Can one obama change everything?

Take a moment and punch the word "change" into your Google news search engine and you will quickly understand the essence of Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. Presidential elections. Optimistic-drip­ping headlines like, "The Freshness of Change" (San Diego Union Tribune),"Voting for Change" (Boston Herald), "Change comes to America" (The Nation Newspaper), and weighing in for Europe, "Europeans Hope Obama's Change Reaches Across Atlantic" (Deutsche Welle) screamed from front pages in the United States and the world. Clearly, much of the world is hoping America, which is viewed by so many as a beacon of democracy, cleans up its house and endorses Change with a capital C.US President George W. Bush, before moving into the White House in 2001, took a cheap shot at his predecessor, Bill Clinton, by saying he would have to "disinfect" the Oval Office before moving in. But given the tremendous damage that Bush has done to the Oval Office himself, Obama will need a whole construc­tion crew to rebuild the reputation of the White House.

The outright atrocities of the Bush administration - from the still opera­tional Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, where inmates are held with­out legal representation, to the inva­sion of a sovereign state, Iraq, in direct contravention of UN law-will not and should not be forgotten any time soon, indeed, they must be addressed. For the United States to have fallen from global grace so quickly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 suggests that it behaved no better than the enemy it was pursu­ing around the world.

The United States has given the world a new toolbox of geopolitical terms - nation-building, axis of evil, preemptive strike, to name but a few - that it believes will help solve the world's problems. In fact, it has done the exact opposite.

Now, nations that were once strong allies in the war on terror, are questioning the true motives of their American partner.

Russia, for one, rightly questions the necessity of America building missile defense systems in Eastern Europe, on Russia's doorstep.

Is it any surprise that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia had no choice but to station Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave.

So this brings us back to Barack Obama, who has inherited a kitchen full of dirty dishes in the midst of financial meltdown. Barack Obama and the American people should work closely with Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian people. After all, there is nothing to gain from stewing over old animosities, many of which are vestiges of the Cold War.

(from The Moscow News, #44/7, 13 November 2008)

Text 2

US-Russia Relations

Obama's victoiy: good news for russia?

By John Laughland Special to the Moscow news

According to a widely-held view, the election of Barack Obama is good news for Russia. The new US president - runs the argument- will abandon the confrontational style of George W. Bush and adopt a more conciliatory line in foreign affairs, including in relations with Moscow. There is little doubt that the Bush presidency has been disastrous for both America and the world. Any end to Republican control of the White House can therefore only seem wel­come. Unfortunately, however, there are in fact many grounds for pes­simism about the future of East-West relations under President Obama.

The first is of course the likely for­eign policy of President Obama him­self. Vice-President elect Joe Biden is notorious for his anti-Russian views. In his speech accepting the Democratic nomination in August, Biden specifically attacked the Bush administration for failing to face down Russia, i.e. for directing its attacks against the wrong enemy. At a speech on foreign policy in Cincinnati on 25 September, Biden said that Russia was as much of a threat as Iran, and he spoke warmly of his visit to "Misha" Saakashvili, the president of Georgia with whom he is evidently on first-name terms.

But the main ground for pessimism lies in relations with Europe. President Medvedev's principal for­eign policy initiative since his election has been to woo European leaders, especially at Evian last month. His proposals for a new European securi­ty pact are an attempt to give Russia a foothold in military structures which currently exclude her, and thereby to reduce American dominance over them. As such, his proposals should be seen as the continuation of a long-standing geopolitical project for Moscow, which goes back at least to the signature of the Helsinki accords by the USSR in 1975.

However, the election of a Democrat as US president means that it is the US-EU relationship which will now be reinvigorated, not the relationship between Europe and Russia. The Bush years have been exceptionally difficult for the pro-American elite which governs Europe. All the major players in European pol­itics are viscerally pro-US (and anti-Russian) but their basic desire to like America - and to be like America, for instance by cre­ating a United States of Europe -has been thwarted by the contempt in which George Bush is held around the world (and indeed in his own country) and by the evident stupidity of his foreign policy.

