. To be sure, it is easier to behave like an alpha-male leader with a lame-duck American president. And gallingly, Mr Sarkozy has had to share the limelight over Europe's bank-rescue plan with Britain's Gordon Brown. But it is the French president who has had the EU mandate to act as globe-trotting European diplomat-in-chief. He has milked it for all it is worth.

Indeed, as Europe congratulates itself on its show of united leadership, the argument is increasingly being heard that it should entrench such a role. Recent events, goes the argument, show that Europe needs a permanent president, as proposed in the Lisbon treaty, which has been on hold since the Irish rejected it in a referendum in June. This week Mr Sarkozy argued that 'the world needs a Europe that speaks with a strong voice", and noted that this was difficult with a rotating presidency. Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president (above, in the back of the golf-cart), made the same point in an interview with Le Figaro. Just think, some mutter darkly, what would have happened if the financial crisis and the war in Georgia had taken place under the preceding Slovenian presidency.

Yet there is an obvious flaw in this argument: it equates leadership with institutions. If Mr Sarkozy has appeared as a strong European leader, this is because of his political qualities and egotism, not because of the EU's institutional arrangements. Indeed, it is possible to take precisely the opposite line over the Lisbon treaty: that Mr Sarkozy's hyperactivism demonstrates that strong European leadership does not need a new institutional set-up; and even that to have had another worthy as permanent EU president would just have created another obstacle.

For the essence of Mr Sarkozy's approach, at home and abroad, is not to allow the niceties of protocol to get in his way. He seems to have quietly forgotten that the G8 is currently chaired by Japan (the financial summit is now formally a G20 meeting). Nor was it EU orthodoxy to invite Mr Brown to a summit of euro-area members, since Britain is not one. But Mr Sarkozy's unFrench, sleeves-rolled-up pragmatism means doing whatever it takes to get things moving. When his October 4th G4 summit in Paris on the financial crisis failed to prevent each-for-himself squabbling, he simply changed the format and tried again a week later. There are reports that he might want a job for himself as president of future euro-area summits.

It is not clear what would have happened had the Lisbon treaty been in force. Short of a heavyweight figure like Britain's Tony Blair in the job, how would a middling EU president have dealt with Russia or the market meltdown? And how long would Mr Sarkozy have tolerated dithering before stepping in to take things in hand? "No doubt about it," says one French diplomat, "he would have been in the plane with the EU president anyway."

It takes unusual leadership qualities to get European countries to agree to anything, let alone to act beyond their national interests. Arguably, on the financial crisis, and after his first flop, Mr Sarkozy achieved the first, but not the second. His original idea for a common European bank bail-out fund was dropped in the face of German resistance to being seen to pay for others. The current rescue plans may have been co-ordinated, but the details are being decided by individual national governments, and no money is being pooled.

The remaining two months of the French EU presidency will test how lasting are Mr Sarkozy's consensus-building powers. He may have proven his ability to charm, cajole and bully fellow Europeans into a show of unity. But he often leaves in his wake a few bruised egos and much disgruntlement. The Spanish, for instance, were offended to have been left out of his G4 meeting, to which he invited only Britain, Germany and Italy. The Germans were deeply angered earlier this year by Mr Sarkozy's original plan for a Mediterranean Union that would have excluded them, as they have no shoreline on the sea.

With Europe facing recession, diverging interests may create fresh strains. It will be hard to secure an EU summit deal on climate-change targets in December, for instance (see article). Mr Sarkozy's call for European sovereign wealth funds to protect companies from foreign predators was instantly attacked in Germany. His proposed "economic government" for the euro area, long pushed by France, was dismissed by Mr Barroso, who called the notion that such a body might give instructions to the European Central Bank "dangerous". The EU's divisions between free-market liberals and state interventionists will be exposed in rows over subsidies to industry, competition rules and capping executive pay. Mr Sarkozy has shown that he is not Mr Chirac when it comes to leading Europe during a crisis. But many old fault-lines in Europe remain.

