Sabre-Rattling : Learn Vocabulary (THE HINDU)

Sabre-Rattling : on the crisis in the Korean peninsula -Learn Vocabulary (THE HINDU)

Direct talks are the only way out to de-escalate the crisis in the Korean peninsula

North Korea’s adventurism continues unabated. On Sunday, it tested what it claims was a “hydrogen bomb”, its sixth nuclear weapons test, cocking a snook at non-proliferation and international test ban laws, as well as at U.S. President Donald Trump. Even as the tests drew global condemnation, this was clearly a response to Mr. Trump’s sabre-rattling rhetoric claiming that the U.S. would rain “fire and fury” over the country and implying that its nuclear weapons were “locked and loaded” to respond to any threat from North Korea. Mr. Trump’s response to Sunday’s development was to ratchet up threats, besides calling out U.S. ally South Korea for “appeasement” and threatening to cut trade ties with countries that conduct any form of business with the North Koreans. Clearly the tough talk is not working — it is only pushing North Korea’s totalitarian regime to take even more provocative steps in a quest to attain the status of a de facto nuclear power. In response to the exacerbated tensions in the region, South Korea and Japan have significantly enhanced their defence capabilities, including spending on missile defence. South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in, who is in favour of talks, has now accepted the U.S.’s missile defence system, THAAD, which is opposed locally by many South Koreans.

North Korea relies on increasing militarisation and show of missile and nuclear prowess for various reasons. Part of its ploy is to convince its impoverished and isolated citizenry of the need for the country to attain military parity in light of the presence of the U.S. military shield in South Korea and Japan. Another part of it is to justify the years of the Kim family rule, as these tests add to the myth of strong leadership by its 33-year-old, third-generation dictator, Kim Jong-un. The unpalatable prospect of the escalation of a possible military conflict into a nuclear war is also a way to stave off any external intervention against the dictatorship, the likes of which were seen in Iraq and Libya. Mr. Trump’s latest Twitter threat against nations doing business with North Korea is clearly targeted at China, the only regime with some degree of influence - though it is not clear exactly how much - over the North Korean regime. The Chinese, however, seem to be willing to live with a nuclear North Korea as opposed to applying drastic trade sanctions that could lead to a crippled economy and a refugee crisis besides other unpredictable responses by a beleaguered regime. In light of all this, it is important to de-escalate the conflict by having direct talks involving the U.S., China, South Korea and North Korea. Multilateral talks are, in fact, by far the best option, given the trigger- and Twitter-happy supreme leaders in Pyongyang and in Washington DC.

1)Prowess (noun)   (noun) (कौशल) - prou-cess
Meaning -
  Skill or expertise in an activity or field
Synonyms -  
courage, bravery, boldness/audacity.
Antonyms -  Inability, weakness, cowardice 
Example -
With a prowess for writing, the promising author just completed his second fiction novel.

2)Beleaguered (adjective) (परेशान करना) - Beli-gaurd
Meaning -
  to cause constant or repeated trouble for
Synonyms -  
troubled, hard-pressed, under-stressed.
Antonyms -  support, comfort, convenience
Example -
If we do not spray our house with insect repellant, mosquitos will beleaguer us all summer.

3)Unpalatable (adjective) (अप्रिय , स्वादहीन ) - un-palat-ableMeaning -  unpleasant to the taste
Synonyms -  uninviting, unappealing, unsavoury.
Antonyms -  delicious, nice  pleasant
Example - Although she tried different recipes, every dish the terrible cook created was unpalatable.

4)Provocative (adjective)   (उत्तेजक ) - Pro-vo-ca-tive
Meaning -
 tending to provoke or stimulate
Synonyms
- annoying, provoking, inflaming/arousing.
Antonyms - appeasing, humdrum, agreeing
Example -
During the debate, the experienced politician made a provocative statement to make his opponent angry.

5)Appeasement (noun)  (मनौती) - aapease-ment
Meaning -
 the act of making somebody calmer or less angry by giving them what they want
Synonyms-  conciliation, pacification, reconciliation.
Antonyms - rage, aggravation, agitation
Example - The statues were devoted to the glory and appeasement of the gods.

6)Unabated (adjective) (अक्षीण)  - un-abate-ed
Meaning -
 without any reduction in intensity or strength.
Synonyms - persistent, non-stop, unending.
Antonyms - changed, transform, modify
Example -
 Even after conducting the study, the scientist was not able to prove the cancer drug’s efficacy.

7)Imply (verb) ( मतलब) -  Im-ply
Meaning -
 to hint at something without directly stating or presenting
Synonyms - suggest, hint, say indirectly.
Antonyms -  describe, state, express
Example -
When I said I would never wear a blue dress, I was not trying to imply blue was not a good color choice for you.

8)Ratchet up (छोटी मात्रा की एक श्रृंखला द्वारा बार-बार कुछ बढ़ाना) (verb) - Ra-chat-up
Meaning -
 to increase something repeatedly by a series of small amounts.
Synonyms 
- Raise, surge,  augmentation
Antonyms - decline, fall , lessening
Example -
Overuse of credit cards has ratcheted up consumer debt to unacceptable levels.

9)Escalation (noun) (वृद्धि) -  es-kal-ashun
Meaning -
  the act of becoming or making something greater, worse, more serious, etc.
Synonyms-  rapid increase, rise; intensification.
Antonyms - decrease, reduction, abate
Example -
There is a great escalation in food prices due to no rains.

10)Stave off (verb)(टालना) - es-taav-off
Meaning -
  to prevent something bad from affecting you for a period of time; to delay something
Synonyms
- avert, prevent, avoid
Antonyms - welcome, foster, pursue
Example -
The company managed to stave off bankruptcy for another few months.

Now it's time to check your vocabulary. We have given below some words from the same article. Try to make sentences with these words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
  • Fury 
  • Prospect
  • Opposed
  • Multilateral

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