Former Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh reveals in a recent memoir that no less a personage than Margaret Thatcher was fascinated by an Indian godman, Chandraswami, whom she received in her office shortly after becoming Conservative Party leader.	印度前外长纳特瓦尔·辛格最近在回忆录里透露就连撒切尔夫人都曾被印度神仙Chandraswami迷住，她在担任保守党党魁后很快在办公室里接见了后者。


The godman impressed Thatcher enough with his mind-reading skills that she visited him again – wearing, on his instructions, a red dress and sporting a religious talisman he had given her.	这位神仙的读心术给撒切尔留下了深刻的印象，她再次拜访时按照他的叮嘱身着红裙，还戴着他所赠送的宗教护身符。


At this second encounter, Chandraswami accurately prophesied that she would become prime minister within four years and serve for nine, 11, or 13 years (she served for 11).	第二次见面时，Chandraswami就准确预言她将在四年之内当选首相，在长达9、11或13年中掌管内阁事务（她实际在任时间是11年）。


There was one crucial difference from her Indian counterparts, though.	但撒切尔与印度政客有一个重要的差别。


When Singh, meeting Thatcher soon after she had become Prime Minister, whispered, “Our man was proved right,” her reaction surprised him.	当辛格在撒切尔当选后贴在她耳边小声说“我们的人说对了”时，她的反应吓了他一跳。


“For a moment, she seemed flustered,” he recalled.	他回忆道，“有那么一瞬间，她似乎有些慌乱。


“Then, she took me aside and said: ‘High Commissioner, we don’t talk about these matters.’”	”之后，她把我带到一边说：“高级专员，我们不谈这样的事。


Indians do: We may be superstitious, but we are not hypocritical.	”但印度人不怕：我们可能迷信，但我们绝不装腔作势。


India’s Disrupted Democracy	印度民主乱象


NEW DELHI – India’s 15th Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) passed into history ignominiously this month, following the least productive five years of any Indian parliament in six decades of functioning democracy.	新德里—本月，印度第十五届人民会（议会下院）带着耻辱成为了历史，在印度成为民主国家六十年以来，这一届议会（任期五年）是成就最低的一届。


With entire sessions lost to opposition disruptions, and with frequent adjournments depriving legislators of time for deliberation, the MPs elected in May 2009 passed fewer bills and spent fewer hours in debate than any of their predecessors.	整个五年都迷失在反对的干扰中，频繁的休会让立法者没有时间深思熟虑，2009年5月选出的这一届议员们花在立法讨论的时间比任何一届前任都要少，通过的法案数量也更少。


As if that were not bad enough, the final session witnessed new lows in unruly behavior, with microphones broken, scuffles in the well of the house, and a legislator releasing pepper spray to prevent discussion of a bill he opposed.	彷佛这还不够糟糕似的，这届议会还出现了各种刷新下限的奇葩行为，毁坏话筒、在议会大厅打架、甚至有一位议员喷洒胡椒喷雾阻止议会讨论他所反对的法案。


In the latter incident, the Speaker was rushed, choking, from her seat, and three asthmatic MPs were taken to the hospital, prompting the offender to explain that he was acting in self-defense against those who sought to prevent him from engaging in less exotic forms of disruption.	在胡椒喷雾事件中，议会主席不得不带着剧烈的咳嗽逃离座位，更有三名患有哮喘的议员被送进了医院，而作乱者解释说，他是为了自卫——有人阻止他采用不那么极端的手段搞破坏。


To those of us who sought election to Parliament in order to participate in thoughtful debate on how to move India forward, and to deliberate on the laws by which we would be governed, the experience has been deeply disillusioning.	对我们这些想通过选举进入议会进而参与深思熟虑的讨论、推动印度前进以及商议约束治理我们的法律的人来乱说，这样的体验实在让我们感到意兴阑珊。


To be sure, democracy has proved to be an extraordinary instrument for transforming an ancient country – one featuring astonishing ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural diversity, myriad social divisions, and deeply entrenched poverty – into a twenty-first-century success story.	平心而论，民主已经被证明是一种卓越的工具，将印度这个带有深刻种族、宗教、语言和文化多样性、各种社会分歧和根深蒂固的贫困的古老国家转变为二十一世纪的成功大国。


Only democracy could have engineered such remarkable change with the consent of the governed, and enabled all to feel that they have the same stake in the country’s progress, equal rights under its laws, and equal opportunities for advancement.	只有民主才能推动如此令人瞩目的变化，让被治者安心，让所有人感到国家进步匹夫有责，让法律之下权利人人平等，让人们获得平等的进步机会。


And only democracy could defuse conflict by giving dissent a legitimate means of expression.	也只有民主能够让持异见者拥有合法的表达渠道，从而消弭冲突。


Some observers express astonishment that India has flourished as a democracy; in fact, it could hardly have survived as anything else.	一些观察者惊讶于印度民主的蓬勃兴旺； 事实上，如果没有民主，印度将很难生存。


But the “temple of democracy,” as Indians have long hailed their parliament, has been soiled by its own priests, and is now in desperate need of reform.	但“民主神庙”——长期以来印度人民一直这样称呼他们的议会——被其自身的祭司所玷污了，现在急需改革。


Parliament’s functioning has become, to most Indians, an embarrassment and, to many, an abomination.	对大部分印度人来说，议会的运转状况让人尴尬，更有许多印度人对此感到不齿。


People turn on their televisions and watch in disbelief as their elected representatives shout slogans, wave placards, scream abuse, and provoke adjournments – indeed, do almost anything but what they were elected to do.	人们打开电视，然后不可思议地看到他们选出来的代表高喊口号、挥动标语、尖叫怒骂、煽动休会——他们什么都干，就是不干应该干的事。


The result is that most Indians consider Parliament a colossal waste of time and money.	结果是大部分印度人认为议会纯粹是浪费时间和金钱的怪兽。


After all, its dysfunction not only cheapens political discourse; it also delays essential legislative business.	毕竟，议会功能失常不仅降低了政治威信； 也拖延了至关重要的立法程序。


Bills languish, policies fail to acquire the legal framework needed for implementation, and governance slows.	法案因此得不到通过，政策因此无法获得所需的实施法律框架，治理进度也十分缓慢。


