Today, the world stands at crossroads and in a transitional dilemma, with the signs of optimism and pessimism equally viable and equally potent. Of the two contradictory signs, pessimistic syndromes seem to overshadow optimistic signs. Like a rudderless ship afloat on the uncharted ocean, the world is moving in all directions.
With the crumbling of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the world appeared to herald a new golden age. But contrary to the heightened expectation of ushering in a lasting peace on earth, the world is, however, torn by racial, ethnic, tribal, social and religious conflicts. Scandals and scams are commonplace in our world.
We see a lot of antinomic signs in today's world. Affluent and indigent, creative and decadent, progressive and retrogressive, dynamic and enervated, our world is moving forward and backward, up and down, and converging and diverging simultaneously on the same space-time continuum.
Especially, we see three major antinomic phenomena.
First, we see the antinomy of globalization and localization in our world today. With the phenomenal development of transportation and communication, the world has become a "global village" as Marshall McLuhan sagaciously observed. But at the same time, we see the increasing fragmentation of the globe. In 1945 the un was inaugurated with only 51 members. There were 195 nations which participated in the Atlanta Olympic Games. If the present trend of fragmentation is left unchecked, there will be nearly 1000 countries in the world before long.
Second, we see the antinomy of increasing knowledge and decreasing wisdom. Today, the Baconian adage, "Knowledge itself is power," has become a reality. According to Alvin Toffler's Power Shift, the potency of knowledge has supplanted military power and monetary power. James Appleberry, President of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, points out that the total amount of knowledge possessed by human beings doubles within five years. Ironically enough, it is also true that in an inverted proportion of increasing knowledge, wisdom – the power of discerning and judging correctly between what is right and what is wrong – has decreased. Remember how the Nazi mass-murdered the Jews; how Stalin liquidated the kulaks? In the end, knowledge often becomes "a tool of evildoing."
Third, since the age of Enlightenment, the idea of Progress has long been a dominant historical view of modern man. Some scholars believed that nations would not resort to wars. Most, if not all, futurists hold a view that almost all countries will eventually develop the characteristics of post-industrial societies. But on the other hand, today, man's inhumanity to his fellow man is one of the most conspicuous elements of history. At no time in world history has there been so much worldwide grief and suffering. More people are fearful, uptight, and filled with heartache than ever before.
As a result of this confusion, the post-Cold War world is heading towards an era of more serious global conflicts. The future global conflicts will be no longer between nations but between civilizations.
How can we then help resolve conflicts among civilizations? What role can we play to rectify the situation?
Abridged from “Restoration of Humanity” by Won-Sul Lee (World Encyclopedia of Peace, Chicago, 1999, vol. pp.437-438)
Notes
1.McLuhan, Marshall is a former professor of English at Toronto University (Canada) who coined the term “global village”. It implies that due to a boost in the information industries (i.e. technologies based on the computer and including also communications, cable, media and entertainment) since the 1970s the world has become a single place (a small global village) where all residents (villagers)learn news (through the Internet or the CNN for example) almost simultaneously and are multiple interdependent in terms of culture, economy, politics, behavioral psychology, and even fashion.
2.Atlanta, the capital of Georgia (USA) saw the Olympic Games in 1997.
3.Baconian means “of”, “pertaining to”, or “characteristic of” the works or thought of Francis Bacon (1561 - 1621), English philosopher and esseyist. He was such a prominent figure in English culture that a number of researchers believe it was he who was the author of the plays attributed to William Shakespeare.
4.Toffler, Alvin is a prominent US writer and futurist who offers challenging ideas in his books which, as soon as they are published, rocket onto the bestseller lists.
5.Enlightenment is a philosophical and social movement of the 18th century, concerned with the critical examination of previously accepted doctrines and institutions from the point of view of rationalism.
Question Session
1. In what terms does the researcher describe the international situation in the post-Cold-War period?
2. Has the author joined the ranks of the optimists or the pessimists?
3. What does he say about the contradiction between the tendency towards globalization and the tendency towards localization (or fragmentation)?
4. Where does he see the second contradictory feature of our times?
5. What is the essence of the third contradiction?
6. Can you witness any other opposing trends in the world?
7. What final inference does he draw from the analysis?
8. Do you side with the analyst in his belief that Armageddon is inevitable and mankind is inexorably heading towards it?
9. What factors have brought about this deplorable state of affairs?
10.What answer can you offer to his last question?
11.What can you say about the style and the language of the text? In what aspects does it differ from the previous article? What makes it so poetic? Why, to your mind, should a researcher resort to this kind of form?
TASK 29. Find the English equivalents in the text.
1.стоять на распутье; 2.неуправляемый корабль; 3.неизведанный океан; 4.падение режима; 5.возвестить о наступлении нового золотого века; 6.мир, раздираемый конфликтами; 7.мудро заметить; 8.не контролировать тенденцию к фрагментации; 9.возобладать над военной мощью; 10.уменьшаться в обратной пропорции к знаниям; 11.орудие зла (злодеяний); 12.придерживаться мнения, что...; 13.обнаружить черты постиндустриального общества; 14.никогда в истории человечества.
