2021年7月15日 星期四

The Biggest Threat to America Is America Itself 美國最大的威脅就是美國自己


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讀紐時學英文
2021/07/16 第342期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 The Biggest Threat to America Is America Itself 美國最大的威脅就是美國自己
As the U.S. Pulls Out of Afghanistan, Kabul's Airport Is a Final Stand 美國撤軍後 喀布爾機場成最後堡壘
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The Biggest Threat to America Is America Itself 美國最大的威脅就是美國自己
文/Nicholas Kristof
譯/李京倫

美國最大的威脅就是美國自己

"America is back" became President Joe Biden's refrain on his European trip last month, and in a narrow sense it is.

「美國回來了」成了美國總統拜登上月歐洲行一再重談的老調,而狹義來說,沒錯。

We no longer have a White House aide desperately searching for a fire alarm to interrupt a president as he humiliates our country at an international news conference, as happened in 2018. And a Pew Research Center survey found that 75% of those polled in a dozen countries expressed "confidence in the U.S. president to do the right thing," compared with 17% a year ago.

白宮幕僚不再像2018年那樣,急著尋找火警警報鈕,以打斷總統在國際記者會上羞辱自己國家的談話,而且皮尤研究中心對12國民調顯示,75%受訪者「相信美國總統會做正確的事」,一年前這樣表示的僅17%。

Yet in a larger sense, America is not back. In terms of our well-being at home and competitiveness abroad, the blunt truth is that America is lagging. In some respects, we are sliding toward mediocrity.

但廣義而言,美國還沒回來。就以國內民眾福祉和國際競爭力來說,赤裸裸的真相是,美國比別人落後。在某些方面,美國滑落到普普通通。

Greeks have higher high school graduation rates. Chileans live longer. Fifteen-year-olds in Russia, Poland, Latvia and many other countries are better at math than their American counterparts — perhaps a metric for where nations will stand in a generation or two.

希臘人的學校畢業率比我們高。智利人活得比我們久。俄國、波蘭、拉脫維亞等許多國家15歲青少年的數學比我們的好,也許這能反映出一兩個世代後的國家競爭力排名。

As for reading, one-fifth of American 15-year-olds can't read at the level expected of a 10-year-old. How are those millions of Americans going to compete in a globalized economy? As I see it, the greatest threat to America's future is less a surging China or a rogue Russia than it is our underperformance at home.

就閱讀來說,美國五分之一的15歲青少年達不到十歲水準。這數以百萬計美國人如何在全球化經濟中競爭?在我看來,美國未來最大威脅不是崛起的中國和流氓俄國,而是國內民眾生活不如人。

We Americans repeat the mantra that "we're No. 1" even though the latest Social Progress Index, a measure of health, safety and well-being around the world, ranked the United States No. 28. Even worse, the United States was one of only three countries, out of 163, that went backward in well-being over the last decade.

美國人老說「我們是全球第一」,但衡量世界各國民眾健康、安全和幸福的最新「社會進步指數」把美國排在28名。更糟的是,163國中只有三國過去十年民眾福祉倒退,美國是其中之一。

Another assessment last month, the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2021, put the United States No. 10 out of 64 economies. A similar forward-looking study from the World Bank ranks the United States No. 35 out of 174 countries.

上月另一分評估報告、2021年IMD世界競爭力排名,把美國放在64個經濟體中的第十名。世界銀行發表的類似前瞻研究把美國列在174國中的35名。

So it's great that we again have a president respected by the world. But we are not "back," and we must face the reality that our greatest vulnerability is not what other countries do to us but what we have done to ourselves.

好啦,我們又有了世界尊敬的總統,這樣很好。但我們並沒「回來」,而且必須面對現實,就是我們最大弱點並非其他國家對我們做了什麼,而是我們對自己做了什麼。

"America's chronic failure to turn its economic strength into social progress is a huge drag on American influence," said Michael Green, chief executive of the group that publishes the Social Progress Index. "Europeans may envy America's corporate dynamism but can comfort themselves that they are doing a much better job on a host of social outcomes, from education to health to the environment.

