Иванов О.П. Беловинцева Е.Г. Читаем газету и обсуждаем международную политику
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«The offensive weapons are just about done. All we have to do is hear a number from
them and then talk through the verification and other issues», Secretary of State said on
his airplane en route to Moscow, the sixth stop on his tour of European and Central Asian
countries. There will be a «big concentration on transparency so both sides know what
the other is doing [and on] exchange of information on our various programs».
Secretary of State sounded less optimistic, however, about breakthrough in talks on
the ABM Treaty that could allow the US administration to proceed with testing a missile
defense, system, now barred by the 1972 accord. US officials consider the treaty
outmoded, but Russian president has called it central to maintaining stability between
the nuclear powers.
«There is still this disagreement with respect to our missile defense programs»,
Secretary of State said. «Increasingly, the ABM Treaty constrains what the president
feels we must do in order to get our missile defense systems».
While US officials want to scrap the treaty, many in the administration have been willing
to reach an interim understanding with Russia that could allow testing to proceed while
putting off a final decision about withdrawing from the accord. Secretary of State said he
would be seeking «new ideas» in talks with Russian officials about how to permit the
Pentagon's test program to move ahead. The United States is eager to proceed in the
coming months with tests that could violate the treaty.
Although missile defense remains one of the administration's top foreign policy priorities,
the most noticeable progress in talks with Russia has been in the field of reducing
offensive weapons, which has become Moscow's priority in nuclear talks.
Although Bush has also called for sharp reductions in warheads, US officials have
consistently said they want to avoid a new, burdensome arms control treaty. But in
response to Russian president's insistence on written commitments, US president said
last month he would be willing to put a new agreement on paper. «We're willing to do
this in written form», a senior State Department official repeated today. «Not necessarily
a treaty».
«What we don't want to lose is the verification and notifications and other provisions of
START I and some of the provisions of START II», Secretary of State said.
In a statement released Friday, the State Department said, «A significant aspect of the
START Treaty's regime lies in its use of verifiable methods to monitor its
implementation». These include «the right to do on-site inspections and other
verification measures». The treaty also calls for «data exchanges and notifications on
each side's strategic systems as well as exchanges of telemetry data from missile flight
tests».
2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases.
To be scheduled to do smth; to verify; to abide by; to focus on; to apply; verification
measures; START I; to rule out; an option; a stockpile; transparency; a breakthrough;
the ABM Treaty; testing a missile defense system; outmoded; to constrain; to scrap; to
withdraw; an accord; a top foreign policy priority; a notification; a provision; to do on-
site inspection.
3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases.
Проводить инспекцию на местах; прозрачность; договор по ПРО; средства проверки;
уделять внимание; договор СНВ-1; положение/статья договора; запас; вариант;
планируется; придерживаться; применять; испытание системы противоракетной
обороны; договор; ограничивать; главный приоритет внешней политики; прорыв;
разрушать; устареть; уведомление; проверять; выйти (из договора), исключать.
4. Read the article again and complete the following statements using the
active words and phrases.
1. The US Secretary of State is scheduled to...
2. Both the US and Russia are now looking for ways to ...
3. The discussions were focusing on how to ...
4. The US President announced he was prepared to reduce ...
5. There will be a big concentration on transparency so ...
6. The Secretary of State sounded less optimistic about a breakthrough in ...
7. US officials consider the ABM treaty outmoded, but Russian president...
8. The ABM Treaty constrains...
9. US officials want to scrap ...
10. Missile defense remains...
11. What the US does not want to lose is ...
12. Verification measures include ...
5. Answer the questions on the article.
1. Who is the US Secretary of State scheduled to meet?
2. What deal does the article focus on?
3. What ways do Russia and USA look for in the nuclear field?
4. What do the discussions between the Russian president and US Secretary of
State focus on?
5. What is the US president prepared to do?
6. Does the US Secretary of State sound optimistic about any breakthrough in the
talks?
7. How do the US officials consider the ABM treaty?
8. What does the ABM Treaty constrain?
9. What remains one of the US administration's top foreign policy priorities?
10. What important provisions are there in the START I and START II agreements?
6. Using the «package words» express your agreement or disagreement with
the following.
1. The discussions between the Russian president and the US Secretary of State
focus on human rights issues.
2. The US administration considers the ABM Treaty outmoded.
3. The ABM Treaty does not prevent the US administration from developing its
missile defense systems.