The errant MPs are not just betraying their voters’ confidence; they are also betraying their duty to the country and discrediting democracy.	不务正业的议员不仅背叛了选民的信任； 还背叛了他们对国家的责任，抹黑了民主的信誉。


But the complacency with which the political establishment accepts the disruption of Parliament suggests that even experienced politicians do not understand this.	但印度政治当局坦然接受议会乱象而安然自得，这表明即使是经验丰富的政治家也没有明白其中的道理。


Because a parliamentary system usually results in predictable outcomes, with the ruling majority typically getting its way, India’s opposition MPs (and any government MPs who disagree with the cabinet’s position on a specific issue) prefer disruption to debate.	议会制度通常会产生可预料的结果，执政多数通常能够得偿所愿，因此印度反对派议员（以及所有在具体问题上的立场有异议的政府议员）更喜欢干扰而不是讨论。


And this is greeted on both sides of the aisle with a shrug, as if intentionally drowning out one’s colleagues with shouted slogans were just another parliamentary maneuver, as valid as a filibuster or an adjournment motion.	而议会走道两边都用耸肩来欢迎这一点，正如故意用山呼口号来淹没同僚也是议会的惯用手段，和阻挠和休会运动一样有效。


In fact, an unwritten but sacrosanct convention ensures that the Speaker almost never uses the position’s authority to suspend or expel errant members, except when there is a consensus between the government and the opposition to do so – which of course rarely occurs.	事实上，一条不成文但神圣不可侵犯的规矩确保了议会主席几乎不可能利用职位权威中止或驱逐不务正业的议员，除非政府和反对派达成了可以这样做的共识——当然，这样的情况非常罕见。


(The pepper-spraying MP was, however, suspended for the rest of the session.	（但是，喷洒胡椒喷雾的议员被中止议会资格直到本届议会结束。


Even complacency has its limits.)	即便是任性恣睢也是有限度的。 ）


What the political establishment overlooks is the broader damage that such behavior does to Parliament’s public standing, and therefore to democracy itself.	政治当局忽略了这样的行为给议会的公共形象造成的更广泛的伤害，并且威胁到民主本身。


The shambolic performance of elected parliaments in Europe, especially in interwar Germany and Italy, had a great deal to do with the rise of authoritarianism and fascism in the first half of the twentieth century.	在欧洲，特���是两次世界大战之间的德国和意大利，民选议会的混乱是集权主义和法西斯主义在20世纪上半叶崛起的重要原因。


When democracy is discredited by its own practitioners, there is much greater public willingness to embrace a seemingly efficient alternative.	当民主因为其自身的实践者信誉尽失时，公众就会强烈希望采取看似有效的替代方案。


India’s neighbors have proved this often enough, welcoming the overthrow of elected governments in popular coups.	印度的邻国一再证明了这一点，用民变推翻当选政府。


India has never seemed likely to succumb to a similar tendency, but the irresponsible custodians of Indian democracy should not tempt fate.	印度从未有蹈这一覆辙的趋势，但不负责任的印度看护人也不能拿国运冒险。


If India’s founding fathers, like the passionate democrat Jawaharlal Nehru, had not been cremated, they would be turning over in their graves.	如果印度的开国元勋们——比如坚定地民主派尼赫鲁——当初没有火葬，他们八成会从棺材里爬出来。


With a general election to be held by the end of May, voters should insist that those who seek to represent them in Parliament go there to debate and deliberate, not to disrupt and destroy.	今年5月底将举行大选，选民应该坚持要求试图在议会代表他们的人是去讨论和商议问题的，而不是去干扰和搞破坏的。


As of now, that seems to be a forlorn hope.	就目前而论，这似乎是一种奢望。


India’s Martian Chronicles	印度火星编年史


NEW DELHI – The news that the Mars orbiter spacecraft Mangalyaan, launched by India on November 5, has left the Earth’s orbit, traversed the moon, and is on course for its ultimate destination, 400 million kilometers (249 million miles) away, brought early holiday cheer to Indians.	新德里—印度11月5日发射的火星轨道飞行器Mangalyaan号已经离开地球轨道、穿过月球、直奔其4亿公里外的最终目标，这个消息给了即将迎来假期的印度人民一个大惊喜。


Space missions have become a matter of pride for India, which is already one of the top countries in terms of rocket and satellite technology.	空间任务已经成为印度人民引以为傲的成就，从火箭和卫星技术看，印度已跻身最先进国家行列。


Mangalyaan, India’s first inter-planetary satellite, was purpose-built for the Mars mission – and it was made entirely indigenously.	Mangalyaan是印度第一颗行星间卫星，它是专门为火星任务建造的，并且完全自主研发。


Indian-educated scientists designed and fabricated it in barely 15 months – astonishingly fast for a country of chronic delays, where “Indian Standard Time” is a common joke.	在印度受教育的科学家大约用了15个月的时间设计和制造这颗卫星——这对于印度这个以拖延症闻名，“印度标准时间”沦为世界笑话的国家来说不可谓不神速。


They also did so at a remarkably low cost, with the total bill coming in at under $73 million, or about a fifth of what the few other countries that have sought to explore Mars have spent.	卫星的设计和制造还具有低成本的显著特征，总花费还不到7 300万美元，是其他极少数试图探索火星的国家的花费的五分之一。


Indeed, while Indians often lament their country’s dysfunction, inadequate infrastructure, antiquated industrial processes, and uneven manufacturing record, it rose to the challenge and delivered.	事实上，尽管印度人时常哀叹祖国做事不争气、基础设施不足、工业生产过程不完善、制造业记录不平衡，但印度还是战胜了挑战，结出了成果。


But it is too early to celebrate.	但现在庆祝还为时过早。


Five years ago, India’s lunar mission, called Chandrayaan, was the occasion for another national celebration.	五年前，印度的月球任务Chandrayaan也受到了举国庆祝。


Though it was intended to explore the moon for two years, the spacecraft was declared lost after 312 days.	尽管该任务的探月计划期是两年，但Chandrayaan实际只工作了312天。


While scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) believe that they gained valuable lessons from the experience, the partial failure of the Chandrayaan mission still haunts them.	印度空间研究组织（ISRO）的科学家们自信从这一教训中汲取了宝贵的经验，但Chandrayaan任务的局部失败仍使他们挥之不去的阴影。