Article 4

End of the phoney peace

From The Economist print edition

Britain is entering a recession. Labour and the Conservatives disagree on how to soften it

THE last time the British economy was contracting, George Osborne was a student. This week, only a scandal involving the Conservative Treasury spokesman drew attention from the most dismal economic news since 1992. Figures to be published on October 24th were expected to confirm that the three months to the end of September saw the first quarter of negative growth for more than 16 years. Gordon Brown admitted on October 22nd that Britain was almost certainly heading into recession, and a day before the prime minister spoke, Mervyn King offered his grimmest take on the economy in his five-year stint as governor of the Bank of England, warning of *a sharp and prolonged slowdown in domestic demand." The pound promptly fell to its lowest ievel against the dollar since 2003.

Mr King's emphasis on recession, together with notes from the previous meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee showing that its members voted unanimously for the half-point cut in the base rate announced on October 8th, suggests enough worry to prompt another rate cut, perhaps as early as November. Companies would welcome it: the latest survey by the Confederation of British Industry, the main employers' body, recorded the steepest single-quarter fall in manufacturing confidence since 1980.

Most of this gloom has been widely predicted: it was only a matter of time before the financial crisis began to afflict the real economy, and growth had already stalled in the previous quarter. But Mr Osborne is not the only Briton who has never known a recession in his working life. The psychological impact of a shrinking economy may be huge precisely because it is unfamiliar. And whereas the credit crunch has hit much of the world, it may cause especial upheaval in heavily indebted Britain—not least politically. The past month has seen an emboldened prime minister, a diminished opposition, an improbable cabinet reshuffle, and the rise and fall of a political truce between the government and the opposition. All this before a recession had officially begun.

We're not all Keynesians now

Yet Westminster-watchers thrown by this turbulence are now being treated to a comfortingly familiar spectacle. Public spending versus tax cuts—the argument that split Labour and the Tories at the previous two general elections—again divides the country's main parties. In both 2001 and 2005 they were arguing about what to do with the tax revenues then cascading into government coffers. The dispute now is over the best way to mitigate a recession.

On October 19th Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the exchequer, suggested he would try to boost demand by scrapping previous plans to restrain the rate of increase in public spending and bringing forward to 2009-10 money earmarked for the following year. Details will come in his pre-budget report in November, but some expenditure has already been fast-tracked in housing and defence. Other candidates for early dollops of cash are schools, medical facilities and leisure centres. Figures released on October 20th showed that government borrowing had already hit a post-war high in the first half of this fiscal year. But after chiselling away at public debt during the boom years, insists Mr Darling, the government can now safely borrow a bit more to prime the pump.

The Tories, whose "statesmanlike" support for the government during the banking crisis ended abruptly with a speech by David Cameron, their leader, on October 17th, have other ideas. Keynesian boondoggles are acceptable in principle, they say, but they cite Japan in the 1990s as proof that such spending does not always stimulate the economy: better to boost businesses' cashflow by easing their tax burden. Under Tory plans, firms employing up to 250 workers could defer payment of value-added tax (VAT) for six months, while those with up to four employees and a wage bill of less than £150,000 ($255,000) would get a cut of one percentage point in their national-insurance contributions.

This break with the government is a calculated gamble by the Tories. After all, voters plumped for spending over tax cuts in both 2001 and 2005. But the Conservatives are not offering an overall cut this time. Instead, the VAT holiday would be paid for by interest charged on the deferred tax, and the national-insurance cut would be funded by ditching various reliefs and allowances. Moreover, a resumption of hostilities with the government is in the Tories' political interests: their non-aggression pact with Mr Brown allowed him to become the hero of the financial crisis while dodging any blame for it.

And though Mr Darling's plans evoke Keynesian high theory, they may crash on rocks of the most mundane kind. Thanks to planning restrictions and other pesky hold-ups, spending public money quickly in Britain is not always easy. The government's schools-building programme is already behind schedule. Raising the private finance that helps pay for many public-sector capital projects is also likely to take longer than usual. The last global slowdown, in 2001-02, coincided with a spending splurge that Mr Brown, then chancellor, had already set in motion. This time the pump-priming may come too late to relieve a far more serious downturn.