4. The reduction of offensive weapons is Moscow's top foreign policy priority.
7. Retell the article using the active words and phrases.
8. Questions for discussion.
1. What is the US position on the missile defense systems?
2. What is Russian position on the missile defense systems?
3. Why do you think the US administration considers the ABM Treaty outmoded?
4. How does the US stance on the missile defense system and its desire to scrap
treaties in this field may affect international security?
5. What do you think both sides should do to come to an agreement?
III
Translate the following text into English.
Визит в Россию представителей администрации США
ВАШИНГТОН /ИТАР-ТАСС/. Отправляющаяся на этой неделе в Москву группа
высокопоставленных сотрудников администрации США намерена обсудить с
российским правительством не только экономическую ситуацию в РФ и ряд
внешнеполитических вопросов, но и проблемы нераспространения ядерных и
ракетных технологий. Об этом сообщил в беседе с корреспондентом ИТАР-ТАСС
официальный представитель Белого дома.
Он подчеркнул, что продолжающиеся в России финансово-экономические трудности
беспокоят Соединенные Штаты по поводу утечек из страны технологий и
материалов.
По его словам, сейчас между США и Россией установлен хороший канал для
обсуждения этих проблем.
Представитель Белого дома подтвердил, что особую озабоченность США выражают
по поводу сотрудничества России с Ираном, который они подозревают в стремлении
заполучить ядерное оружие и новые средства его доставки. Однако правительство
России неоднократно заявляло, что его сотрудничество с Тегераном носит
исключительно мирный характер и не нарушает никаких международных
соглашений в области нераспространения.
Comment on the quotations:
«Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate». (John F.
Kennedy)
«Diplomacy not backed by strength will always be ineffective at best and dangerous at
worst». (George Schultz)
SECTION C
1. Read the article and look up the meaning of the underlined words and
phrases in the dictionary.
National security strategy of the United States
(an extract)
We are attentive to the possible renewal of old patterns of great power competition.
Several potential great powers are now in the midst of internal transition — most
importantly Russia, India, and China. In all three cases, recent developments have
encouraged our hope that a truly global consensus about basic principles is slowly taking
shape.
With Russia, we are already building a new strategic relationship based on a central
reality of the twenty-first century: the United States and Russia are no longer
strategicadversaries. The Moscow Treaty on Strategic Reductions is emblematic of this
new reality and reflects a critical change in Russian thinking that promises to lead to
productive, long-term relations with the Euro-Atlantic community and the United States.
Russia's top leaders have a realistic assessment of their country's current weakness and
the policies — internal and external — needed to reverse those weaknesses. They
understand, increasingly, that Cold War approaches do not serve their national
interests and that Russian and American strategic interests overlap in many areas.
United States policy seeks to use this turn in Russian thinking to refocus our relationship
on emerging and potential common interests and challenges. We are broadening our
already extensive cooperation in the global war on terrorism. We are facilitating Russia's
entry into the World Trade Organization, without lowering standards for accession, to
promote beneficial bilateral trade and investment relations. We have created the NATO-
Russia Council with the goal of deepening security cooperation among Russia, our
European allies, and our selves. We will continue to bolster the independence and
stability of the states of the former Soviet Union in the belief that a prosperous and
stable neighborhood will reinforce Russia's growing commitment to integration into the
Euro-Atlantic community.
At the same time, we are realistic about the differences that still divide us from Russia
and about the time and effort it will take to build an enduring strategic partnership.
Lingering distrust of our motives and policies by key Russian elites slows improvement in
our relations. Russia's uneven commitment to the basic values of free-market democracy
and dubious record in combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction remain
matters of great concern. Russia's very weakness limits the opportunities for
cooperation. Nevertheless, those opportunities are vastly greater now than in recent
years — or even decades.
2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases.
A renewal; an adversary; to serve one's national interests; to overlap; to facilitate; to
bolster; to reinforce; enduring; uneven; dubious; record; to combat.
3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases.
Неровный/неравномерный; усиливать; возобновление; противник; поддерживать;
отвечать чьим-л. интересам; способствовать; свидетельство; прочный;
сомнительный/неоднозначный; вести борьбу; совпадать.
4. Read the article again and answer the questions using the active vocabulary.
1. What renewal is possible?
2. What is the central reality of the twenty-first century?
3. Do Cold War approaches serve Russian national interests? And why?
4. Do Russian strategic interests run counter American ones?
5. Where does USA facilitate Russia to enter?
6. What is a proclaimed goal of the US foreign policy in the states of the former
Soviet Union?
7. How can this goal boost Russian commitment to integration into the Euro-
Atlantic community?
8. What sort of strategic partnership do Russia and USA still have to build?
9. What poisons Russian-US relations according to the document?
5. Using the active vocabulary render the article in English.
6. Using the given «package words» express your agreement or disagreement
with the following statements and comment on them.
