考研英语阅读篇章：奥巴马西点军校2014年毕业演讲

　　Now, just as the world has changed, this architecture must change as well. At the height of the Cold War, President Kennedy spoke about the need for a peace based upon a gradual evolution in human institutions. And evolving these international institutions to meet the demands of today must be a critical part of American leadership.

　　现在，世界已经历巨变，这一框架也需改变。冷战时，肯尼迪总统曾谈到对于以人类机构逐渐改善为基础的和平的需要。对这些机构进行改进以达到今天的需求，是美国领导地位的重要一环。

　　Now, there are a lot of folks, a lot of skeptics who often downplay the effectiveness of multilateral action. For them, working through international institutions, like the U.N. or respecting international law, is a sign of weakness. I think they’re wrong. Let me offer just two examples why.

　　现在有许多人，也有许多质疑者经常贬低多边行动的有效性。对于他们而言，通过联合国这类的多边机构进行合作或者是尊重多边规则，是一种懦弱的表现。我认为他们错了。让我举两个例子来加以说明吧。

　　In Ukraine, Russia’s recent actions recall the days when Soviet tanks rolled into Eastern Europe. But this isn’t the Cold War. Our ability to shape world opinion helped isolate Russia right away. Because of American leadership, the world immediately condemned Russian actions, Europe and the G-7 joined with us to impose sanctions, NATO reinforced our commitment to Eastern European allies, the IMF is helping to stabilize Ukraine’s economy, OSCE monitors brought the eyes of the world to unstable parts of Ukraine.

　　俄罗斯最近在乌克兰的举动令我想起了苏联大批坦克开进东欧的情形。但是现在不是冷战时期。我们制造的国际舆论让俄罗斯在短时间内就被孤立。在美国的领导下，国际社会马上谴责俄罗斯的举动，欧洲和七国集团同我们一样对其实施制裁，北大西洋公约组织恪守我们对东盟的承诺，国际货币基金组织正在帮助稳定乌克兰的经济，欧洲安全和合作组织也在关注乌克兰不稳定地区的发展。

　　And this mobilization of world opinion and international institutions served as a counterweight to Russian propaganda and Russian troops on the border and armed militias in ski masks.

　　世界观点和国际机构立场的转变，可与俄罗斯的宣传、其边境的军队以及全副武装的士兵相抗衡。

　　This weekend, Ukrainians voted by the millions. Yesterday, I spoke to their next president. We don’t know how the situation will play out, and there will remain grave challenges ahead, but standing with our allies on behalf of international order, working with international institutions, has given a chance for the Ukrainian people to choose their future -- without us firing a shot.

　　这周末，数百万的乌克兰公民会进行民主投票。昨天，我同他们下一届的总统进行了会谈。我们不知道情况会如何演变，前方也仍存在巨大的挑战，但是为了维护国际秩序，同我们的盟友一起，与国际组织进行合作，这给了乌克兰人民一个选择他们未来的机会一一这并不需要费一枪一弹。

　　Similarly, despite frequent warnings from the United States and Israel and others, the Iranian nuclear program steadily advanced for years. But at the beginning of my presidency, we built a coalition that imposed sanctions on the Iranian economy, while extending the hand of diplomacy to the Iranian government. And now we have an opportunity to resolve our differences peacefully. The odds of success are still long, and we reserve all options to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But for the first time in a decade, we have a very real chance of achieving a breakthrough agreement, one that is more effective and durable than what we could have achieved through the use of force. And throughout these negotiations, it has been our willingness to work through multilateral channels that kept the world on our side.

　　类似的是，尽管美国、以色列及其他国家不断地对伊朗发出警告，伊朗核计划仍持续进行了好几年。在我担任总统职务初期，我们联合对伊朗的经济实行了制裁，但同时也帮助伊朗政府进行民主建设。现在我们有机会和平地解决我们的分歧。成功之路还十分漫长，我们要保留阻止伊朗获得核武器的各种手段。十年来我们第一次真正有机会达成一项突破性的协定，这比我们用武力达成协定来得更有效，效果也更持久。通过这些磋商，我们愿意通过多边途径让世界各国站在我们这一边。

　　The point is, this is American leadership. This is American strength.

　　重点是，这是在美国的领导下进行的。这是美国力量所在。

　　In each case, we built coalitions to respond to a specific challenge. Now we need to do more to strengthen the institutions that can anticipate and prevent problems from spreading.

