The most important foreign affairs events of the week

April 24, 2023

“On Monday, the Russian government, which is deeply enmeshed in the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II, dispatched its foreign minister to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to extol the virtues of peace and diplomacy. The action occurred as Russia nears the end of its one-month presidency of the Council. Mr Sergey Lavrov led an all-day session described as focused on the maintenance of the UN charter, international rules and multilateralism. But the gathering also offered Russia a chance to denounce its adversaries and to try to flip the narrative of its invasion of Ukraine, casting the West as the true aggressor. However, Western diplomats instantly accused Moscow of hypocrisy.”

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The transitive verb enmesh means “to entangle or catch in or as if in a mesh.”

The transitive verb extol means “to praise highly; exalt.”

April 25, 2023

“On Tuesday, China unveiled draft rules for artificial intelligence software systems, like the one behind ChatGPT, in a show of the government’s resolve to keep tight regulatory control over technology that could define an era. According to the draft rules, chatbot content will need to reflect ‘socialist core values’ and avoid information that undermines ‘state power’ or national unity. Chatbot creators will also have to register their algorithms with Chinese regulators. Companies are already trying to comply, but China’s effort to control information could hamper its efforts to compete in A.I., experts said. Chinese entrepreneurs are already racing to catch up with chatbots like ChatGPT, which is unavailable in China.”

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The term resolve, in this context, is used in the noun form, meaning "firmness of purpose" or "strong desire/will to achieve something"; synonyms include "determination, steadfastness, tenacity".

The transitive verb undermine means “To weaken by wearing away a base or foundation; To weaken, injure, or impair, often by degrees or imperceptibly.”

April 26, 2023

“On Wednesday, the United States has agreed to give South Korea a central role in the strategic planning for the use of nuclear weapons in any conflict with North Korea. In return, South Korea agreed not to pursue its own nuclear arsenal. The deal, announced during President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to Washington, is meant to assure South Korea that the US will use its nuclear arsenal, if needed, to dissuade or respond to a nuclear attack from the North, even if that risks a strike on an American city. The concept is called ‘extended deterrence.’ The accord is an admission that disarming North Korea is no longer plausible. In the past four years, the North’s arsenal has grown so fast that US and South Korean officials have stopped trying to keep a precise count.”

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The transitive verb assure means “to inform positively, as to remove doubt; to make certain; ensure.”

The noun deterrence means “measures taken by a state or an alliance of states to prevent hostile action by another state.”

April 27, 2023

“On Thursday, In a rare show of unity, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted a resolution condemning the Taliban’s discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan and called for the country’s leadership to swiftly reverse policies banning education, employment, and equal public participation of women and girls. The resolution, co-sponsored by over 90 countries, received 15 yes votes and was unanimously adopted in Russia’s last days in its monthlong role as the rotating president of the Council. The 15-member UNSC has been sharply divided since Russia invaded Ukraine, unable to find a consensus position on many of the world’s most pressing problems. While the Council was able to finally come together over the Taliban’s treatment of women, the negotiations over the resolution’s final wording were complex and lengthy, according to diplomats involved in the talks.

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The adverb swiftly is derived from the adjective swift, which means “moving or capable of moving with great speed; fast; coming, occurring, or accomplished quickly.”

The adjective lengthy means “of relatively great or tiresome extent or duration; of great length; very long; excessively long.”

April 28, 2023

“On Friday, the European Union (EU) decided that Ukraine’s grains will continue to enter the bloc tariff-free for another year, despite protests from neighbors, such as Poland, which have seen their own farmers hurt by the influx of cheaper foodstuffs. The lifting of EU tariffs was originally conceived as an emergency measure to create cheap, secure land routes to let vital supplies of grains out of Ukraine and alleviate a global food crisis prompted in part by Russia’s blockage of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. But the policy, however well-meaning, backfired for Ukraine’s nearest EU neighbors. In recent weeks, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia enacted unilateral bans on Ukrainian food imports in an effort to contain the problem. These four countries, as well as Romania, secured several concessions from the EU, such as subsidies, in order to agree to the extension of the tariff-free policy.”

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The transitive verb alleviate means “to lessen or reduce; to make (pain, sorrow, etc) easier to bear; lessen; relieve.”

The transitive verb prompt means “to move to act; spur; incite; to give rise to; inspire.”

The adverb however in this context is NOT used as a linking word of contrast, but rather as an adverb meaning "no matter how", which must be followed by a complement, in this case, "well-meaning". Beware of the punctuation and the two uses of however.