The Tories are not invulnerable, of course, despite their continuing lead in the polls. Small, targeted tax reliefs may strike voters as a piffling response. There are doubts about whether their VAT policy complies with European Union law, though the party is confident it does. And if the Tories do win the next election (which must be held by June 2010) despite the government's spending wheeze, they may find the public finances in even direr shape than now looks likely.

For all that gladiatorial politics is here again, the differences between the parties should not be overstated. Neither is so far trumpeting the need for an overall massive spending rise or tax cut. But Britain is entering a recession with its main protagonists divided in important ways about how to get out of it. The stakes are higher for the government, if only because its plan will be the one that is tested by reality. If it works, the recent bounce in Mr Brown's popularity may come to be seen as just the start of a journey back to electability. If it fails, the prime minister will return to being the sure­fire loser of the next election. For a really deep recession will surely be too much for voters to forgive, whether or not they can remember the last one.

Article 5

Publicity stunts that exploit the world's poor The Times.By Simon Jenkins

What is the point of another world summit on poverty? The new American Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, has been conducting a charm offensive in Europe. In the course of it, her government sabotaged Gordon Brown's tentative proposal, "a Marshall plan for Africa", deflecting his plan for Third World debt relief. Why a proper deal was not negotiated in advance, as summits used to be, is a mystery. Perhaps only the Americans are honest enough to admit that these costly meetings are all hot air.

Consider recent history. In 2000 in New York 150 world leaders gathered in New York for a "Millennium Summit". Its aim at this climactic of history was finally to "confront world poverty". So crowded were the most expensive hotels in New York that they reportedly exhausted the city's supplies of lobster and champagne. Nothing happened. The following year the G7 leaders were frantic to say something relevant at the over-cosseted Genoa summit. Amid an array of destroyers, personal masseuses, private chefs and three tenors, Tony Blair, George Bush and others declared their unshakeable commitment to "alleviating world poverty". Nothing happened.

It was Ms Rice who, at the time of Genoa, pledged the American government to attack world poverty with an "emphasis on economic growth, free trade and accountability systems of governance". Most important, she asserted, was "making market access possible" for the produce of poor countries. Her government then proceeded to reduce market access by increasing domestic food subsidies - while the European Union similarly declined to cut its farm spending. Nothing happened.

Next came the UN's 2002 Johannesburg Summit. This took as its theme our old friend, "tackling world poverty", by means of sustainable development. Pre-summit sessions were held, papers written, hotels booked and delegates arrived. Nothing happened.

Like an addict unable to kick the subject, this year's Davos economic conference decided to make its theme, yes, fighting world poverty. In the obscenely rich surroundings of a ski resort, the world's plutocrats vied with each other in their passionate commitment to world poverty. Davos's publicity stunt of inviting show-business celebrities backfired when the actress, Sharon Stone, became so fed up with the collective mendacity that she stood up and offered a speaker from Africa $10,000, if others in the rooms would follow suit. She shamed them into raising close to a million dollars on the spot. It might have covered part of the cost of the conference itself.

As if oblivious to the cynicism of this farrago, the British government chose as the theme for this year's British-led G7 summits, yes, combating world poverty. In the glitzy surroundings of Lancaster House, Mrs Stone was replaced by Nelson Mandela in a magnificent shirt. He called for world poverty to be combated. The G7 ended with another declaration that world poverty must be tackled, but with no agreement on implementing even the debt relief proposals. Sure enough this will be discussed at the next world summit, at Gleneagles in July. The wait should be just long enough to forget that this was the point of the last summits.

(…….)

Perhaps one day someone will tackle it (poverty), really. Or perhaps they will replace it with something else as impressively beyond reach, like climate change or energy depletion. For the moment we have only an answer to the question, why are people so sceptical about politics.

The answer is that the more important politicians get, the more time they spend in expensive hotels, mouthing the vapidities of international relations. They let soldiers fight their wars and publicists handle their conferences. Nothing can be so cynical as publicity that exploits the misery of the world's poor - especially when the misery is so often the result of the aid and trade policies of the rich. 