TASK 30. Translate the sentences using the vocabulary of the exercise above.
1.После того, как руководство перекроило структуру партии и сделало несколько неудачных попыток сблизить все четыре фракции, раздираемая конфликтами организация превратилась в неуправляемый корабль. Сейчас руководство переживает критический момент, ища ответы на вопрос: как исправить положение? 2.Ядерная энергия может использоваться в мирных целях, а может оказаться и орудием зла. Всё зависит от намерений людей. 3.Левые партии, которые всего лишь несколько лет назад провозгласили наступление новой эры прогрессивного руководства, сейчас отстранены от власти. Возросшие было ожидания Европы рухнули в начале XXI века. 4.В фильме Стивена Спилберга, названном “Искуственный разум”, доказывается, что в роботе могут в конце концов развиться черты человека. 5.Мы не должны пускать на самотёк эти опасные противоречивые тенденции. 6.Советский спутник, запущенный в 1957 году, возвестил о наступлении новой эпохи: человечество встало на путь завоевания космоса. Это был один из самых заметных моментов истории. 7.Численность организации росла в обратной пропорции к её дисциплинированности и боевитости. 8.Важные принципы могут и должны быть гибкими, как мудро заметил Авраам Линкольн. 9.Большинство учёных придерживается мнения, что одной из примет нашего времени является рост ТНК и их влияния в мировой экономике и политике.
TASK 31. Fill in the missing prepositions or adverbs according to the text.
1. to stand ___ a crossroads.
2. to move ___ all directions.
3. contrary ___ the heightened expectation.
4. to usher ___ a lasting peace ___ earth.
5. to double ___ five years.
6. ___ an inverted proportion ___ increasing knowledge.
7. to resort ___ wars.
8. ___ the other hand.
9. to head ___ an era ___ serious global conflicts.
10.to enter a new phase ___ conflicts, but not ___ military or economic terms.
11.___ the beginning ___ the modern era.
12.to shrink ___ time-spatial dimensions.
13.to result ___ conflicts.
14.to occur ___ two levels.
15.to struggle ___ the control ___ territory.
16.to compete ___ power ___ the control ___ international institutions.
TASK 32. Form nouns from the given adjectives.
| sagacious – viable – potent – simultaneous – antinomic – total – | intensive – affluent – indigent – diverging – converging – enervated – | inverted – eventual – (un)equal – ethnic – decadent – retrogressive – |
TASK 33. Extend the strings by adding at least one noun to each. Translate the word combinations and learn them.
· to overshadow: a conference, an event, smb’s visit, stay, holiday, …
· to herald: peace, new times,...
· to heighten: an effect, smb’s interest, anger, curiosity, anxiety, a colour,...
· to diverge from: a straight line, one’s view/opinion, a standard,...
· to inaugurate: the president, a new era, a monument, an exhibition,...
· to supplant: trams, low-rise buildings, old ways, methods,...
· to usher in: a lasting peace, a new era/age,...
· to develop: characteristics, symptoms, signs, habits,...
· to rectify: an error, an omission, a statement, a boundary, a line,...
· to resort to: tricks, precautions, security measures, compulsion, falshood, blows,.
TASK 34. Fill in the verb from the previous exercise.
1.The world community __________in the new millenium by launching another war - “a war on terrorism”. 2.In 1979 when Britain was in a mess, Mrs.Thatcher threw herself into __________ the situation. 3.The analyst argues that European attitudes towards American Middle East policy seem to be resentment at __________ in world leadership and fear of their own Muslim population. 4.In March the foreign minister of Mexico went to Miami to __________ a new cultural center at the embassy there. 5.The Roman Empire sought to __________ local religions by Catholicism. 6.It (the case) __________ public awareness of the problem, and a deluge of suits followed. (Economist, March 2-8, 2002, p.65). 7.It was the boom in exports that created the economic miracle of the late 1980s, and the slump in exports in 1996 that __________ the coming crash. (Ibid, A survey of Thailand, p.11). 8.The introduction of these anti-terrorist laws means that the US __________ from its traditional pursuit of human rights and democratic values. 9.Sometimes politicians have to __________to lies not for personal advancement but for the perceived sake of the country. 10.By repudiating claims to world domination Russia’s military doctrine adopted in 2000 __________ from its 1993 version.
TASK 35. Extend the strings by adding at lest one noun to each. Translate the word combinations and learn them.
· viable: baby, state regime, system, idea, theory,...
· potent: king, argument, reason, drug, remedy,...
· commonplace: words, ideas, jokes,...
· affluent: society, families,...
· indigent: sections of the population, artists, countries,...
· sagacious: politician, advice, plan, idea, course of action,...
· conspicuous: errors, necktie, statesman, absence, part, folly, bravery,...
· inverted: car, commas, order, jacket,...
· heightened: fears, hopes, chance, risk,...
TASK 36. Tackle word combinability in the English language. Rack your brains over translation of the following phrases.