Obama Urged to Intensify Push for Climate Measure
Backers Fear Administration Is Giving Issue Short Shrift
(By Juliet Eilperin and Michael D. Shear, The Washington Post)

Both feature a politically correct hero who opposed slavery, protected animals and encouraged women writers. Both give shorter shrift to political issues that might bore 21st-century readers (Johnson’s Jacobite sympathies) or repel them (his attacks on republicanism and religious dissent).

An Invisible War
By BOB HERBERT
Paul Rieckhoff is frustrated by the short shrift that he feels the troops get from the media and the vast majority of Americans.

英國無法“脫歐入美”
BRITAIN IS NO LONGER AMERICA'S BRIDGE TO EUROPE
作者：美國喬治敦大學國際事務教授查爾斯·庫普錢為英國《金融時報》撰稿

David Cameron's government, although pulled to the centre by coalition with the Liberal Democrats, seems bent on pursuing a traditional Conservative foreign policy: cosy up to the US while giving Europe short shrift.
戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)領導下的英國政府，雖然因與自由民主黨聯合而轉移到了中間路線，但在對外政策上似乎依然決心延續傳統的保守黨風格：與美國套近乎，對歐洲則不理不睬。This approach may be comforting to the Tory faithful, for whom the European Union is a no-go zone, but the effort to reclaim the US-UK “special relationship” as the foundation of British statecraft promises to leave Britain in a geopolitical no- man's land and marginalise its international influence. The UK will enjoy far greater sway over transatlantic and global affairs by becoming a leading voice within the EU than by investing in an Anglo-American coupling that has lost much of its raison d'être.
這種立場或許會令保守黨的忠實信徒們感到欣慰，因為對他們而言，歐盟(EU)就是一個禁區，但重新將英美之間的“特殊關係”作為英國治國基石的做法，注定會讓英國在地緣政治上進入一片無人地帶，並使其國際影響力日益邊緣化。英國與其將精力耗費在已喪失了大部分存在理由的英美耦合上，不如努力成為歐盟內部的主導聲音，這樣反而能在跨大西洋及全球事務中獲得大得多的影響力。
Although the government has thus far held its fire on the EU, William Hague, the foreign secretary, had been in office only three days before crossing the Atlantic to meet Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, and affirm that the US “is without doubt the most important ally” of the UK.
迄今為止，本屆英國政府在與歐盟關係上無甚舉動，而外交大臣威廉•黑格(William Hague)上任僅僅三天，便橫渡大西洋與美國國務卿希拉里•克林頓(Hillary Clinton)會面，併申明美國“無疑是（英國）最重要的盟友”。
Mr Hague and George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, have impressive pedigrees as Eurosceptics. Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, did make clear during the election campaign that the Lib Dems understood the importance of aligning Britain more closely with the EU. But he has gone silent on the issue since joining the government; Mr Clegg appears to have shelved such aspirations in making the compromises needed to sustain a coalition with the Conservatives.
黑格和財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)都有著深厚的歐洲懷疑論情結。儘管副首相尼克•克萊格(Nick Clegg)在大選期間的確曾清楚表示，自由民主黨懂得英國與歐盟建立更緊密聯盟的重要性。但自從進入政府之後，他在這個問題上一直保持緘默。克萊格似乎為了維繫與保守黨的聯合政府做出了必要的妥協，擱置了類似的政治抱負。
For three main reasons, however, the attempt to refurbish Britain as the link between the US and Europe is to invest in a bridge to nowhere.
然而，試圖將英國重新塑造成為連接美國與歐洲的紐帶，不過是在作無用功，原因主要有三。
First, Britain can ably serve as a bridge between the US and Europe only if Washington needs one. But it no longer does. Washington now has in Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy two Atlanticist leaders, and France has rejoined Nato's military structure. Berlin and Paris are enthusiastic champions of teamwork with the US, making Washington less reliant on London as it fashions transatlantic co-operation.