Article 6

How the fall of the Wall freed Nelson Mandela

The Times

Gorbachev and de Klerk were unexpected revolutionaries joined for ever by a brief moment in history 20 years ago. The fall of the Berlin Wall and the release of Nelson Mandela are two of the most joyous and momentous events of the past half century. The collapse of communism changed Europe for ever. The dismantling of apartheid spared South Africa a bloodbath and set the world an extraordinary example of reconciliation and racial harmony. Who could have imagined the two events were so closely linked?

Twenty years after the Wall was breached and almost two decades since Mr Mandela was freed, the architects of these astonishing events met in Berlin this week to celebrate what they unleashed and their consequent Nobel Peace Prizes. Mikhail Gorbachev is older and plumper than he was when, as Soviet President, he warned the ageing and intransigent East German leader Erich Honecker that “history punishes those who come too late”.F. W. de Klerk seems more mellow than he was when, as President of a pariah state, he ordered the guards to unlock the cell holding the world’s most famous political prisoner. But both still exude that aura of men who have changed history. Both can command attention by the very fact of the immense power that they once exercised, and which they used not to do evil but to do good.

Although from opposite ends of the political spectrum and from countries that saw each other as the incarnation of evil, in uncanny ways they resemble each other. They look somewhat alike. Both are creatures of the blinkered systems that nurtured them: Mr Gorbachev was a leader of the communist youth league who grew up under Stalin and held his first party post in 1955; Mr de Klerk, the son of a South African senator, was first appointed a minister 31 years ago, when the National Party was vigorously implementing new measures to strengthen apartheid. Each came to power at an early age, supported by an embattled Establishment that saw them as tough and vigorous modernisers. Each was acclaimed as a leader who would defend the system, communism or apartheid, against enemies abroad and weaknesses at home. And each soon realised, as he looked at the economic statistics, the political options and the internal contradictions, that the system he had inherited was rotten to the core.Both Mr Gorbachev and Mr de Klerk knew they had to make changes. Neither knew where these would lead.

Mr Gorbachev was never a visionary or a revolutionary. He was a pragmatist, although a somewhat naive one. He thought that communism could be reformed through his two guiding principles of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reconstruction). He hoped communism would evolve into a kind of Swedish social democracy. He found, instead, that every change necessitated ever more radical change if the State was to remain viable. He hoped that in Eastern Europe he could replace the corrupt dinosaurs with younger, liberal communist leaders who would answer the longing for the liberties and consumer goods of the West.He lost control of his changes, however. Abroad they ended in uprisings across the Eastern bloc and the destruction of a hated Wall that fell, appropriately, almost exactly 200 years after the fall of the Bastille. At home his experiments ended in his political fall.

Mr de Klerk, also no radical, was more able to keep control, because fellow Afrikaners, even at the heart of the Establishment, realised that the economic reasons for segregation no longer made sense. For about 80 years the percentage of black South Africans holding skilled middle-class jobs had remained the same. But in the 1970s and 1980s it rose swiftly. Millions of blacks and whites were doing the same jobs but being paid and treated differently.Sitting on the same podium in Berlin as Mr Gorbachev, now a firm friend, Mr de Klerk declared that it was only the fall of the Wall that emboldened his party to take the risk of releasing Mr Mandela. For years, South Africans had feared that communist infiltration of the African National Congress would mean an inevitable victory for communism if it were legalised and came to power. “The ANC would come in on a platform of racial equality. We thought it would then be overtaken by a communist coup,” he said.

Only when it was clear that communism was no longer a world force did the National Party speed up negotiations with the prisoners on Robben Island that led, in 1990, three months after the fall of the Wall, to Mr Mandela’s release.

A Nobel Peace Prize confers a moral and humanitarian reputation on its recipients that tends to spur them either to greater efforts or to new and more ambitious causes. It has certainly made Mr Gorbachev and Mr de Klerk the radicals they never were in their youth. The former Soviet President is now a fervent environmentalist and founder of the Geneva-based Green Cross, who campaigns against nuclear weapons, nuclear power and for clean air, water and industry. Mr de Klerk, the only President to have scrapped a country’s nuclear weapons, campaigns tirelessly against nuclear weapons, for African development and against Aids. Both intend still to change history again.

