外刊精读：地缘政治

原文来自《经济学人》0620刊

本文仅供语言学习，不代表本平台任何观点

Geopolitics

△Geopolitics: 地缘政治（受一个国家或世界某一地区的自然特征影响的政治行为）

The new world disorder

If America pulls back from global institutions, other countries must step forward

如果美国退出全球组织，其他国家必须挺身而出

△Pull back: 退出；退却

【例句】The British government threatened to make public its disquiet but then pulled back. 英国政府威胁要将其担忧公之于众，但后来没有这么做。

△Step forward: 站出来；自告奋勇；挺身而出

【例句】No one has yet stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack.仍未有人站出来宣称对这次袭击事件负责。

Seventy-five years ago in San Francisco 50 countries signed the Charter that created the United Nations—they left a blank space for Poland, which became the 51st founding member a few months later. In some ways the UN has exceeded expectations. Unlike the League of Nations, set up after the first world war, it has survived. Thanks largely to decolonisation, its membership has grown to 193. There has been no third world war.

75年前，50个国家在旧金山签订了《联合国宪章》，设立了联合国——他们给波兰留了一个空位，几个月后波兰成为了第51个创始成员国。从某些方面来说，联合国已经超出了预期。与一战后设立的国际联盟不同，它幸存了下来。多亏于去殖民化，联合国成员增长至193个。第三次世界大战没有发生。

△The League of Nations: 国际联盟，是《凡尔赛条约》签订后组成的国际组织。成立于1920年1月10日，解散于1946年4月。其宗旨是减少武器数量、平息国际纠纷、提高民众的生活水平以及促进国际合作和国际贸易。其存在的26年中，国联曾协助调解某些国际争端和处理某些国际问题。不过国联缺乏军队武力，所以要依赖大国援助，尤其是在制裁某些国家的时候。然而，国联缺乏执行决议的强制力，未能发挥其应有的作用，其国际制裁亦影响同样施行制裁的国联会员。它的设计仍不尽完善，比如曾规定全面裁减军备但却未能付诸实现；采取制裁侵略者的行动之前，须先经理事会全体投票。美国没有加入国际联盟，更使国联丧失了坚定稳和的支持力量，因此最终国联不能阻止国际纠纷、法西斯的侵略行为及第二次世界大战的爆发。1945年，二战结束后，国际联盟被联合国所取代。

△Decolonization: 去殖民化。是指一个地方因外国殖民统治，造成政治与经济上的不平等关系，转而进行独立及自治的过程。1945年至1960年的时期，非殖民化运动发展得最蓬勃，当中由印度及巴基斯坦脱离英国管治牵起序幕。部分地方的非殖民化运动是以和平手段进行，亦有不少推行非殖民化运动的地方以暴力形式推行。在这个过程中从1943年到2002年共120个过去的殖民地独立。

And yet the UN is struggling, as are many of the structures, like the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT), designed to help create order out of chaos. This system, with the UN at its apex, is beset by internal problems, by the global struggle to cope with the rise of China, and most of all by the neglect—antipathy even—of the country that was its chief architect and sponsor, the United States.

然而，联合国、世界贸易组织（WTO）和《核不扩散条约》（NPT）等许多机构都在努力挣扎，这些机构旨在维持国际秩序、摆脱混乱。这个制度以联合国为首，被内部问题和应对中国崛起的全球斗争所困扰，最主要的是被作为其主要发起人—美国—所忽视，甚至是反感。

△Chaos: 混乱；无秩序状态

△Apex:（机构、体系的）最高地位，最高职位

【例句】At the apex of the party was its central committee. 该党的最高权力机构是中央委员会。

△Beset: 困扰；烦扰；使苦恼

【例句】The country is beset by severe economic problems. 这个国家被严重的经济问题所困扰。

△Antipath: 憎恶，厌恶；反感

【例句】Despite the deep antipathies between them, the two sides have managed to negotiate an agreement.尽管双方芥蒂很深，但还是设法通过谈判达成了一项协议。

△Sponsor: 赞助人;资助人;倡议者;发起人;主办者

The threat to the global order weighs on everyone, including America. But if the United States pulls back, then everyone must step forward, and none more so than the middling powers like Japan and Germany, and the rising ones like India and Indonesia, which have all become accustomed to America doing the heavy lifting. If they hesitate, they will risk a great unravelling—much like the nightmare in the 1920s and 1930s that first impelled the allies to create the UN and its siblings.