In contrast to a Bush who revels in his reputation as a redneck, Barack Obama embodies all the values with which European leaders are them­selves infatuated - left-liberalism, youth, dynamism, change, even eth­nic diversity. In the run-up to the poll, they have hardly been able to contain their excitement at the prospect of his election. Why, Obama even writes books. Years of pent-up pro-Americanism will therefore now flood out as soon as the mood music of multilateralism starts to be played once more in the White House. EU leaders will again be able to identify "America" with "progress," just as they did when they were young, and they will swoon with delight whenever President Obama proposes some new international (i.e. trans-Atlantic) plan to spread Western political val­ues around the world (and to aug­ment the power of the West over it). By contrast, they see Russia as politi­cally reactionary and as a threat to the most cherished ideals.

This much has been evident from recent statements by two leading EU politicians. Last week, in his annual speech to the European Union's Institute for Security Studies in Paris, the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, spoke with obvious warmth and enthusiasm of the trans-Atlantic alliance. He said, "I have been and remain and firm believer in the power of the US and Europe to act as a force for good in the world," and uttered not a single word of criticism of US foreign policy over the last dreadful eight years.

When he came to speak of Russia, however, his tone of voice hardened and grew cold. He spoke as if Russia were a country with which he was obliged but reluctant to do business. He dropped a heavy hint that Russia was using energy exports as a strate­gic weapon which is a severe accusation to make against a neighbouring country with which the EU is trying to negoti­ate a partnership agreement - and he dismissed President Medvedev's pro­posal for a new European security pact (inasmuch as he mentioned it at all) as too "vague" to merit any con­sideration now. He even said conde­scendingly that Russians have a spe­cial political mindset which Europeans had a duty to try to fath­om, as if Russia were suffering from some strange collective psychosis. Solana's pro-US credentials, of course, have never been in doubt: he was Secretary-General of NATO during the Alliance's three-month attack on Yugoslavia in 1999.

(from The Moscow News, #44/7, 13 November 2008)

Text 3

SIGNIFICANT STATE RESPONSIBILITY,

COMMON SENSE AND PEOPLE'S INTERESTS

Deputies of new House of Representatives (of fourth convocation) begin work

Minsk has hosted the first session of the National Assembly's House of Representatives (fourth convocation) with a plenary sitting opened by the Chair of the Central Election Com­mission of Belarus, Lidia Yermoshina (as is stipulated by the Constitution). She noted that all possible measures were taken to ensure transparency during the latest electoral campaign. The elections were monitored by 929 international observers and over 21,000 national observers.

An overwhelming majority of vot­ers believe the parliamentary elections were organised in compliance with national legislation and generally rec­ognised international standards. Ms. Yermoshina believes the recognition of the power of the deputies (as ad­vised by the Central Election Commission and according to the Man­datory Commissions conclusions) is objective. Answering journalists' questions, the Chair of the Central Election Commission noted that the new deputies of the House of Repre­sentatives should strive for healthy conservatism. "There's no need to deviate from what's already working well," stressed Ms. Yermoshina.

During the session, Vladimir Andreichenko was elected Speaker to the lower chamber — proposed by deputy Sergey Semashko. Mr. Semashko praised Vladimir's successful leadership of Vitebsk's Regional Exec­utive Committee for 14 years and his creation of a group of like-minded col­leagues. Mr. Semashko asserted that, in recent years, the Vitebsk region has become a highly developed industrial area, whose success is strongly linked to Mr. Andreichenko's efforts.

Mr. Andreichenko's great legal ex­perience comes from his founding of Belarusian lawmaking; he was a dep­uty of Belarus' Supreme Council (of the twelfth convocation) and actively worked within the National Assem­bly's Council of the Republic. His elec­tion was supported by 107 deputies, with only one 'against'.

The Speaker notes that one of the most vital tasks of the new Parliament is the formation of stable legislation guided by state responsibility, common sense and peoples interests. "Some people wish the new Belarusian Par­liament to become a centre of instabil­ity, because of confrontations in the le­gal environment. We won't allow these illusions to gain substance," stresses Mr. Andreichenko. He believes that Parliament must pass laws to coun­teract corruption and bureaucracy, to develop economic relations and to at­tract investment resources. Particular attention should be devoted to the de­velopment of small businesses, which have a great deal to contribute to the development of the country's produc­tive potential.