Moreover, the challenge is even greater when it comes to Mars.	此外，火星任务的挑战更加巨大。


It is a sobering fact that of a total of 51 Mars missions sent out by five countries, 30 ended badly.	一个令人警醒的事实是，迄今为止共有五个国家实施了51次火星任务，其中30次结果糟糕。


Among India’s Asian rivals, neither Japan, which launched a Mars orbiter in 2003, nor China, which followed suit in 2011, was able to complete its mission successfully.	在印度的亚洲对手中，不管是2003年发射了火星轨道飞行器的日本，还是2011年实施火星任务的中国，都无法成功完成任务。


India hopes to join the three space programs that have succeeded – those of the Soviet Union, the United States, and the European Union.	印度希望能加入获得成功的三大空间计划（分别来自苏联、美国和欧盟）的行列。 Mangalyaan的目标是在2014年9月抵达火星轨道，并寻找生命存在信号甲烷。


Mangalyaan’s objective is to reach Mars’s orbit by September 2014 and to look for the presence of methane gas, a sign of possible life. Success would mark a scientific advance for humanity; failure, Indian scientists aver, would still provide a learning experience.	如若成功，将标志着人类科学的重大进步； 而如若失败，印度科学家认为，仍能提供学习经验。


The ISRO’s chief scientist, K. Radhakrishnan, is not interested in comparisons with other countries: “We are in competition with ourselves,” he declared, “in the areas we have charted for ourselves.”	ISRO首席科学家拉德哈克里什南（K. Radhakrishnan）并不想与他国作比较：“我们是在与自己竞争，”他说，“在我们为自己所划定的领域。


India is increasingly regarded around the world as the leading developing country in the field, with the human-resource capacity and technological skills needed to work on the cutting edge of outer-space challenges.	”印度日益被世界是为这方面的领先发展中国家，拥有在外太空领域展开尖端研究的人力资源和技术技能。


India’s adventures in space exploration are not merely about its scientists’ ambitions.	印度的空间探索并非只是科学家的雄心。


At United Nations forums, India has consistently been a voice for international cooperation in outer space.	在联合国论坛上，印度一直在呼吁就外太空领域进行国际合作。


It speaks of being able to offer other countries, particularly from the developing world, an opportunity to participate in space exploration.	印度表示可以向其他国家，特别是发展中国家，提供参与空间探索的机会。


Its moon mission in 2008, which carried a payload for some 20 countries, won the International Lunar Exploration Working Group’s International Cooperation Award.	其2008年的月球任务承担了20个国家的任务，并赢得了国际探月工作小组（International Lunar Exploration Working Group）的国际合作奖。


Yet, unavoidably, some triumphalism has crept into the narrative.	但是，不可避免地，在印度出现了一些必胜主义声音。


One of India’s more astute young commentators, Sreeram Chaulia, captures this heady exuberance well: “Every milestone in advanced rocket science,” he writes, “is a shot in the arm for national self-confidence, showing that India is headed for global leadership.	印度嗅觉灵敏的年轻评论家查理亚（Sreeram Chaulia）犀利地捕捉到了兴奋情绪：“火箭科学的每一块里程碑，”他写道，“都是国家自信的兴奋剂，表明印度正在走向全球领袖的道路上。


When the chips are down, or if there is a national calamity, memories of the Mars orbiter blazing a trail in the sky will sustain the faith that the future belongs to India.”	当形势急转直下时，或出现国家灾难时，月球轨道飞行器在天空中划过的记忆将让人们保持未来属于印度的信念。 ”


This is precisely the attitude that raises the hackles of domestic critics, especially on the left, who argue that a country facing India’s crippling social and economic problems cannot afford the luxury of indulging in space exploration.	正是这一态度引起了国内批评者的愤怒，特别是左翼，他们指出，印度面临着巨大的社会和经济问题，承担不起沉迷于太空探索的奢侈。


Critics have portrayed the Mars mission as an irresponsible ego trip by pampered scientists disconnected from the harsh realities of Indian poverty and suffering.	批评者将火星任务描述为与印度严峻贫困和灾难现实脱节的养尊处优的科学家不负责任的自我实现需要。


This may not be entirely fair, however.	但这一批评并不完全公正。


India embarked on its quest for rocket and satellite technology and space exploration when it was far poorer, impelled by its own ancient scientific tradition and the conviction of its first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, that such aspirations could co-exist with a determined effort to end poverty.	印度在远比现在贫困时就已经开始追求火箭和卫星技术，是印度古老的科学传统和第一任总理尼赫鲁认定这些目标能与减贫决心共存的信念让印度走向了太空探索之路。


Indeed, India’s space scientists have produced tangible benefits for ordinary citizens, launching meteorological satellites that have predicted cyclones and helped save thousands of lives, as well as telecommunications satellites that have knit a vast country together through shared networks.	事实上，印度的太空科学家为普通公民带来了实实在在的好处，他们发射的气象卫星能预测飓风，从而帮助挽救了成千上万的生命； 他们发射的通信卫星通过共享网络把广袤的印度连接起来。


Mitigating natural disasters and enabling nationwide broadcasting can hardly be considered to be disconnected from India’s real priorities.	减轻自然灾难和实现全国广播显然不能称为与印度的现实当务之急脱节。


With a general election looming in the months ahead, the air is already thick with political recrimination.	再过几个月，印度就将迎来大选，此时此刻，政治攻讦的氛围已经相当浓厚。


The Mars mission – if it succeeds – is one thing that can literally rise above it all.	火星任务——如果获得成功——将大大盖过政治的风头。


The Great War’s Forgotten Soldiers	大战中被遗忘的士兵


NEW DELHI – One hundred years after the start of World War I, the world has been commemorating that seminal event.	新德里——第一次世界大战爆发一百年后，世界各国都在纪念这一开创性事件。


Described as “a war to end all wars,” the Great War, as it was called at the time, failed to live up to its billing.	这场大战在当时被称为“结束一切战争的战争”，但事实证明这不过是人们的一厢情愿。


Those who fought and died in it would not have expected its sequel just 25 years later.	那些参战并为之牺牲的勇士绝不会想到仅仅25年后再次爆发了世界大战。


But while the war took the flower of Europe’s youth to premature graves, snuffing out the lives of a generation of talented poets, artists, cricketers, and others whose genius bled into the trenches, it also involved soldiers from faraway lands that had little to do with Europe’s bitter traditional hatreds.	但是这场战争在使欧洲年轻人的生命之花过早凋零、扼杀了整整一代诗人、艺术家、板球运动员和其他天才、令其血洒战壕的同时，还扼杀了来自遥远异国的战士，他们与欧洲长久以来的苦涩仇恨没有任何关系。


