impoverish 復習
12日行われたイラク総選挙の暫定結果が開示され、イスラム教シーア派のサドル師の政党連合が優勢を保ち、第１勢力になる見通しがあるとわかりました。
BAGHDAD — Moktada al-Sadr, a firebrand militia leader whose forces once battled American troops in Iraq and were implicated in widespread atrocities against civilians, has emerged as the surprise front-runner in the Iraqi national elections, according to Iraqi election officials.
After American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, Mr. Sadr remained vocally anti-American, though he has also been strongly critical of Iran, the other foreign power with widespread influence here.
The victory of Mr. Sadr’s political coalition could complicate the American strategy in Iraq. The American military has been training, sharing intelligence and planning missions with former militias in the country, gambling that their military partnership can keep the Islamic State from making a comeback here.
Mr. Sadr has been highly critical of American airstrikes in the country against the Islamic State, though he has said little recently about his willingness to allow American troops to remain on Iraqi soil.
(中略)
Although Mr. Sadr was not a candidate and cannot become prime minister himself, he led an unlikely alliance of candidates that included Iraq’s moribund Communists, Sunni businessmen and pious community activists who have gained a following for their strong stance on corruption.
Mr. Sadr’s coalition, Iraqi officials say, placed first in six provinces, including the densely populated capital, Baghdad. His alliance could have the first opportunity to build a governing coalition, and on Monday night in Baghdad, crowds of youths in the city’s impoverished Sadr City area waved pictures of Mr. Sadr and set off fireworks.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/world/middleeast/iraq-election-moktada-al-sadr.html?rref
impoverish /ɪmpάv(ə)rɪʃ/ に注目しました。『ジーニアス英和辞典第5版』(大修館) によると「貧しくさせる、貧乏にする、不毛にさせる」といった意味があります。また『ケンブリッジ英英辞典』で定義を確認してみると “made weaker or worse in quality” とあり物や人を弱体化、悪化させる様子を表していることが窺えます。
さらに調べてみると同じく「貧しい、貧困な」という意義のある poor と 形容詞形として用いられる場合の impoverish はニュアンスが若干異なることがわかりました。 poor は状況問わず人や物が貧困な様を表す場合に用いられますが、impoverish は戦争や災害など外的現象が突発的に起こり、貧困なものになってしまった人や物を指す際に用いられるそうです。今回の文脈をみてみると、2004年にアメリカ軍との戦闘により非常事態宣言が出たイラク・サドルシティーが、戦争により国民及び国単位で貧しくなったことを表していると推察できます。
約9年ぶりに行われたレバノンの総選挙でもイスラムシーア派の勢力が強まった形が浮き彫りなるなど、中東ではイスラムシーア派の流れを汲む時代が到来したと窺えます。(Happidra)