Mr. Andreichenko underlines the necessity of expanding legisla­tion governing the Union State, while strengthening contacts with major international parliamentary struc­tures. "We need to liaise more actively with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and other structures. These relations should be honest and free from dou­ble standards."

(from The Minsk Times, Thursday, November 6, 2008)

FOLLOW UP

Task 1. During your classes in history and philosophy you certainly heard about utopists and their dreams of ideal and perfect existence. One of them was Thomas More who described an imaginary island Utopia representing the perfect society in his book in 1516. The other was Tommazo Kampanella who invented the Town of Sun in 1602.

Get divided into groups of 5 or 6. Think over the project of an ideal society from the point of view of the young generation of the 21^st century. Present your project to the group mates.

Task 2. Do research on the following topics:

• From the history of the most influential political parties in Great Britain and the USA.

• The organization of the election campaigns in Belarus, Great Britain and the USA.

Make a report on the results of your research and present it as if you are taking part in the students’ scientific conference.

Task 3. Organize a press conference “To the issues of observing human rights and freedoms in Belarus”.

You need

• a member of the Committee on Human Rights of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus,

• a representative of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus,

• a representative of some non-governmental organization who should be ready to answer the questions of the journalist invited to the press conference.

You also need to choose a spokesperson whose job is to give the floor to the participants and journalists and monitor the procedure and order.

Don’t forget that being a journalist you should first of all introduce yourself and name the media you represent.

CASE STUDY

Read the information about one of the most famous and respected presidents of the USA Abraham Lincoln.

Think over and discuss in the group

• what qualities are necessary to become a politician,

• if any politician can be come a leader of the nation,

• what kind of personality the nation needs in the times of some serious troubles.

Recall from history some other examples of activity of the leader which influences greatly the situation and the life of people in this or that country.

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1065), the 16^th President of the USA, has always been thought of as one of the greatest American presidents. He was one of the founders of the Republican Party, which was the initiator of the anti slavery movement. Lincoln was elected President in 1860 during the times of the Civil war. He is first of all known as the president who freed slaves. During his presidency he got the nicknames Honest Abe, Rail Splitter, Great Emancipator. He is still one of the most respected politicians in American history.

But his way to the Olympus of Power was not laid with roses.

Born into a poor family of pioneers Abraham Lincoln had suffered lots of hardships in his early childhood. All in all he spent no more than a year in school. There was hardly a job he did not try. He split wood for fences, worked as a ferryman on the Ohio River, served in the army, became a postmaster and tried to open a shop. Yet there was one profession that did bring him success; he studied law and in time won a reputation as a lawyer. So he was what you could call a self-educated and a self-made man.

Many people believe that the hardships of his early years helped Lincoln to become the kind of a leader the nation needed during the difficult times of the Civil war.

GRAMMAR REVIEW

MODALS

Review the following basic rules of the use of the modals in the English language.

The most commonly used modal verbs are can, may, must, should and have to. Most of the modals do not need any auxiliary to make a question or a negative form (except for have to). We normally do not use a particle to after the modals before the verb (except for have to).

modal	usage	example
can	- to say that something is possible or that somebody has the ability to do something; - be able to is possible instead of can, but can is more usual; - sometimes could is the past of can.	- We can nominate him for this post. - Can you speak any foreign language? - I cannot (can’t) come to the meeting. - Very few people are able to reach this peak. - We were completely free. We could do what we wanted.
may might	- to say that something is a possibility; - usually you can say either may or might.	It may be true. or It might be true.
must have to	- to say that it is necessary to do something; - must is more personal; - have to is more impersonal; -you can use must to talk about the present or the future; - you can use have to in all forms.	- I must go. or I have to go. - She is a really nice person. You must meet her. - You can’t turn right here. You have to turn left.
should	- to say it is a good thing to do or the right thing to do something; - you can use should to give advice or to give an opinion; - should is not as strong as must	- The government should do more to help the homeless people. - You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspapers.