对全球秩序的威胁会影响每一个国家，包括美国。但是如果美国退出了，每个国家都必须挺身而出，像日本和德国这样的中等力量国家和像印度和印度尼西亚这样的崛起国家亦是如此，他们已经习惯了美国承担重任。如果他们犹豫不决，他们将面临极大的破坏风险——就像19世纪20年代和30年代的噩梦一样，这场噩梦一开始促使盟国创造了联合国及其他国际组织。

△Weigh: 对…有(重大)影响

△None more so than: 亦是如此

【例句】Global stockmarkets took fright at the trade news, none more so than in China. 全球股市因贸易消息而恐慌，中国亦是如此。

△Unravel: 解开；拆散；瓦解；崩溃

△Impel: 促使，驱使

The UN is bureaucratic and infuriating. Its agencies fall prey to showboating and hypocrisy, as when despots on its Human Rights Council censure Israel yet again. The Security Council gives vetoes to Britain and France, much diminished powers since 1945, but no permanent membership to Japan, India, Brazil, Germany or any African country. Alas, it looks virtually unreformable.

联合国的官僚主义令人发指。当人权理事会的专制者再次谴责以色列时，联合国机构便成为卖弄和虚伪的牺牲品。安全理事会赋予了英国和法国否决权，1945年以来削弱了很多权力，但日本，印度，巴西，德国或任何非洲国家都没有常任理事国身份。更重要的是，这似乎是无法改革的。

△Infuriating: 令人十分生气的;使人大怒的

△Fall prey to: 沦为…的牺牲品

△Showboating: 卖弄；炫耀（需要高超技艺，而稍为让人讨厌的行为，特别是在运动中，目的是吸引人们的注意或赞赏）

【例句】When he scored his fourth goal of the afternoon, we were forced to forgive his showboating and other antics.当他在那天下午打进第四个球时，我们只好原谅他的卖弄行为及其他滑稽动作。

△Hypocrisy: 虚伪；伪善

△Despot: 专横者，专制者（尤指统治者）

△Censure: 严厉批评;指责

【例句】The ethics committee may take a decision to admonish him or to censure him. 道德委员会也许会决定对他进行训诫或是严厉批评。

△Veto: 否决

Nonetheless, the global order is worth saving. As Dag Hammarskjold, a celebrated secretary-general, said, the UN “was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.” Our special report this week explains how the UN does that essential job, as do many other multilateral institutions. Its peacekeepers protect 125m people on a budget only a bit bigger than New York City Police Department’s. It says it is helping provide life-saving assistance to 103m. For all the Security Council’s flaws, it would be missed.

尽管如此，全球秩序还是值得保留的。正如著名的秘书长达格·哈马舍尔德（Dag Hammarskjold）所说，联合国“的设立并不是为了将人类带入天堂，而是为了拯救人类脱离地狱。”我们本周的特别报告解释了联合国与许多其他多边机构如何完成这项重要工作。它的维和人员以仅略高于纽约市警察局的预算保护着1.25亿人的生命。据说它正在帮助为1.03亿提供救生援助。由于安全理事会的种种缺陷，这一点被忽略了。

That is because, left to themselves, countries drift into antagonism. Witness the fatal clash of Indian and Chinese forces this week over a border dispute both sides are too proud to defuse. Multilateral endeavours like the UN, NATO and the NPT cannot ensure peace, but they do make war less likely and more limited. France and its allies are helping contain the conflict spreading across the Sahel.