Agreement: I couldn't agree more./I fully agree with.../It appears to me to be true.
Partial agreement: To some extent it is true./I agree but up to a point.
Disagreement: I'm afraid it's not quite right./I would object to .../On the contrary.
1. The United States and Russia are no longer strategic adversaries.
2. Russia's top leaders have a realistic assessment of their country's current
weakness and the policies.
3. Russian and American strategic interests overlap in many areas. If yes, where.
4. A prosperous and stable neighborhood will reinforce Russia's growing
commitment to integration into the Euro-Atlantic community.
5. Distrust of the US motives and policies by key Russian elites slows improvement
in Russian-US relations.
6. Russia has an uneven commitment to the basic values of free-market democracy
and dubious destruction.
1 противоракетная оборона — antiballistic missile defense
2 Эту фразу нужно объединить с предыдущим предложением. Источник информации
в англоязычном тексте стоит либо в конце предложения и отделяется запятой (напр.
..., said the Foreign Ministry spokesman), либо начинает предложение (напр.
According to the Foreign Ministry spokesman...)
UNIT 8. INTERVIEWS AND PRESS
CONFERENCES
1. Read the following sample interviews, paying attention to the way the
interviewers ask questions and interviewees answer them.
SAMPLE 1. Press conference of the US Secretary of Defense
Q: Mr. Secretary, can you confirm, sir, today, and since you have admitted there are US
troops in the area, that US troops are now inside Pakistan finding or hunting for those
wanted terrorists, the most wanted terrorists, al Qaeda and Taliban? And if you have
spoken with anybody — any one of them, or their leader?
Secretary: As you know, my policy is to have other countries characterize what it is
they're doing rather than we characterize it for them. And I have really nothing to say
except that the borders of Afghanistan, around 360 degrees, tended to be relatively
porous over the decades.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I would switch — for a minute to Moscow, the discussions on the
nuclear arms reduction. What is the value of this process of negotiating a written
agreement, from the US point of view? What's the value of doing that?
Secretary: Well, when the president made his announcement, he indicated that the
United States of America was going to do what he said; namely, bring down strategic
offensive nuclear weapons down into the 1,700 to 2,200 level. That was a statement
based on our own national security interests. The president of Russia, on a subsequent
occasion, announced that they, too, intended to go down to roughly that level. What's
taking place between the United States and Russia is the development of a new
relationship, a new framework between our two countries.
Q: Did you get the sense from your discussions on this topic in Moscow that it will be
accomplished by the time the president leaves?
Secretary: You never know. Something's not over till it's over.
It is a process, it's been going along very well. I've had numerous meetings with the
defense minister of Russia. Secretary of State has had numerous meetings with the
foreign minister of Russia. And the US president has had several meetings with the
Russian president. And there are more ahead of us. So we just stay on the track. It's a
constructive, useful process. And I enjoyed my stop in Moscow.
Q: Mr. Secretary, in your meetings this afternoon with the Chinese vice-president will
you raise the issue of America's concern and this building's concern over the shifting of
Chinese medium-range missiles to an area where they now threaten Taiwan and
apparently a buildup of some size, up to 300 or more, we're told by press reports?
Secretary: I have not met the vice president of the People's Republic of China. He's
coming in this afternoon. I look forward to it. And I don't really think it's appropriate to
discuss what he or I might or might not bring up in the course of the discussion.
Q: Is it a concern to you, sir, that these missiles are being shifted?
Secretary: (Pause) How would one answer that on the eve of a visit? (Laughter.) My
instinct is to leave it where I left it and not, you know, preview things that might or
might not be discussed.
SAMPLE 2. US Secretary of Defense at the joint media availability
with
Russian Defense Minister in Moscow
Secretary of Defense: It is a pleasure for me to welcome Russian Minister of Defense
to the Pentagon on this, his first official visit as Minister of Defense of the Russian
Federation. We've had good discussions over the past days. As busy as we've been, I
think it's worth stopping for a moment to recognize how much US President and
President of Russia have accomplished during such a brief period of their presidencies in
putting decades of mistrust behind us and helping to forge a new relationship between
our two countries, based on friendship, cooperation, and the pursuit of common
interests.
The US and Russia do indeed have many common interests. We have a common interest
in improved economic ties, a common interest in fighting terrorism and dealing with the
new threats we both face in this dangerous new century. We have a common interest in
working together to reduce offensive nuclear weapons, weapons that really are a legacy
of past hostilities and which are really no longer needed when Russia and the US are
basing our relationships on friendship, not on fear of mutual annihilation.