首先，只要美國需要，英國完全有能力扮演好美歐之間的橋樑角色。但美國已經不再需要。如今華盛頓已經擁有了安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)和尼古拉•薩科齊(Nicolas Sarkozy)這兩位奉行大西洋主義的領導人，法國也重新加入了北約(NATO)的軍事框架。柏林與巴黎都熱忱支持與美國合作，因此華盛頓在構建跨大西洋合作時，對倫敦的依賴程度有所降低，
Second, America's strategic priorities have shifted away from the Euro-Atlantic zone to the Middle East and Asia, leaving Washington keenly sensitive to Europe's ability to share global burdens. To be sure, Britain is Europe's leading state when it comes to projecting hard power. But Britain's defence establishment, like those of other individual EU members, is simply not sizeable enough to sustain its allure in Washington.
其次，美國的戰略要務已經從歐洲-大西洋地區轉移至中東和亞洲，因此華盛頓方面對於歐洲能否分擔其全球重負高度敏感。誠然，從硬實力投射的角度來說，英國在歐洲居首。但與歐盟其它成員國一樣，英國的國防力量根本不足以維繫其對於華盛頓的吸引力。
Only if EU member states aggregate their hard power and enhance their readiness to make joint decisions about its use will Europe emerge as the more capable partner that Washington is seeking.
只有歐盟各成員國將硬實力匯集起來，並更樂意就其使用做出聯合決定，歐洲才會成為華盛頓尋求的那個更具實力的合作夥伴。
Third, Europe needs Britain as much as Britain needs Europe. The project of European integration is facing perhaps its most serious crisis since it began in the late 1940s. The financial turmoil is testing the durability of the eurozone. The challenges of immigration and domestic economic reform are polarising electorates and producing weak governments. Meanwhile, a new populism is fuelling the renationalisation of politics across Europe, hindering efforts to create EU institutions capable of giving the Union greater coherence and clout.
第三，歐洲需要英國，就像英國需要歐洲一樣。歐洲一體化項目可能正面臨自上世紀40年代末啟動以來最嚴重的危機。金融動盪正在考驗歐元區的耐久性。移民和國內經濟改革帶來的挑戰，在選民中造成了兩極分化局面，並導致政府軟弱無力。與此同時，一股新民粹主義浪潮正促使歐洲各國重新將政治重心轉向國內，創建有能力增強歐盟團結與影響力的歐盟機構的努力也因此受阻。
British leadership is sorely needed to help lead the EU out of its doldrums. Having liberalised its economy, Britain can facilitate economic reforms on the continent. If Europe is to make progress in forging a more collective approach to foreign and security policy, then surely Britain must be front and centre. And Britain's preference for a looser but more effective EU may help broker an institutional compromise between European federalists and those with more modest ambitions for the EU's future.
歐洲迫切需要英國的領導能力，以引領歐盟走出低谷。英國已施行了經濟自由化改革，因此可以促進歐洲大陸的經濟改革。如果歐洲想在形成一個更為統一的對外及安全政策立場上取得進展，那麼英國必定是關鍵所在。而英國更希望看到一個架構略為鬆散、但效率更高的歐盟，這或許能夠在歐洲聯邦主義者和對歐盟的未來不那麼野心勃勃的群體之間，促成一種制度上的妥協。
If the British government stands by its anachronistic plan to cleave to the US while shunning the EU, it may well consign Britain, along with Europe, to geopolitical irrelevance. In contrast, if London plays a leading role in forging a more capable EU, Europe as a whole, and Britain along with it, will enjoy rising prominence in Washington – and in global affairs. Although an easy decision, the Cameron government, at least for now, seems determined to make the wrong choice.
如果英國政府固守其依附美國、冷落歐盟的過時方針，就很有可能使英國連同歐洲一道，淪為在地緣政治上無足輕重的小卒。相反，如果英國政府能在打造一個更強大的歐盟方面扮演領導角色，歐洲作為一個整體，將在華盛頓——以及國際事務中——得到更多重視，英國也將隨之受益。儘管這是一個很容易做出的決定，但至少就目前而言，卡梅隆政府似乎決意要做出錯誤的選擇。
The writer is professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and is the author of How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace
本文作者是美國喬治敦大學(Georgetown University)國際事務教授、對外關係委員會(Council on Foreign Relations)高級研究員，著有《如何化敵為友——持久和平的源泉》(How Enemies Become Friends The Sources of Stable Peace)。

譯者/管婧