The role and sacrifice of Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, and South Africans have long been celebrated in history books, novels, and award-winning films like “Gallipoli.”	史书、小说以及《加里波利》等获奖电影早已彰显了澳大利亚人、新西兰人、加拿大人和南非人的贡献与牺牲。


But the world hears very little about the 1.3 million Indian troops who served in the conflict, which claimed the lives of 74,187, with another 67,000 wounded.	但世界对于参战的130万印度军队却知之甚少，他们中有74,187人战死，67,000负伤。


Their stories, and their heroism, have long been omitted from popular histories of the war, or relegated to the footnotes.	他们的故事和英雄事迹在战争史中找不到任何痕迹，或者仅仅存在于注脚之中。


India contributed divisions and brigades to the European, Mediterranean, West Asian, North African, and East African theatres.	欧洲、地中海、西亚、北非和东非战区都可以看到印度军队的身影。


In Europe, Indian soldiers were among the first to suffer the horrors of the trenches.	欧洲的印度部队最早领略了战壕的恐怖。


They were killed in droves before the war entered its second year, and they bore the brunt of many German offensives.	战争开始还不满一年他们就成群地被害，他们还承受了德国军队的多次正面进攻。


It was Indian jawans who stopped the German advance at Ypres in the autumn of 1914, soon after the war broke out, while the British were still recruiting and training their own forces.	一战爆发后不久，恰恰是印度士兵阻挡了1914年秋德军在伊普尔的脚步，从而为英军赢得了招兵买马和操练的时间。


More than a thousand of them died at Gallipoli, thanks to Churchill’s folly.	有上千名印度士兵战死在加里波利，而这理应归咎于丘吉尔的愚蠢。


Nearly 700,000 Indian sepoys fought in Mesopotamia against the Ottoman Empire, Germany’s ally.	在美索不达米亚与德国的盟友奥斯曼帝国作战的还有近700,000印度士兵。


Letters from Indian soldiers in Europe to their families back home bespeak cultural dislocation and tragedy.	印度士兵从欧洲写给家人的信显示出文化上的错位和悲情。


“The shells are pouring like rain in the monsoon,” declared one.	有人说“炮弹像暴雨般倾泻而下。


“The corpses cover the country like sheaves of harvested corn,” wrote another.	”还有人说“战场上尸横遍野，活像是收割后满地的玉米秸秆。 ”


These men were undoubtedly heroes.	这些人毋庸置疑都是英雄。


They were pitchforked into battle in unfamiliar lands, in climatic conditions to which they were neither accustomed nor prepared, fighting an enemy of whom they had no knowledge, risking their lives every day for little more than pride.	他们被卷入到陌生国度的战争，那里的气候条件他们既没有准备也不习惯。 他们对敌军毫无了解，每天仅仅为了尊严而甘冒生命危险。


Yet they were destined to remain largely unknown once the war was over – neglected by the British, for whom they fought, and ignored by their compatriots.	但一旦战争结束他们注定会被人遗忘——被他们为之浴血奋战的英国人所忽视，也被自己的同胞所遗忘。


Part of the reason is that they were not fighting for India.	部分原因是他们并非在为印度作战。


The soldiers were all volunteers; soldiering was their profession, and they served the very British Empire that was oppressing their own people back home.	这些士兵都是志愿者； 当兵是他们的职业，他们在为镇压本国民众的大英帝国作战。


While raising men and money from the subcontinent, the British promised to deliver self-rule to India at the end of the war.	在从印度次大陆招募兵员和资金时，英国人曾许诺在战争结束后允许印度自治。


Had they kept that pledge, the sacrifices of India’s WWI soldiers might have been seen in their homeland as a contribution to India’s freedom.	如果他们信守了自己的诺言，那么印度一战士兵的牺牲或许会在国内被视为对印度自由的贡献。


But the British broke their word, and nationalists had nothing for which to thank India’s soldiers.	但英国人却自食其言，民族主义者也没有理由对印度士兵感恩戴德。


They had merely gone abroad to serve their foreign masters.	他们不过是替外国主子卖命罢了。


Losing one’s life in a foreign war fought at the behest of colonial rulers was an occupational hazard; it did not qualify as a form of praiseworthy national service.	受命于殖民统治者在国外战争中丧生是一种职业危险； 他们根本没有因为国家服务而受人称道的资格。


Thus, Indian nationalists allowed the soldiers’ heroism to be forgotten.	因此印度民族主义者对这些士兵的英勇行为被人遗忘坐视不管。


When the world commemorated the 50th anniversary of WWI in 1964, there was scarcely a mention of India’s contribution anywhere, least of all in India.	当1965年世界纪念一战50周年之际，无论哪个国家（尤其是印度）都没有人提到印度士兵的贡献。


The India Gate in New Delhi, built in 1931, is visited by hundreds daily who have no idea that it commemorates the Indian soldiers who lost their lives fighting in WWI.	1931年在新德里落成的印度门每天吸引数百人前来参观，但参观者却很少有人知道该景观是为纪念一战中牺牲的印度士兵而建。


But, though historical amnesia about the Great War is pervasive across India, the centenary is finally forcing a rethink.	但尽管一战历史健忘症在印度各地非常普遍，但百年纪念日终于迫使人们重新思考那段历史。 很多英国人涌向展示印度军队作用的展览；


The British have been flocking to an exhibition showcasing Indian troops’ role; the French are making a film about the brown-skinned and turbaned men who fought to save their land from the Germans; and, in India, curiosity has overcome the fading colonial-era resentment of British exploitation.	法国人正在拍摄的一部电影以把他们国家从德军手中解救出来的戴着头巾的棕肤色战士为主角。 而在印度，好奇心终于战胜了逐渐淡化的对英国殖民者的不满。


Indians are beginning to see the soldiers of WWI as human beings who took the spirit of their country to battlefields abroad.	印度人开始将一战参战者看成是将国家精神带到国外战场的士兵。


The Center for Armed Forces Historical Research in Delhi is painstakingly working to retrieve memorabilia of that era and reconstruct their forgotten story.	德里的武装部队历史研究中心正在苦苦搜寻那个时代的纪念品，并重新发掘那段被遗忘的故事。