Task 1. Choose the best alternative a), b) or c).

1. The supporters of the necessity of written constitution in Britain believe that it … be organized in such a way that the public as whole has access to it.

a) can; b) should; c) has to

2. The Commonwealth of Nations … be listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest political alliance comprising 54 countries located in various parts of the world.

a) can; b) cannot; c) have to

3. It is accepted that a department ministers … resign if he / she looses confidence of the House of Commons.

a) can; b) has to; c) must

4. Voting to the House of Commons is on the same day in all constituencies, and the voting stations … be kept open from seven in the morning until nine at night.

a) may; b) cannot; c) should

5. The Parliament Act 1911 fixed the life of a Parliament (the House of Commons) at five years, although it … be dissolved before the fixed term.

a) should; b) may; c) must

6. The need for cooperation among the early American colonists strengthened the belief that, in New World, people … be on an equal footing, with nobody having special privileges.

a) should; b) could; c) might

7. Americans do not … join a political party to vote or to be a candidate for public office.

a) must; b) can; c) have to

8. At the national level, elections in the USA … be held every two years, in even-numbered years, on the first Tuesday following the first Monday of November.

a) must; b) can; c) have to

9. People …actively participate in the election process by working as volunteers for a candidate.

a) must; b) should; c) may

10. Before the new government could become a reality, a majority of citizens in nine of 13 states … approve the Constitution of 1787.

a) must; b) could; c) had to

11. Any citizen of the Republic of Belarus who has reached the age of 21…become a deputy of the House of Representatives.

a) may; b) must; c) should

12. The heads of different central bodies of state administration …be members of the Government of the Republic of Belarus.

a) could; b) should; c) may

13. According to the Constitution elections of deputies …be direct and voting is secret.

a) can; b) must; c) may

14. A citizen …reach the age of 30 and be a resident of a region if he / she wants to become a member of the Council of Republic.

a) could; b) might; c) should

15. The powers of Parliament …be extended by law only in case of war.

a) have to; b) must; c) may

REPORTED SPEECH

Study the table and review the general rules of changing direct speech into indirect or reported.

direct speech	indirect / reported speech
Commands
Keep quiet! Don’t make noise!	He told me to keep quiet. He asked me not to make noise.
Affirmative statements
His friend is a politician. He works as a volunteer.	He said (that) his friend was a politician. He mentioned that he worked as a volunteer.
I met him at the anti globalization demonstration yesterday.	He confirmed that he had met him at the anti globalization demonstration the day before.
Ann will work as a volunteer in the election campaign.	We learned that Ann would work as a volunteer in the election campaign.
Questions
Are you participating in the elections?	She asked if I was participating in the elections.
Did you watch TV yesterday?	He was interested whether I had watched TV the day before.
Who will be elected president?	I wondered who would be elected president.
When are the new parliamentary elections planned?	They wanted to know when the new parliamentary elections were planned.

Remember you should change the adverbial modifier of time while making statements reported. The following table will help you.

direct speech	indirect / reported speech
today	that day
yesterday	the day before
tomorrow	the next day
… ago	… before
this …	that …
these …	those …
here	there
last year	the year before
last month	the month before
last …	the … before …
next …	the following …

Task 1. Change the following extracts from different interviews of famous politicians into reported speech. You can use the following words to introduce the reported sentence

“said, affirmed, expressed, approved, agreed, noted, stated, etc,.”

1. Mr. Lukashenko said: “I am sure, mutual turnover could exceed $30bn”.

2. President Medvedev noted, recalling South Ossetia situation: “There are challenges in our modern world. I’d like to discuss how our cooperation with the CSTO should develop”.

3. The Belarusian President gave his own assessment of the Russian actions; “This was a calm, composed reaction which has resulted in peace being established in the region. I think it will be long lasting”.

4. “We are proud of having close relations with such huge, successful country as China”, noted President Lukashenko during the meeting with the Chinese delegation.