Article 7

How China's secret deals are fuelling war

Stephen Pollard

As Israel and Hezbollah exchange bombs and missiles, oil-hungry Beijing plays out its sinister strategy THE STORY behind the story in the Middle East today is the proxy war, as Israel, on behalf of the US, takes on Hezbollah, which fights on behalf of Iran and Syria. Indeed, one can widen it further and describe the participants as proxies for the West versus militant Islam. This analysis of the conflict sometimes mentions, in passing, Russia’s declining influence. But there is another player that has somehow received almost no coverage. For decades China has been building up influence in the Middle East. It suits China’s strategy well that coverage has been almost non-existent. As Deng Xiaoping once put it, China must “hide brightness and nourish obscurity . . . to bide our time and build up our capabilities”. As China develops into the role of global power, its influence on the region is no longer obscure; it cannot now be ignored.

The original postwar Middle East proxies were the US and the Soviet Union. Washington supporting Israel and the Kremlin sponsoring enemy regimes and their terrorist offshoots. But the Sino-Soviet split, which began in the 1960s, meant a lifting of the constraint on China getting involved, and it soon began to develop ties to countries that were not under Soviet influence, such as Egypt under Sadat. A brilliant analysis of China’s role by Barry Rubin, in the Middle East Review of International Affairs, describes China’s first steps thus: “As hope for global revolution faded and Beijing switched its partners from tiny opposition groups to governments, China now projected itself as leader of the Third World, struggling against the hegemony of the two superpowers, the USSR and the United States. Lacking the strength and level of development of other great powers, China would try to make itself the head of a massive coalition of the weaker states.” That meant, in the Middle East, Israel’s enemies.

Today countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan — all key states in the region — have strong ties to China, which they are all likely to see as a counterbalance to American power in the Middle East and beyond. As President Jiang Zemin put it in 1994, US “hegemony” should be opposed, in part by helping countries such as Iran, which were already fighting that battle. But China’s strategy dovetailed geopolitics with economic necessity. Without access to oil markets, China had to fuel economic expansion by turning to more neglected suppliers, such as Iran, Iraq and Sudan. And with a growing consumption of Gulf oil, so China has had to direct its security policy towards ensuring that the US will not be able to interfere with the flow of oil. This means developing ever stronger political and strategic relationships with oil exporters.

Jiang’s state visit in 1999 to Saudi Arabia cemented what he termed a “strategic oil partnership”. In 1996 Saudi exported 60,000 barrels per day to China. By 2000 exports stood 350,000 bpd (17 per cent of Beijing’s oil imports). Iranian oil exports rose even faster, from 20,000 bpd in 1995 to 200,000 bpd in 2000. The Middle East is now China’s fourth largest trading partner. But its trade is hardly traditional. As Rubin puts it: “Being so late in entering the region — and having less to offer in economic or technology terms than the United States, Russia, Japan, and Europe — China must go after marginal or risky markets . . . supplying customers no one else will service with goods no one else will sell them.” What that means, of course, is arms.

In the war-by-proxy analysis, Iran is rightly said to be the power and arms supplier behind Hezbollah. But the issue of where Iran’s arms come from has been ignored. China has sold Iran tanks, planes, artillery, cruise, anti-tank, surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft missiles as well as ships and mines. It is also Iran’s main supplier of unconventional arms and is thought by almost all monitors to be illicitly involved in supplying key elements in Iran’s chemical and nuclear weapons programme. This is despite China being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

China has sold nuclear reactors to Algeria, Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, and Chinese nuclear weapons designs were found in Libya. It has also negotiated with Syria on the sale of M11 ballistic missiles. China is one of the few global suppliers of ballistic missiles and can charge a heavy price. It demanded of the Saudis, for instance, to whom it sold CSS2 missiles, payment in cash, ensuring both the cementing of a key strategic relationship and total deniability of the sale. Both nations have kept the relationship as secret as possible, but one expert, Robert Mullins, estimates that at least 1,000 Chinese military advisers have been based at Saudi missile installations since the mid-1990s. Such secret deals are handled by Polytechnologies Incorporated, a defence firm controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, which both installs weapons and trains handlers.

