Give Russian equivalents of the following words and combinations.
2. Give Russian equivalents of the following words and combinations.
To maintain order; to benefit from; to constrain conflicts; to mediate conflicts; to back; to take on (importance/responsibility); to affect smb/smth; an outcome; a breakup; to break up.
3. Give English equivalents of the following words and phrases.
Развал; принимать на себя (ответственность); выигрывать от/извлекать выгоду из; посредничать в конфликтах; разваливаться; поддерживать порядок; сдерживать конфликты; влиять на что-либо; поддерживать; результат/исход.
4. Read the article again and answer the questions.
- What conflicts between Muslim and non-Muslim peoples do you know? Can you remember the years of those conflicts and reason?
- What are the two causes of such conflicts according to the author? Do you agree?
- What role do diasporas play in these conflicts?
- What is the US position as far as the Chechen conflict is concerned? Why do you think it changed after the September 11 events?
5. Comment on the following extracts from the article.
- Almost everywhere in the contemporary world, people are espousing cultural and civilizational identities.
- Multi-civilizational states are increasingly being challenged.
- The United States does not have any significant national interests in Chechnya, while it has such interests in Russia.
- In the long run, Russia cannot win this war, and the United States cannot significantly affect the outcome.
II
Read the additional article and comment on it.
Transnational terrorism
States with poor governance; ethnic, cultural, or religious tensions; weak economies will be prime grounds for terrorism. At the same time, the trend away from state-supported political terrorism and toward more diverse, transnational networks — enabled by information technology — will continue. Some of the states that actively sponsor terrorism or terrorist groups today may decrease or even cease their support by 2015 as a result of regime changes, or the conclusion that terrorism has become counterproductive. But weak states also could drift toward cooperation with terrorists, creating de facto new state supporters. Between now and 2015 terrorist tactics will become increasingly sophisticated and aimed at achieving mass casualties. We expect the trend toward greater lethality in terrorist attacks to continue.
|