The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains war cemeteries in India, mostly commemorating WWII rather than WWI soldiers.	英联邦国殇纪念公墓管理委员会在印度设立战争公墓，多数是为纪念二战而不是一战士兵。


The most famous epitaph is inscribed at the Kohima War Cemetery: “When you go home, tell them of us and say/For your tomorrow, we gave our today.”	科希马战争公墓镌刻着最著名的墓志铭：“当你回家后，告诉人们我们的事迹，告诉他们为了你们的明天，我们付出了自己的生命。 ”


The Indian soldiers who died in WWI could make no such claim.	死于一战的印度士兵却不能这样讲。


They gave their “todays” for someone else’s “yesterdays.”	他们是为别人的“昨天”付出了自己的“生命”。


They left behind orphans, and history orphaned them as well.	他们抛下孤儿撒手而去，而历史也抛弃了他们。


It is a matter of quiet satisfaction that their long-overdue rehabilitation has now begun.	让我们暗自庆幸的是今天历史终于开始重新认识他们。


The Terrorist Next Door	邻国的恐怖分子


NEW DELHI – Recent incidents on the Line of Control (LoC) – the frontier between India and Pakistan in the state of Jammu and Kashmir – have again raised fundamental questions about the nuclear-armed neighbors’ fraught relationship.	新德里——印巴查谟及克什米尔边境控制线（LoC）上的最新事态再度将印度与其核武装邻国巴基斯坦关系的根本问题摆在了人们面前。


Early this month, India’s army foiled an attempted incursion by a group of 30 to 40 militants from Pakistani territory, leading Indian critics to decry official peace overtures.	本月初，印度军队挫败了一次由三四十名武装分子从巴基斯坦发起的入侵行动，此次入侵导致印度评论家开始谴责官方的和平姿态。


Indeed, barely two weeks before the latest incident, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met with his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, during the United Nations General Assembly session in New York.	事实上，就在最新事态爆发前不到两个星期，印度总理曼莫汉·辛格刚刚在纽约召开的联合国大会上与巴基斯坦总理纳瓦兹·谢里夫进行了会面。


Pakistan was hacked off the stooped shoulders of India by the departing British in 1947 as a homeland for India’s Muslims; but, until recently (as Pakistan’s population continues to grow at a higher rate than India’s), more Muslims remained in India than lived in Pakistan.	1947年英国撤离时硬生生地将巴基斯坦从卑躬屈膝的印度剥离开去，成为印度穆斯林人口的家园； 但直到不久前（因为巴基斯坦人口增长速度持续超过印度），多数穆斯林仍然居住在在印度，而并未生活在巴基斯坦。


Bilateral relations have been bedeviled ever since by a festering dispute over the divided territory of Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state (but home to only 3% of India’s Muslims, who are scattered in larger numbers throughout the country).	自此之后的双边关系一直饱受不断恶化的克什米尔地区领土纷争的困扰，克什米尔是印度唯一一个以穆斯林为主的省份（但那里只居住着3%的印度穆斯林人口，其余绝大部分都分散在印度全国的各个省份）。


For decades, open conflict and simmering hostility have been punctuated by periods of short-lived bonhomie.	几十年来，友好的氛围大都非常短暂，而公开的冲突和压抑的敌意则成为常态。


The principal obstacle to peace has been Pakistan’s sponsorship of militancy and terrorism within India, culminating in the horrific attacks in Mumbai in November 2008, in which terrorist commandos killed almost 200 people.	巴基斯坦支持印度境内的好战和恐怖势力一直是和平的主要障碍。 这种支持在2008年11月造成近200人死亡的孟买恐怖袭击中达到了顶点。


In the late 1980’s, Pakistan backed an insurrection by some Kashmiri Muslims and supplied arms, training, and funds to militants who infiltrated across the LoC.	20世纪80年代末，巴基斯坦提供武器支持克什米尔穆斯林发动起义，并资助越过控制线的好战分子。


The insurrection, which continues to this day, and Indian security forces’ response to it have caused great loss of life and property, and have all but wrecked the state’s economy, which is largely dependent on tourism.	起义到今天也没有结束，印度安全部队的反击已经造成巨大的生命和财产损失，并几乎摧毁了该地区在很大程度上依赖旅游业的经济。


In the process, both countries have suffered grievously.	在此期间，两国遭受的损失都非常惨重。


Indian citizens have been killed in large numbers, while the government has had to deploy more than a half-million soldiers to keep the peace.	印度民众大批被害，而政府则不得已为维和部署了50多万军队。


And Pakistan’s strategy of “bleeding India to death by a thousand cuts” through insurgency and terrorism has accomplished little, while making its military an enormously powerful domestic player and spawning terror outfits (some of which have turned against their sponsors).	而巴基斯坦“用叛乱和恐怖活动让印度千疮百孔”的策略并没有奏效，反而培植了国内的军事势力和恐怖组织（其中某些势力已经公然开始反对发起者）。


In June, when Sharif became the first prime minister in Pakistan’s checkered political history to succeed a democratically elected prime minister through another democratic election, there was hope in India that the balance of power might shift from the military to the civilian government.	今年6月，当谢里夫通过又一次民主选举接替民选总理成为巴基斯坦坎坷政治史上的首任总理时，印度曾希望权力的重心可以从军事转移到平民政府。


During his election campaign, and after his victory, Sharif expressed a determination to make peace with India.	竞选期间和获胜以后，谢里夫都表达了实现印巴和平的决心。


Despite the historical pattern of Pakistani civilian leaders talking peace while armed men slip across the border, many in India believe that this time might be different.	虽然在巴基斯坦文职领袖和谈的同时武装份子偷偷越境已成为一种历史模式，但仍有很多印度人相信这次会有所不同。


But many also remain skeptical.	但也有不少人将信将疑。


Singh sat down with Sharif after a series of incidents on the LoC led his critics to urge him not to proceed with the meeting.	辛格在控制线系列事件导致批评者敦促其中止会谈的情况下仍坚持与谢里夫和谈。


India, the government’s critics argue, has taken upon itself the enormous burden of talking peace with a government that, when it comes to addressing the real threats emanating from its territory and institutions, has proved to be ineffective at best and duplicitous at worst.	批评者认为印度政府在与巴基斯坦政府的和谈中已经不堪重负， 巴政府在面对来自其领土和机构的真正威胁时，往好里说是缺乏成效，往差里说是根本就是说一套做一套。