　　对于不同的事件，我们会建立不同的联盟以应对不同的挑战。现在我们需要做更多来加强这些机构预测和预防问题扩散的能力。

　　For example, NATO is the strongest alliance the world has ever known but we’re now working with NATO allies to meet new missions both within Europe, where our eastern allies must be reassured, but also beyond Europe’s borders, where our NATO allies must pull their weight to counterterrorism and respond to failed states and train a network of partners.

　　比如，众所周知，北大西洋公约组织是世界上最强大的联盟之一，但是我们现在同它进行合作，以应对其在欧洲内部和其他 地区的新任务。在欧洲内部，我们的东部盟国必须获得保护。而在其他地区，我们北大西洋公约组织的盟国也必须有效地进行反恐活动，帮助失利的国家并培养我们 的伙伴国。

　　Likewise, the U.N. provides a platform to keep the peace in states torn apart by conflict. Now, we need to make sure that those nations who provide peacekeepers have the training and equipment to actually keep the peace so that we can prevent the type of killing we’ve seen in Congo and Sudan. We are going to deepen our investment in countries that support these peacekeeping missions because having other nations maintain order in their own neighborhoods lessens the need for us to put our own troops in harm’s way. It’s a smart investment. It’s the right way to lead. (Applause.)

　　同样地，联合国提供了一个平台，以维护那些因冲突而分裂的国家的和平。现在，我们需要确保那些提供了维和人员的 国家已接受了训练，配齐了装备，能够真正维护和平，这样我们就能防止我们在刚果和苏丹看到的那种杀戮。我们会加大对这些支持维和行动国家的投资。因为令其 他国家用自己的力量维持自己地盘的秩序，可以减少我们使用武力造成伤害的必要性。这是智慧的投资。这也是我们正确的领导之路。(掌声雷动)

　　Keep in mind, not all international norms relate directly to armed conflict. We have a serious problem with cyberattacks, which is why we’re working to shape and enforce rules of the road to secure our networks and our citizens. In the Asia Pacific, we’re supporting Southeast Asian nations as they negotiate a code of conduct with China on maritime disputes in the South China Sea, and we’re working to resolve these disputes through international law.

　　但是要记住，不是所有的国际准则都与军事冲突直接相关。我们面临着网络黑客攻击问题，这也是我们致力于实施和加强在网络中的行 为准则，以保护我们的互联网和我们的公民的原因。在亚太地区，我们支持东南亚国家同中国协商在中国南海海事纠纷中的行为准则，同时我们也支持通过国际法解 决这些纠纷。

　　That spirit of cooperation needs to energize the global effort to combat climate change, a creeping national security crisis that will help shape your time in uniform, as we are called on to respond to refugee flows and natural disasters, and conflicts over water and food, which is why, next year, I intend to make sure America is out front in putting together a global framework to preserve our planet.

　　我们需要用合作的精神激励全球努力应对气候变化，这是一个日益严重的国家安全危机，决定你们从军期间的整体形势。我们要 应对难民流动、自然灾害，水资源和食物的问题。这也是我下一年计划确保美国能够带头建立一个保护我们星球的全球框架的原因。

　　You see, American influence is always stronger when we lead by example. We cannot exempt ourselves from the rules that apply to everyone else. We can’t call on others to make commitments to combat climate change if a whole lot of our political leaders deny that it is taking place. We can’t try to resolve problems in the South China Sea when we have refused to make sure that the Law of the Sea Convention is ratified by the United States Senate, despite the fact that our top military leaders say the treaty advances our national security. That’s not leadership. That’s retreat. That’s not strength; that’s weakness. It would be utterly foreign to leaders like Roosevelt and Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy.

　　大家知道，但凡美国以身说法，实现领导，美国的影响力就会加大。大家都普遍遵循的规则，我们不能不遵守;如果我们多数 领导人否认气候变化这一事实，我们也就无法号召大家齐心协力，共对气候变化。虽然我国军方高层领导人都认为《海洋法公约》的通过会提高我国的国家安全，但 如果我们无法确保美国参议院通过该公约，我们也就无法解决中国南海问题。这都不是领导，是退缩;不是强大，是软弱。这与罗斯福，杜鲁门，艾森豪威尔，肯尼 迪等领导人的风格截然相反。

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