这是因为，如果放任国家，它们就会陷入对立。中印部队在边境争端上的致命冲突，双方都不愿退步以至于无法化解紧张局势。联合国，北约和《不扩散核武器条约》等多边的努力无法确保和平，但它们确实使战争的可能性降低了，限制了战争的进行。法国及其盟国正在帮助遏制在萨赫勒地区蔓延的冲突。

△Drift: 无意间进入;不知不觉陷入

【例句】There is a general sense that the country and economy alike are drifting.大家普遍感觉国家和经济都脱离了正轨。

△Antagonism：敌对；对立

△Defuse: 化解，缓和，平息(危险或紧张局势)

Without a multilateral effort, old problems are likely to deepen—even Syria, after nine bloody years, will one day be ready for the UN envoy’s plans for peace. Meanwhile new problems are more likely to go unsolved. The pandemic is an example. The virus not only calls for global solutions, like treatments and vac- cines, but it also aggravates local insecurity. It is the same with climate change and organised crime.

没有多边努力，老问题可能会加剧——叙利亚经历了九年血腥的岁月后，也有一天将为联合国代表的和平计划做好准备。与此同时，新问题更有可能无法解决。大流行就是一个例子。病毒不仅需要诸如治疗和疫苗之类的全球解决方案，而且还加剧了当地的不安全感。气候变化和有组织犯罪也是如此。

△Envoy: 使节;使者;代表

Protecting the system from the forces of disorder is easier said than done. One threat is antagonism between America and China, which could create gridlock in global bodies, exacerbated by competing parallel financial and security arrangements. Another is that America may continue its careless treatment of multilateral institutions—especially if President Donald Trump behaves as badly in a second term as a devastating new book by John Bolton, his former national security adviser, says he has in his first. Mr Trump has undermined the World Health Organisation and the WTO, and this month said that he would pull out a third of the American troops stationed in Germany, enfeebling NATO and limiting America’s scope to project power from Europe into Africa.

保护系统不受混乱的影响，说起来容易做起来难。威胁之一是中美之间的对抗，这可能在全球机构中造成僵局，而相互竞争的平行金融和安全安排会加剧这种僵局。另一个是美国可能会继续对多边机构进行随意的对待，特别是如果特朗普总统在第二任期内表现不佳，就像他的前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿（John Bolton）毁灭性的新书所说的那样。特朗普破坏了世界卫生组织和世贸组织，并于本月表示，他将撤出驻扎在德国的三分之一美军，使北约有能力，并限制美国将力量从欧洲投射到非洲的范围。

△Antagonism：n. 对抗，敌对；对立；敌意

【例句】The antagonism he felt towards his old enemy was still very strong. 他对宿敌的仇恨仍然十分强烈。

——Antagonism between A and B：A与B之间的敌意

△Gridlock：n. 交通全面堵塞；（政治）僵局

△Exacerbate：vt. 使加剧；使恶化；激怒

——be exacerbated by：“被…激怒”

△Enfeeble：vt. 使衰弱；使无力

△Project A from B into C：将A从B投放到C中

Happily, the world has not yet reached the point of no return. For decades the middling powers have depended on America for the system’s routine maintenance. Today they need to take on more of the work themselves. France and Germany have created an alliance for multilateralism, an initiative that is open to other countries. Another idea is for nine democracies, including Japan, Germany, Australia and Canada, which together generate a third of world GDP, to form a “committee to save the world order”.

令人高兴的是，世界还没有达到无法挽回的地步。几十年来，中等权力一直依靠美国来进行系统的日常维护。今天，他们需要自己承担更多的工作。法国和德国建立了多边主义联盟，这一倡议对其他国家开放。另一个主意是，由九个民主国家组成一个“拯救世界秩序的委员会”，这三个民主国家包括日本，德国，澳大利亚和加拿大，它们共同创造了世界GDP的三分之一。

△Take on：承担

拓展：

take off 起飞 ; 脱下 ; 拿走 ; 脱掉

take over 接管 ; 借用 ; 接受 ; 接办

take for 误认为 ; 认为 ; 当作 ; 误以为

Although America is dominant, other countries can still get things done—with or without help from the White House. Sometimes the aim is to bind in America. After a chemical-weapons attack on Sergei Skripal, a Russian ex-spy living in Britain, Western countries’ imposition of sanctions on the Kremlin swept up America, too. The Quad is an emerging coalition between India, Australia, Japan and America, which are all alarmed at Chinese expansion, including in the South China Sea.