The latest attempted infiltration – which Indian military leaders say could not have occurred without the Pakistani army’s complicity – has added to the outcry against the government for its alleged naiveté.	印度军方领袖认为没有巴军方从旁协助最近这次渗透事件根本不可能发生，这进一步加剧了指责政府过于天真的反对声浪。


In pursuing peace with Pakistan, India’s government is indeed rolling the dice.	印度政府与巴基斯坦和谈其实是在孤注一掷。


As the Mumbai attack five years ago and the recent LoC incidents have shown, the gap between Pakistan’s official statements and its military’s actions suggests that the civilian government, even if sincere, is too weak to control its own security apparatus.	五年前的孟买袭击事件和近期控制线事件已经表明，就算巴文官政府真心实意，但官方声明和军事行动之间的差距表明巴文官政府势力太弱，无法控制国内的安全机器。


So long as Pakistan’s government remains either unable or unwilling to push back against the so-called “non-state actors” that are said to be out of its control, why should India pursue the dialogue that it called off in 2008?	只要巴政府仍然不能或不愿与其控制之外的所谓“非国家势力”对抗，印度有什么理由继续2008年被取消的对话？


Yet India’s peaceniks are not wrong.	但印度的反战势力并没有错。


A country that seeks to focus on its own enormous development challenges should do everything it can to defuse hostility on its borders.	旨在解决自身巨大发展难题的国家应竭尽全力化解来自边境的敌意。


Not talking to Pakistan is not much of a policy; it has been tried for years, yielding no significant benefit.	中止印巴和谈算不上是一项策略； 这种状况已持续多年，却没有带来任何收益。


If India’s pursuit of peace strengthens like-minded Pakistani politicians who are struggling against their own hawks, it is worth attempting.	如果印度对和平的追求能够加强志同道合的巴基斯坦政治家在鹰派面前的力量，这样的努力就值得尝试。


The benefits of peace, for both sides, would be enormous.	和平对双方而言都能带来巨大的收益。


But it has always been India, a status quo power, that wishes to live in peace, while Pakistan, craving Kashmir, uses every means at its disposal to alter the status quo.	但渴望维持现状的印��一直追求和平，而拼命想得到克什米尔的巴基斯坦则用尽一切手段来改变现状。


For this reason, India’s army must be well prepared and vigilant in defense of the country’s borders.	因此，印度军队必须保持警惕，随时准备保卫边界。


But, unlike in Pakistan, the army in India does not make foreign policy.	与巴基斯坦不同的是，印军无权制定外交政策。


That is the prerogative of an elected civilian government that is determined to engage in dialogue with its eyes open (and its weapons at the ready).	制定外交政策是民选文官政府的权力，印民选政府决意在保持警惕（枕戈待旦）的同时与巴政府谈判。


It would help if Pakistan’s government – facing home-grown terrorists even as it exports terror to its neighbors – showed a little more willingness to join the quest for peace.	在向邻国出口恐怖主义的同时，如果巴基斯坦政府面对本土恐怖分子表现出多一点的和平追求同样会有益处。


The moment the Pakistani establishment genuinely disavows terrorism as an instrument of state policy, the prospect of peace will dawn on the subcontinent.	当巴基斯坦政府真正否定恐怖主义作为国家政策工具的那一刻，印度次大陆将点亮和平的曙光。


Alas, that prospect is not yet even a glimmer on the horizon.	唉，和平的曙光还没有闪耀在地平线上。


Nehru’s Last Stand?	尼赫鲁的背水一战？


NEW DELHI – The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its leader, Narendra Modi, in India’s general election last month has raised a crucial question about the country’s future.	新德里—印度人民党（Bharatiya Janata Party）及其领导人莫迪（Narendra Modi）在上个月的印度大选中获得了胜利，这引发了一个关于印度未来的关键问题。


With the BJP sweeping to power on a platform of aggressive nationalism and business-friendly corporatism, has the socioeconomic consensus dating to India’s first prime minister, the democratic socialist Jawaharlal Nehru, come to an end?	印度人民党在激进民族主义和亲商社团主义的背景下获得了权力斗争的压倒性胜利，这是否意味着可追溯到印度首任总理、社会民主党人尼赫鲁的社会经济共识走向终结？


The “Nehruvian consensus” facilitated India’s democratic maturation and accommodated the country’s many diverse interests, without permitting any one group or section to dominate the nascent nation-state.	“尼赫鲁共识”促进了印度民主的成熟，协调了印度的多样化利益，没有让任何一个群体或部分主宰这个方兴未艾的民族国家。


It is fashionable today to decry Nehruvian socialism as a corrupt and inefficient system that condemned India to many years of slow economic growth.	今天，很多人指责尼赫鲁社会主义是一个腐败而低效的制度，导致印度多年来经济增长低迷。


But at its core was the conviction that in a land of extreme poverty and inequality, the objective of government policy must be to improve the welfare of the poorest, most deprived, and most marginalized.	但其核心是这样一种信念：在这片极端贫困和不公平之地，政府政策的目标必须是改善最贫困、最无助、最边缘人群的福利。


In Nehru’s day, the best way to accomplish that was by building up structures of public ownership and state control of resources, as well as by boosting economic capacity through government intervention.	在尼赫鲁时代，实现这一目标的最佳办法是建立公共所有权和国家控制资源，同时通过政府干预提振经济能力。


Of course, Nehru’s economic vision had its flaws, giving rise, for example, to the so-called “license-permit-quota Raj,” under which government control stifled entrepreneurial activity, which in turn held growth rates below those of India’s Southeast Asian neighbors.	当然，尼赫鲁的经济愿景尤其漏洞，比如，这催生了所谓的“执照许可配额统治”（license-permit-quota Raj），政府控制扼杀了企业家活动，反过来导致印度增长不及南亚邻国。


India slowly repealed many of these burdensome regulations in the 1980s, when Nehru’s grandson, Rajiv Gandhi, was in power.	20世纪80年代尼赫鲁外孙拉吉夫·甘地（Rajiv Gandhi）执政期间，印度逐渐取消了许多造成沉重负担的监管。