發表社會進步指數的美國社會進步促進會會長葛林說:「美國長期未能把經濟實力轉換為社會進步,嚴重拖累美國影響力。歐洲人也許羨慕美國企業充滿活力,但可以自我安慰說,歐洲從教育、健康到環境,在許多社會生活面向上表現比美國好多了。」

 
As the U.S. Pulls Out of Afghanistan, Kabul's Airport Is a Final Stand 美國撤軍後 喀布爾機場成最後堡壘
文/Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Eric Sc
譯/莊蕙嘉

美國撤軍後 喀布爾機場成最後堡壘

For years, Hamid Karzai International Airport has been a main gateway to Afghanistan, an aspirational symbol of civilian life and normalcy amid military bases, warplanes and the scars of decades of fighting in the surrounding countryside.

多年來,哈米德.卡薩國際機場一直是前往阿富汗的主要門戶,在軍事基地、戰機及周遭鄉間數十年戰鬥留下的傷疤當中,它也是文明生活和常態的亮眼象徵。

But now the airport, known to all as Kabul International, has become the last stand in America's 20-year campaign in Afghanistan.

但是現在,這個被大家稱作喀布爾國際機場的地方,已成為美國在阿富汗20年軍事行動的最後據點。

If the United States and its allies can complete a deal for Turkey to keep forces in place to secure the airport, President Joe Biden can go ahead with his plan to maintain the U.S. Embassy — and diplomatic missions from allied countries — even after combat troops for the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization depart.

倘若美國和盟邦能達成一項協議,讓土耳其軍隊留下來保護機場,美國總統拜登就可繼續其維持美國大使館和盟國外交館處運作,即使美國和北大西洋公約組織的戰鬥部隊都撤離。

If not, senior American and NATO officials said, the consequences could be substantial: Biden's plans to try to retain a diplomatic presence in the country, as part of an international effort seeking to prevent a return to the grim Taliban-controlled era of the past, will most likely be cast aside, and access to the country by aid groups could be cut off.

如果不成,美國和北約高級官員說,後果將很嚴重:拜登嘗試在阿富汗維持外交駐員的計畫非常可能廢棄,這是試圖防止過去神學士控制的嚴酷時代再現的國際努力一部分。援助團體進入阿富汗的管道也可能被切斷。

"Security at the airport in whatever form or fashion it takes will be important, not only for the United States, but for any other nation that likewise plans to maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul," Pentagon spokesperson John F. Kirby said.

美國國防部發言人柯比說:「機場安全無論以何種形式或方法實施都很重要,不僅對美國,對其他計畫在喀布爾維持外交駐員的國家亦然。」

James G. Stavridis, a retired admiral who served as NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, put it more bluntly. "Without a secure airport, the ability to conduct day-to-day embassy operations in a large country like Afghanistan, which is the size of Texas, is significantly diminished," he said.

曾擔任歐洲北約盟軍最高指揮官的退役上將詹姆斯.史塔伏瑞迪斯,說法更直接了當。他說,「阿富汗這麼大一個國家,面積和德州相當,若沒有一座安全的機場,使館日常運作能力將被大幅削弱」。

"In addition to personal safety and ability to evacuate in emergencies, helos and planes are needed to move U.S. diplomats, aid workers, intelligence officers and support personnel around the country," he said.

他說:「除了個人安全和緊急狀況的疏散能力,也需要用直升機和飛機讓美國外交官、援助工作者、情報官員和協助人員在國內各地移動。」

Turkey for its own reasons wants to retain a presence in Afghanistan. As a Muslim-majority nation and a member of the Atlantic alliance, Turkey has played a consistent role in Afghanistan since 2001. It has about 600 service members in Afghanistan, where its main mission has been providing security for the airport.

土耳其想在阿富汗維持駐軍有其原因。身為穆斯林居多數的國家及北約成員,土耳其自2001年以來持續在阿富汗戰爭扮演一角。土國有大約600名軍人在阿富汗,主要任務是保護喀布爾機場安全。

While it is not clear that the Taliban would want to completely shut down the airport and isolate the country if they take full control of Afghanistan, the group has signaled that it will not accept the presence of any foreign troops, even from Turkey.

一旦神學士完全控制阿富汗,是否會徹底關閉喀布爾機場並孤立國家,尚不清楚,不過他們曾表示,不會接受任何外國部隊駐留,即使是土耳其。

 
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