尽管美国占主导地位，但无论有没有白宫的帮助，其他国家仍然可以完成任务。有时，目标是约束美国。在化学武器袭击了居住在英国的俄罗斯前间谍谢尔盖·斯克里帕尔之后，西方国家对克里姆林宫的制裁也席卷了美国。Quad是印度、澳大利亚、日本和美国之间的新兴联盟，这些联盟都对中国的扩张感到震惊，包括在南中国海的扩张。

△Bind：vi. 结合；装订

Bind in：约束

△Sweep up：收拾干净；横扫

△Emerging：adj.新兴的；走向成熟的

△Coalition：n.联合；结合，合并

△Be alarmed at：对…感到惊恐

Sometimes, however, the world must work without America even if that is second-best. After Mr Trump walked away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a huge trade deal, the other members went ahead on their own. Stymied at the WTO, countries are instead forming regional and bilateral trade arrangements, such as one between Japan and the European Union and another between 28 countries in Africa.

但是有时候，即使只是第二好的选择，世界也必须在没有美国的情况下运作。特朗普退出了一项庞大的贸易协定——《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》后，其他成员自己继续前进。相反，在世贸组织的阻碍下，各国正在形成区域和双边贸易安排，例如日本和欧盟之间的贸易组织，以及非洲28个国家之间的另一种贸易组织。

△Stymie：vt. 从中作梗，阻挠；妨碍

Defending the international order is necessary, too. China’s stature is growing along with its contributions—it now pays 12% of the un budget compared with 1% in 2000. Its diplomats head four of the UN’s 15 specialised agencies, and America just one. If other countries do not act, the system will come to reflect China’s expansive views of national sovereignty and resistance to intervention, even in the face of gross human-rights violations.

捍卫国际秩序也是必要的。中国的地位与其捐款一同增长。目前，中国支付的预算为联合国预算的12％，而2000年为1％。其外交官是联合国15个专门机构中的四个，而美国仅是一个。如果其他国家不采取行动，即使面对严重侵犯人权的情况，该制度也将反映出中国对国家主权和抵制干预的广泛看法。

△Grow along with：随……增长

△Diplomat：n.外交官

△Head：vt. 前进；用头顶；作为…的首领；站在…的前头；给…加标题

△Sovereignty：n. 主权；主权国家

Some think the job of middling powers is triage, to keep the system going until America returns to the party under a different president. It is more than that. Although polls suggest that most Americans would like to play a bigger global role, there is no going back to the “unipolar moment” after the Soviet collapse, when America ran the show singled-handed. Not only did that provoke a backlash abroad, exploited by Russia and China, but it also stirred up resentment at home.

一些人认为，中等权力的工作是治疗类选法，以保持系统运转，直到美国在另一位总统任职之前返回该党为止。事实上不仅如此。尽管民意测验显示大多数美国人希望扮演更重要的全球角色，但不可能回到苏联解体后的“单极时刻”，即美国人独自一人主持这场演出。这不仅引起了俄罗斯和中国剥削的国外反弹，而且激起了国内的不满。

△Triage：N-UNCOUNT Triage is the process of quickly examining sick or injured people, for example, after an accident or a battle, so that those who are in the most serious condition can be treated first. (如事故、战斗后迅速查看伤员以决定哪些人应优先治疗的)伤病员鉴别分类

△Poll：n. 投票；民意测验；投票数；投票所

△Going back to：回去，返回；追溯到

△Run the show：主持；操纵局势；主持演出

【例句】Iraqi commanders say they can run the show on their own. 伊拉克指挥官声称他们可以独立操控局势。

△Provoke：vt. 驱使；激怒；煽动；惹起

【例句】His election success has provoked a shocked reaction.他的竞选胜利已经引起了震惊的反应。

△Backlash：n. 反冲；强烈抵制vt. 强烈反对；发生后冲

△Stir up：激起；煽动；搅拌；唤起

【例句】As usual, Harriet is trying to stir up trouble.与往常一样，哈里特正在试图挑起事端。

△Resentment：n. 愤恨，怨恨

At the time, President Barack Obama responded by asking like-minded countries to help America make the world safe. They shrugged. They must not make the same mistake again.

当时，奥巴马总统的回应是要求志同道合的国家帮助美国确保世界安全。他们耸了耸肩。他们一定不能再犯同样的错误。

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