But like all the most successful illicit traders, China is ideologically profligate in its relations. Keen to supply weapons to Israel’s enemies in return for oil, it is equally happy to trade with Israel in return for its technology. As Benjamin Netanyahu put it to the Chinese when, as Prime Minister, he championed an Israeli investment in China: “Israeli know-how is more valuable than Arab oil.” The estimates are that there has been between $1 billion and $3 billion of arms trade between China and Israel. But in this case the flow of arms and weapons technology has been from Israel to China. In the immediate analysis of the present conflict, it is clearly Iran and Syria that, as President Bush put it, should “stop doing this shit”. But any deeper explanation of the real politik of the Middle East has to include the insidious role of the Chinese, the 21st century’s next superpower.

Article 8

Shoe insult: abusive or just lost in translation?

From The Times

We look at the rich style of insults around the globe.

Muntazer al-Zaidi throws a shoe. Or rather, he threw two. Both were aimed at the head of George W. Bush, as he gave a press conference in Baghdad in 2008. “This is a farewell kiss, you dog,” the Iraqi TV journalist shouted. “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” It was a powerful sentiment, rendered strangely ridiculous. Because he threw a shoe.

Who throws a shoe? Arabs do. In fact, in the global scheme of things, we in the West are somewhat in the minority in not having a problem with feet at all. In much of South East Asia, it's considered rude to cross your legs while sitting down, for precisely this reason. In the north Indian town of Dharamsala, my friend Hamish was once nearly lynched by a mob of pacifist Buddhists for accidentally pointing the soles of his feet at the Dalai Lama. True story.

As you may already know it's very easy to cause foreign offence, inadvertently. In Japan it's rude to blow your nose (nobody seems sure quite why) and, as in China, rude to leave your chopsticks standing up in a bowl of rice (because this mimics a funeral rite) . In the Philippines, you can be arrested for beckoning somebody by curling your finger, because this suggests that he or she is a dog.

In much of southern Europe and North Africa, the “thumbs up” sign doesn't mean “yes” or “super” or even “I'm doing a Paul McCartney impression”, but in fact means “sit on this”. The “this” in question does not necessarily refer to your thumb. In Turkey, the “OK” circle sign refers to be the bit they'd sit down with. Almost everywhere else in the world, it is deeply rude to point. In India, you are expected to point with your chin. Somehow.

You can go a long way with hand gestures. The extended middle finger is fairly widely understood, but the same cannot be said for our beloved British V-sign, which even Americans might associate with Winston Churchill, or hippies. Other global alternatives include the French fist (clench, punch to the sky, put your other hand in the crook of your elbow) and the Greek moutsa, which is similar to the American “talk to the hand”, but with the strong, unspoken insinuation that the hand contains something. Something brown. Italians are particularly fond of what has become the rockstar Satan sign (clenched fist, first finger and small finger extended, twist your wrist) which is traditionally supposed to suggest cuckoldry. (…..) Just Google the phrase “Arabic insults”. In a midst of a list of the kind of horrific things that Arabs have figured out how to say to each other, the phrase “Surmayye a'raasac” rears up like an old friend. It just means “A shoe is on your head”. In the case of George Bush, it was about six inches out. No idea how you'd say that.

Guardian: Производителя «ботинка Буша» завалили заказами

Пока ведется следствие над Мунтазер аль-Зейди, обладателем знаменитого ботинка, брошенного в президента США во время пресс-конференции в Ираке, производителя знаковой обуви в Турции Рамазана Байдана буквально завалили заказами из США и Великобритании.

Как пишет The Guardian, Рамазан Байдан, владелец компании по производству обуви Baydan Shoe Company в Стамбуле, получил необычайно высокое количество заказов со всего мира. Это произошло после того, как он настоял на том, что именно его компания произвела скандальный кожаный ботинок, который иракский журналист Мунтазер аль-Зейди бросил в Буша во время пресс-конференции в Багдаде.

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МОСКОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ГУМАНИТАРНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ им. М.А. ШОЛОХОВА