英语六级听力练习：标准4.4(2)_大学英语听力

英语六级听力练习：标准4.4(2)

　　NATO to Defend its Members

　　NATOs 28 members are committed to the notion of collective defense - in other words, an attack on one member is an attack on all of them.

　　Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, 12 countries from eastern and central Europe have become NATO members.

　　Charles Kupchan said President George W. Bush favored NATO membership for two other states.

　　Ukraine NATO Membership on Hold

　　In 2008, there was a discussion about the possibility of putting Ukraine on a path to membership along with Georgia. Washington was pushing that agenda, said Kupchan. There was considerable resistance coming from Europe. And I think it is safe to say that the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO is on ice for now - maybe on ice permanently - we do not know.

　　Sean Kay, NATO expert at Ohio Wesleyan University said public opinion surveys in Ukraine in 2008 indicated only about 30 percent of the population favored NATO membership.

　　So we were really pushing something that the Ukrainians did not want, the Russians said was clearly going to be a problem - and for some reason we pushed that, said Kay. And ironically it made it more difficult to get Russian help on Iran and - what did we gain out of that? Virtually nothing - and I think history is going to treat that 2008 NATO declaration rather poorly.