can you explain me in other words this sentence?
"Javier Solana may bustle around the Middle East as he has been doing of late, but nobody pretends that when he does so he carries the weight of the U.S. Secretary of State."
2007-04-25 12:52:13 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It means that the US Secretary of State is perceived to have more power in the Middle East than Javier Solana, Foreign Minister of the European Union.
I don't know the context of the sentence, but I suspect that Javier Solana has been traveling in the Middle East practicing politics, but people are waiting to see if what he is trying to do is contrary to the desires of the Secretary of State.
Wish I could be more help...
2007-04-25 13:00:40 · answer #1 · answered by sbt3pephd 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
To understand any sentence, you have to know the context. The important pieces of this sentence to give you context are: Javier Solana & Middle East. Then you look for words that give clues to the writer's opinion: bustle, pretends, weight.
Context: Javier Solana is a Spanish citizen who is the foreign policy chief for the European Union. He is not part of the US government. He is trying to work with Iran to make it give up its nuclear weapon program.
So the sentence means: Javier Solana has been travelling around the Middle East. His travels aren't doing much good (that's where "bustle" gives you the hint, since it implies sort of useless movement). Those travels have taken place recently. No one pays attention to Javier Solana in the way they pay attention to Condie Rice, because she is the US Secretary of State. The US is a bigger player in any Middle East negotiations than Europe will ever be, as long as the Europeans never back up their negotiations with force.
The writer could have written it this way:;
Javier Solana has spent time travelling to the Middle East this week. What a waste of time! No one pays attention to anything he says.
2007-04-25 20:12:32 · answer #2 · answered by Tracey T 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Javier Solana hurries around the Middle East as he/she is late for something. But he/she holds an honorable position as the State's secretary so nobody tells him he/she is late
2007-04-25 19:56:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
what i think it may mean is that Javier Solana has done some political businness with Middle East (he is the foreign minister of the european union) but when he acts as representative of the european union in middle east nobody implies that he is acting as the U.S Secretary of State....in other words that Javier Solana represents the european union but not the U.S secretary of state
2007-04-25 20:08:45 · answer #4 · answered by alberto k 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Javier is a nobody and has no power so he is generally ignored when he travels the Middle East.
2007-04-25 19:56:33 · answer #5 · answered by Mindbender 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It basically means there's someone running around the middle east taking care of US Government business; but he does not represent the Secretary of State nor is confused to. Therefore; he does not carry the authority of such an office.
2007-04-25 20:02:40 · answer #6 · answered by Crossroads Keeper 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
He is going around a lot (as he has been doing), and he is as important as the U S Secretary of State.
2007-04-25 19:56:01 · answer #7 · answered by RB 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