Defense Minister: We have just had a substantive round of negotiations with Secretary
of Defense. In general, they dealt with the prospects for concluding an agreement or a
treaty on reducing the strategic offensive weapons. As you might have noticed, the US-
Russian consultations, and not only focusing on the reduction of the strategic offensive
weapons, have been very intensive in recent months. Upon our mutual agreement with
Mr. Secretary, we are ready to disclose certain secret in our joint work.
The matter is that four or five days ago, we passed to the US side a set of new ideas,
which, in our opinion, could serve a foundation for a future agreement. We listened to
the US view and proposals on that account very carefully. My personal belief is that
today we have reached certain progress.
As you know, in several days Russian Foreign Minister is flying to Washington. I think
that by that time the Russian side will be ready to respond to the US comments and
provide the comments of their own, and I hope that even greater progress will be made.
And as for the agreement itself, whether it will be signed or not, of course it will be up to
the presidents of the two countries to decide. But both sides spare no effort to provide
the presidents with the most effective language of the agreement.
Thank you very much.
Secretary of Defense: As the minister said, our two presidents have asked the foreign
ministries and the defense ministries to think through very carefully our new
relationship. Secretary of State and Foreign Minister have met any number of times, and
Defense Minister and I have met any number of times in various countries and several
cities. And as he indicated, we're making progress, and the meetings will continue later
this week in Washington.
Thank you.
Q: A question to both Mr. Minister and Mr. Secretary. Were you able to agree on those
issues which remained pending by today?
Minister of Defense: I would stop short of making comments in public on the subject,
which is very delicate now. Besides, I would give an opportunity to our foreign ministries
to do their share and — since they are the major players, they play the major role in
negotiating that agreement. As far as the military establishments are concerned, we had
a chance to exchange our ideas and views very frankly, very candidly, on those drafts,
which we had passed to each other recently.
Secretary of Defense: I agree.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I wonder if — this is Charlie Aldinger of Reuters. I wonder if I might
ask you whether you feel that it's probable or possible that you will reach an agreement
by the summit. And no matter what, will the United States proceed with its plan to
shelve, rather than destroy, some nuclear weapons?
Secretary of Defense: As the minister indicated, it's up to the presidents to make the
final decisions with respect to agreements like this. They will do so in an orderly way, as
the days proceed, leading up to the summit. What they'll decide is up to them. And it
seems to me that the one thing I will say is that US President has indicated that
regardless of the outcome of these discussions, the United States of America intends to
reduce offensive deployed weapons to the levels that the president indicated, of 1,700 to
2,200.
Q: Minister X, I'm Bob Burns, the Associated Press.
Could you tell us whether you discussed prospects for many military operations in
Afghanistan and the future of American military presence in Central Asia?
Minister of Defense: You are quite right. We did discuss that issue, as well as a
number of other issues with Secretary of Defense. And I hundred per cent agree that in
the course of our regular meetings, we discuss not only the issues relating to the
strategic offensive weapons but a much broader range and scope of issues where the
role of the two countries is very big. And it involves the Afghan issue and the issue of
terrorism in general.
And speaking philosophically, I would like to mention that we discussed most acute
issues relating to international security, such as terrorism, non-proliferation and
reduction of weapons systems in general. But it's not a mechanical approach, which we
use now, just talking about the number of platforms and warheads. We are trying to
predict, to forecast the relations between the two countries for five, seven and nine days
— years, so — and even the draft of the strategic offensive weapons reductions is a
document which provides a longer period of relations. And for that end — both for the
US side and for the Russian side, it's a matter of principle to be aware of the geopolitical
environment which may emerge in five, seven or 10 years.
Q: A question to Secretary Y. You've just returned from Afghanistan, and you were
briefed definitely on the outcome of the antiterrorist operation. Can you share some
details of the operation with us? And the second question is that there is much talk of big
US losses in the course of the operation. Can you comment on that?
Secretary of Defense: As I understand it, your first question involves a general
comment on what's taking place in Afghanistan with respect to the efforts to stabilize the
country. We've made good progress. The Taliban are no longer running the country. The
al Qaeda are not currently using Afghanistan as a training camp and bases for launching
terrorist attacks on innocent people around the world.
With respect to your second question, I have no information, and I am not acquainted
with the report that you're referring to and wouldn't even want to begin to comment on
its accuracy or lack of accuracy, except I would say that experience suggests that first
reports are often wrong.
Good.
Minister of Defense: Thank you.
Secretary of Defense: Thank you, sir.