5. “I’m confident that our countries (Belarus and the South African Republic) can play a key role in strengthening the Non-Aligned Movement Organization, particularly against the background of contemporary challenges”, assets Mr. Lukashenko.

6. In her message at the end of the presidential bid Hillary Rodham Clinton advised; “Never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on”.

7. Hillary Clinton stressed: “Children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can become the president of the United States”.

(from “The Minsk Times” August 28, 208, September 18, 2008,

“The Moscow News” June 19, 2008)

Task 2. Organize the following text in the form of the interview.

Parliamentary election campaign enters its most interesting and intense stage. The central Election Commission has registered the first international observers. Lidia Yermoshina, Chair of the Central Election Commission, made some comments in the interview. On the question about the number of the registered initiative groups she mentioned 455 applications which were submitted, but 23 of them were refused and 8 candidates withdrew independently. She was asked why political parties had chosen the procedure of collecting signatures. Lidia Yermoshina explained that such decision could mean that a party was badly structured. The Chair of the Commission was also asked if she had met and what her impressions were about the heads of the CIS observer delegation and the OSCE experts. She explained that they had issued the first 12 certificates to international observers – all from the CIS. She underlined that the Commonwealth representatives had great experience of working with election campaigns. The same was true of the OSCE mission. She remarked that everything depends on the positioning from the ideological point of view.

(from “The Minsk Times” August 7, 2008)

SELF – ASSESSMENT TEST

I Choose the best alternative from the variants below the text.

The presidency of the United States is the highest governmental office.

President is assisted by Vice-President and the Cabinet. The President and Vice-President are elected for a term of four years and (1) … be reelected for another term. President (2) … be a natural-born citizen of the USA, at least 35 years old, and for at least 14 years a resident of the USA. The term of office of the President begins at noon on January 20.

Vice-President presides over the Senate, his other duties are indefinite. The White House (3) … use Vice-President as a contact man among the senators, or he (4)… sit at the Cabinet meetings.

President (5) … appoint chiefs of executive departments. Among the most important departments one (6) … mention the Department of State responsible for American foreign policy, the Department of Defense or the Pentagon, the Department of Justice, etc.

The President’s Press Secretary (7) … be called upon to explain what the President meant to say, or intended to say.

Under the US Constitution, the House of Representatives (8) … bring charges against the President in impeachment proceedings. A two-thirds vote in the Senate is necessary for conviction. It is a method provided for getting rid of officials who (9) … be dismissed: presidents, vice-presidents and “all civil officers of the United States. They (10) … be removed from office for treason, bribery or other high crimes”.

№	a)	b)	c)
1	can	may	must
2	can	may	must
3	should	may	must
4	can	may	must
5	can	have to	should to
6	must	has to	should
7	must	can to	have to
8	has to	may	must
9	can	must not	cannot
10	may	should	must

Score 10

II Make the following jokes reported

1.

-Pa, what is a politician?

- Son, a politician is a human machine with a wagging tongue.

- Then, what is a statesman?

- It is an ex-politician who has mastered the art of holding his tongue.

2.

- Who, father, is that gentleman?

- That, my son, is the chaplain of the House.

- Does he pray for the members?

- No, my son; when he goes into the House, he looks around and sees the members sitting there and then he prays for the country.

3.

- What makes you think the baby is going to be a great politician?

- I’ll tell you. He can say more things that sound well and mean nothing at all than any kid I ever saw.

Score 20

III Complete the text with the derivative from the words on the right.

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a (1) … monarch as the head of the state. The British constitution, unlike those of most other countries, is not set out in a single document. Instead it is made up of a combination of laws and conventions. Conventions are rules and practices which are not legally (2) …, but which are regarded as vital to the working of government. In the laws the Queen is head of the (3) …, an integral part of the (4) … , head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the supreme (5) … of the established Church of England. The centre of (6) … power is the House of Commons. The Commons has 651 (7) … Members of Parliament (MPs), each representing a local constituency. Once passed through both Houses, (8) … receives the Royal Assent and then it becomes law.

constitute force execute legislate govern parliament elect legislate

Score 8

IV Read the text and do the tasks that follow.