Then, following reforms initiated by his successors atop the Indian National Congress, Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh, India entered a confident new era of flourishing growth and socioeconomic dynamism.	随后，他在国大党的衣钵继承者拉奥（Narasimha Rao）和辛格（Manmohan Singh）继续发动改革，让印度进入了充满自信的新时代，增长繁荣，社会经济活力四射。


So what went wrong?	那么，哪里出了问题？


Many attribute the astonishing scale of the BJP’s victory to Modi’s success in tapping into the restless (and rightful) aspirations of India’s youth after two years of a slowing economy.	许多人认为印度人民党的令人不可思议的胜利来自莫迪成功地在两年的经济放缓后让印度年轻人满怀（正当的）壮志雄心。


This is where critics deem the Congress party to have failed, focusing as it did on the needs of India’s poorest.	批评者认为这也是国大党的失败之处——只知道和往常一样将注意力集中在印度最贫困群体。


Congress can justifiably argue that it helped build on the economic structures of Nehru’s day while liberating them from excessive restrictions.	国大党可以理直气壮地反驳，是它帮助印度建立了尼赫鲁时代的经济结构，同时将他们解放出过度限制的掣肘。


But it remains committed to an inclusive idea of development, based on social justice and greater opportunity for India’s deprived and marginalized – an idea that is not always easily marketable to a youthful electorate that wants change here and now.	但国大党仍然坚持基于社会正义和为印度脆弱和边缘群体带来更多机会的包容性发展思维——对于年轻选民希望看到重大变化的时候，这一思维吸引力有限。


Admittedly, Congress could have better communicated its values and objectives to voters; but the BJP’s historic victory mainly reflected widespread anti-incumbent sentiment after ten years of Congress rule, aided by Modi’s ability to convince Indians that he is the messiah of change.	但印度人民党的历史性胜利主要反映了广泛的反现状情绪——国大党执政已经十年； 而莫迪让印度人民相信他就是带来变化的救世主的能力起到了推波助澜的作用。


Those who claim that the Nehruvian consensus has unraveled allege that Congress failed to read the country’s mood – that Indians want economic growth, not social legislation.	认为尼赫鲁共识已经破产的人指责国大党没有领悟印度的国民情绪——印度人想要经济增长，而不是社会立法（social legislation）。


But, leaving aside the last two years, India witnessed record-high growth rates while Congress was in power.	但是，抛开过去两年不谈，印度人在国大党掌权期间目睹了创纪录的高增长。


Our objective – supported by eminent economists, lawyers, and social activists with tremendous first-hand experience – was to distribute the fruits of this growth more equitably.	我们的目标——这一目标获得了拥有大量第一手经验的著名经济学家、律师、社会活动家的支持——是让高增长的果实获得更加平等的分配。


And, though the election results might suggest otherwise, most Indians’ lives and living standards have improved in the last ten years.	而尽管选举结果也许表明并非如此，但大部分印度人的生活和生活水平在过去十年中获得了改善。


This was not because of “doles,” as critics call them, but because of more generous and effective government.	这并不是因为批评者所谓的“施舍”，而是因为更慷慨、更高效的政府。


In fact, it is precisely the social investment carried out by Congress governments that put more children in school and more people to work, while ensuring that their basic needs were met.	事实上，正是国大党政府进行的社会投资让更多的孩子得以上学，让更多的人能够工作，同时也确保了他们的基本需要得到满足。


The alleged handouts empowered those with the least to stand on their own feet and seek to improve their lives.	饱受指责��政策让最一无所有者能够自力更生，寻求改善生活之道。


More people could demand more from their government, which is their right, generating a wave of aspiration that the BJP caught and rode into office.	更多的人可以向政府要求更多东西（这成为他们的权利），造成了一股被印度人民党利用并赖以问鼎权力的渴望之潮。


Some predict that Congress will move further to the left economically in order to distinguish itself from the BJP, and argue that this would be counterproductive, given that voters have seemingly rejected socialist policies.	有人预测国大党将在经济上进一步左倾，以区分其自身和印度人民党，并认为这不利于经济生产，因为选民似乎拒绝接受社会主义政策。


But, in a country where most people in every electoral constituency live on less than $2 a day, writing off “pro-poor” policies would be unwise.	但是，在印度，大部分合法选民每天的生活费还不到2美元，取消“亲穷人”政策是不明智的。


Congress leaders should continue to point out that it is their policies that have enabled most Indians to reach a point at which they are better informed and more empowered to make new and different demands of their government.	国大党领导人应该继续指出，是他们的政策让大部分印度人得以获得更好的信息、更有能力对政府作出新的和不同的要求。


The Nehruvian emphasis on socially inclusive growth is not simple “leftism”; the Congress party supports growth and led the liberalization that made growth possible.	尼赫鲁主义强调社会包容性增长，这不是简单的“左倾”； 国大党支持增长，也领导了让增长成为可能的自由化。


But we wish to see the benefits of that growth reach the weakest and poorest sections of Indian society.	但我们希望看到增长的好处能够直达印度社会最脆弱、最贫困的群体。


In the long run, I am certain that the Nehruvians will be rewarded for not pursuing an economic-growth model that favors a select few at the expense of everyone else.	长期来看，我可以肯定，尼赫鲁主义者将因为他们不追求有利于一小撮人而牺牲其他所有人的经济增长模式而得到回报。


India must shine, but it must shine for all of its citizens.	印度必须繁荣，但它的繁荣必须是所有人民的繁荣。


Unless Modi can deliver inclusive growth, his triumph will prove short-lived and the Nehruvians will return.	除非莫迪能够带来包容性增长，否则他的胜利将是短暂的，尼赫鲁主义将复兴。


India’s Democratic Pageant	印度的民主盛宴


NEW DELHI – Last week, India’s independent Election Commission announced the dates for the next general election.	新德里—上周，印度独立选举委员会公布了下一次大选的日期。


The world’s largest single exercise of the democratic franchise will take place over a staggering 37 days in nine “phases,” some a week apart, from April 7 to May 12.	世界上最大规模的民主授权实践将在令人瞩目的37天中（从4月7日到5月12日）分九个“阶段”展开。 大约8.