2. Learn the following «package phrases» which are used during press
conferences and interviews. Discuss the meanings with your teacher.
I. How to open
A formal opening
1. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I have a great honor today and great
privilege to introduce ...
2. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining us this
afternoon.
3. Good morning. It is a pleasure for me to be back in ...
4. It is my great pleasure once again to receive ...
5. Mr. Secretary/President, it's an honor, in fact, to have you here with us, and I'll
turn the floor over to you.
6. My apologies for being a little later than we had planned. I want to welcome you.
We're very pleased to have you here. We're honored to have you here.
Less formal opening
1. Good afternoon, and thank you all very much for your time. 2.I know how busy
Fridays can be, so I'll just have a few brief remarks at the top here and open it
up to your questions.
2. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to get started here. Thanks for making
yourself available to us and Mr. X.
3. Good morning everybody. I really don't have any opening remarks. Let's get
right to the issue at hand.
4. Good morning. I just want to open up here with several main points.
5. Good morning. I don't know if I need to start with any preliminaries, so I'll open
it up for questions from the audience.
II. How to start and give the floor
1. I'll turn it over to ...
2. Mr. N, sir, the floor is yours.
3. I just want to say a few things and then turn it over to ...
4. And with that, I'll turn it over to ...
5. And with that I will open the floor to questions and comments.
6. I'd like to make a short statement and then answer your questions.
7. And with that, I'll open up for questions.
8. I think with that introduction, I'd like to open this up for any questions. My
colleagues and I will be as open as we possibly can. However, we cannot give
you any information concerning...
III. How to ask questions
1. I'm wondering if you can expand a little more about ... ?
2. Can you give us a sense of ... ?
3. What's your sense of the ... ? Can you give us the latest on ... ?
4. Could you fill us in on the latest on ... ?
5. Can you paint a picture for us of what ... ?
6. Can you shed any light on ... ?
7. Is there a chance you could paint a picture of (what's happening)?
8. Can you update us on ... ?
9. Any hot breaking news you can update us on ... ?
10. Can you bring us up to date on ... ?
11. May I do a follow-up, please? What's your best guess about... ?
12. Can I follow up on ... ? What are your thoughts on the fact that... ?
IV. How to start answering questions
1. My understanding is that...
2. My sense is that...
3. My guess is that ...
4. To my knowledge ...
5. It is a good question. I am glad you asked me about it.
V. How to avoid answering questions
1. Not to my knowledge.
2. Not that I know of.
3. I'm not inclined to get into it at the moment. Sorry.
4. I really don't want to speculate about it. I'm honestly not sure of the details of it.
5. I don't want to get into details and the substance of.... I'd rather keep it a little
more general.
6. I cannot get into specifics of... —
7. I'd prefer not to get into that.
8. I don't care to get into the subject anymore. Sorry.
9. I'm really not in the position to discuss it.
10. I really can't say that much about that. Sorry. I just can't shed a lot of light on
that for you.
11. What's beyond that I can't say at this point.
12. We don't have anything to announce with respect to that.
VI. Thanking for participation
1. We appreciate you taking the time to chat with us.
2. Thank you very much for your time.
3. It's very good of you to spend the time.
4. Thanks very much, Mr/Mrs .... I appreciate your time.
5. We certainly appreciate your time this afternoon. Thanks for joining us and
answering some of the questions that we had. And we wish you certainly the
best of luck.
6. Mr. Secretary, our time has expired. Thank you, sir.
7. I wish we could talk more on this topic but our time is up. I want to thank you
for joining us today.
3. Read the assignment and act out press conferences on the problems given in
it, or interview your partner on any topic covered in this textbook.
One student plays the role of a chairperson opening and closing the briefing, the other
student or students brief on the topic. After that the rest of the class asks questions. All
students should use as many phrases as possible from the list above. Pick up the topic of
a briefing from the list below.
1. You are a NATO official. Brief on the topic «NATO's Role and Tasks Today».
2. You are NATO and Russian officials. Brief on the topic «Should Russia Join
NATO?»
3. You are an expert on conflict resolution. Brief on the topic «Future Interstate
Conflicts».
4. You are Russian and US officials holding a press conference on missile defense
systems.
5. You are a US official. Brief on the new US national security strategy.
6. You are experts on Russian and US foreign policy. Brief on the topic US- Russian-
Chinese Triangle.
7. You are Russian experts on foreign policy. Brief on the topic «The Role of the UN
in a Global World».
8. You are a deputy of the State Duma (Russian Parliament). Brief foreign
journalists on the Russian electoral system and the role of mass media in
parliamentary and presidential elections.