# with a minority, not just a Russian one



## 枫十二

大家好，
I was reading the economist:Diplomacy and security after Crimea: The new world order | The Economist

Against all evidence, he（Putin)has denied that the unbadged troops who took control of Crimea were Russian.That combination of protection and subterfuge is a formula for intervention in any country *with a minority, not just a Russian one*.Brandishing fabricated accounts of Ukrainian fascists threatening Crimea, he has defied the principle that intervention abroad should be a last resort in the face of genuine suffering.

我在英文区提了这个问题了，还是没搞懂，只有回来请大家帮忙了：

如果不加黑体部分，上下文是通的。
That combination of protection and subterfuge is a formula for intervention in any country 
把保护和花招混合在一起是一种干预任何国家的手段。（以保护的名义干涉别国是一种手段）
我怎么都想不通黑体部分是什么意思。

谢谢大家！


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## stellari

"any country *with a minority, not just a Russian one" approx.= 'any country that has a minority (shao shu min zu); and the minority does not need to be of Russian ethnicity(meaning that the formula works for all ethnicities alike)'*


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## 枫十二

以保护的名义干涉任何由少数民族组成的国家，这个少数民族并不需要是Russian（这个少数民族并不需要与俄罗斯有关系）?


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## BODYholic

feng12 said:


> That combination of protection and subterfuge is a formula for intervention in any country (*with a minority), not just a Russian one*.
> 
> Brandishing fabricated accounts of Ukrainian fascists threatening Crimea, he has defied the principle that intervention abroad should be a last resort in the face of genuine suffering.



My interpretation is slightly different from stellari.

Both of the above sentences talk about "intervention". The former suggests that the formula is used in any country with a minority. Russian is *not* the sole country who uses this tactic. In another words, "*not just a Russian one*" refers to the formula for intervention is not unique to the Russian alone.

BTW, Russians make up of >50% of the population in Crimea. They can hardly be called minority.


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## 枫十二

BODYholic,Thanks. it helps a lot!

any country with a minority=any country that has a minority= 任何有少数民族的国家 我这个理解对了没？

以保护的名义干涉任何拥有少数民族的国家，并不只有俄罗斯用这样的手段。


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## stellari

sorry but i beg to differ.
1. Russian is not a country; Russia is.
2. it says "intervention IN any country". Apparently, the "country" is the one being intervened. in this context, Ukraine.
3. Russians are indeed a minority when you talk about the "country" - Ukraine. 

But of course I cannot guarantee my answer is correct. I'd like to wait for responses from Native speakers.


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## 枫十二

stellari,you make a very reasonable point.I'm ever more confused now.
here is some anwers from a foreign friend,maybe it will help.

Is "with a minority" here is metaphor meaning "with poor power"?
No, it means with an ethnic or national group which is less in number than half the population.

if the sentence is :
That combination of protection and subterfuge is a formula for intervention in any country.then I can understand the whole context.
but there is a more thing "with a minority,not just a Russian one ",these words make me totally confused.can you get me now?
I can sense a big differece in the logic between English and Chinese,Thanks a lot for all your patience!

No, I can't fathom the logic here, either. How is Putin proposing to take advantage of minorities other than Russian ones?


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## BODYholic

feng12 said:


> stellari,you make a very reasonable point.I'm ever more confused now.
> here is some anwers from a foreign friend,maybe it will help.


I combed through the thread you created on the same subject over at the English-Only forum. You threw an open-ended question which did not garner many responses.
Perhaps you may consider asking them if "a Russians one" refers to
1) the formula
2) the minority

We need a key understanding of what "a Russians one" points to. I'm not a native English speakers, so my interpretation, too, may not be accurate. 



feng12 said:


> Is "with a minority" here is metaphor meaning "with poor power"?
> No, it means with an ethnic or national group which is less in number than half the population.


No, it doesn't look like a metaphor to me. It simply means 少数民族 as pointed out by stellari.


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## xiaolijie

> That combination of protection and subterfuge is a formula for intervention in _any country with a minority, not just a Russian one_


Here is my interpretation based on the context in question:
*any country with a minority *= any country with people belonging to a different race forming the minority of the population. The main population is formed by people belonging to another race.

*not just a Russian one *= not just a Russian minority.


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## stellari

feng12 said:


> I can sense a big differece in the logic between English and Chinese,Thanks a lot for all your patience!
> 
> No, I can't fathom the logic here, either. How is Putin proposing to take advantage of minorities other than Russian ones?



Well, I think you were thinking at a wrong direction to begin with. I'll switch to Chinese for explanation here: 在克里米亚危机中，普京利用了借口保护当地俄罗斯人等手段进行干预。作者的评价是，即使换一个没有俄罗斯人的国家，只要那个国家中有少数民族，这套干预手段就依然适用。普京并未实施过利用其它少数民族进行干预的策略，这只是作者的评论和假设而已。


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## 枫十二

现在非常非常清楚了，谢谢大家了！


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## MarcB

xiaolijie said:


> Here is my interpretation based on the context in question:
> *any country with a minority *= any country with people belonging to a different race forming the minority of the population. The main population is formed by people belonging to another race.
> 
> *not just a Russian one *= not just a Russian minority.


I answered the question in the English forum.A minority can be a different race, a different ethnic group, a different religion or speak a different language. So in this case it is not a different race but language and ethnic group.


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## BODYholic

xiaolijie said:


> *not just a Russian one *= not just a Russian minority.



Oh, I stand corrected then. Thanks XLJ.


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