Some 814 million eligible voters will elect, for the 16th time, a new parliament and government, casting their ballots at more than 930,000 polling stations – after choosing from an estimated 15,000 candidates belonging to more than 500 political parties.	14亿合格选民将参与选举，在930,000多个投票站填写选票，选出第十六届政府新议会。 候选人据估计多达15,000人，分属500多个政党。


Democracy, of course, is a process, not an event.	当然，民主是一种程序，而不是一个事件。


But India’s elections – with their outsize logistical and security challenges, myriad languages, and candidates identified not just by name but also by electoral symbols to aid illiterate voters – are events that evoke admiration each time they occur.	但印度的选举却是事件，每一次发生都会让人肃然起敬，因为它需要面临巨大的物流和安全挑战、跨越多重语言壁垒，并且候选人的身份不仅要标注姓名，还必须配上选举号以方便不识字的选民。


It takes a sizeable forest to furnish enough paper for posters, electoral rolls, and ballots.	印刷海报、选民花名册和选票要消耗大片森林。


And the thousands of electronic voting machines that are manufactured in India can survive heat, dust, and power failures – and retain their results safely until the votes are ready to be counted, sometimes weeks later.	而印度生产的数千台电子投票机可以克服炎热、扬尘和断电，安全地工作到选票被清点完毕为止——慢一点的话需要几周时间。


(Because no votes are counted until the last ones are cast, counting day is May 16.)	（因为在最后一张选票投出前所有选票都不会清点，所欲清点日定在5月16日。


Moreover, every election has at least one story of officials battling through snow or jungle to ensure that the preferences of remote constituents are duly recorded.	）此外，没一次选举至少都会涌现出官员战胜风雪和深山野林确保边远地区的选民意见也能够充分表达。


Yet there are larger issues behind the electoral spectacle that must not be overlooked.	但在壮观的选举景象背后存在着不容忽视的大问题。


India’s elections have, over the years, deepened and broadened the composition of the political establishment.	多年来，印度选举深化和扩大了政治体制的组成。


Sociologists have analyzed the class composition of India’s legislatures and traced the change from a post-independence Parliament dominated by highly educated professionals to one populated by today’s motley crew of MPs, who are more truly representative of India’s rural heartland.	社会学家分析了印度立法机构的阶级组成，并追踪了独立以来印度议会从由高教育程度的专业人士主导逐渐演变为当今成分更加复杂的议员构成。 今天的议员构成更能真正代表印度的农村腹地。


But the fact that, particularly in India’s northern states, voters elect people referred to openly in the press as “mafia dons,” “dacoit leaders,” and “anti-social elements” is a troubling reflection on the way the electoral process has served Indian democracy.	但是，选民——特别是北方各邦的选民——选出被媒体公开称为“黑帮老大”、“土匪首领”和“反社会分子”的候选人这一事实是关于选举程序如何服务于印度民主的一个危险信号。


In the last four parliaments, at least a hundred members have had criminal cases pending against them.	在过去四届议会中，至少有一百名议员身负刑事指控。


The resulting alienation of the educated middle class means that fewer and fewer of them go to the polls on Election Day.	由此导致的高教育程度中产阶级的离心离德意味着他们当中在选举日前去投票的人越来越少。


The poor, however, do.	但是，穷人会去投票。


Whereas psephological studies in the United States have demonstrated that the poor do not vote in significant numbers (presidential-election turnout in Harlem averaged 23% before Barack Obama’s two candidacies), the opposite is true in India.	美国选举研究表明，穷人不会大量投票（在奥巴马第一次当选前，黑人社区的总统选举投票率平均只有23%），但在印度，情况正好相反。


In India, it is the poor who take the time to line up in the hot sun, believing that their votes will make a difference, whereas more privileged voters, knowing that their views and numbers will do little to influence the outcome, have been staying at home.	在印度，只有穷人会花时间顶着毒日头排队投票，相信自己的选票会带来不同，而社会地位更高的选民知道他们的观点和人数都不会对结果有什么影响，于是便呆在家里。


Studies of Indian elections have consistently shown that the poorest vote in numbers well above the national average, while the educated middle-class turn out in numbers well below it.	关于印度选举的研究一直地表明，最穷群体投票人数远高于国家平均水平，高教育程度中产阶级则远低于国家平均水平。


The significant changes in the social composition of India’s politicians and bureaucrats since Independence are indeed proof of democracy at work.	独立以来，印度政客和官僚群体的社会构成方面的变化的确反映了民主的作用。


But many lament that the poor performance of the country’s political class in general offers less cause for celebration.	但很多人哀叹，印度政治阶级总体表现拙劣，毫无亮点可言。


India’s parliamentarians increasingly embody the qualities required to acquire power rather than the skills needed to wield it for the common good.	印度议会正日益沦为攫取权力的工具，而不是为人民服务的途径。


Many cynics regard democracy in India as a process that has given free rein to criminals and corrupt cops, opportunists and fixers, murderous musclemen and grasping middlemen, kickback-making politicos and bribe-taking bureaucrats, mafia dons and private armies, caste activists and religious extremists.	许多质疑者指出，印度民主程序让犯罪分子和腐败分子，让投机者和调停人、凶残的打手和贪婪的掮客、收受回扣的政客贪污受贿的官僚、黑帮老大和私人武装、种姓分子和宗教极端分子如鱼得水。


And yet it is democracy that has given Indians of every imaginable caste, creed, culture, and cause the chance to break free of their lot.	但正是这一民主制度让所有种姓、信仰、文化和目标的印度人脱颖而出。


Where there is social oppression and caste tyranny, particularly in rural India, democracy offers the victims a means of salvation.	在存在社会压迫和种姓暴政的地方，特别是印度农村，民主可以为受害者提供救赎的办法。


Among the victors in recent elections have been people from traditionally underprivileged backgrounds who have risen through the power of the ballot to positions their forefathers could never have dreamed of.	近期选举的获胜者中不乏来自传统社会地位低下阶层者，他们通过选票的力���获得了祖先想都不敢想象的地位。


There could be no more startling tribute to the Indian system.	对印度的制度来说，没有比这更加令人惊喜的礼物了。


Yes, elections also allow many to vent extreme views.	是的，选举还让许多人有了排解极端观点的渠道。 一些人希望把印度变为印度教国家（Hindu Rashtra），印度教多数的家园；


There are those who wish for India to become a Hindu Rashtra, a land of and for the Hindu majority; those who wish to raise even higher the protectionist barriers against foreign investment that have started to come down; and those who believe that a firm hand at the national helm would be preferable to the failures of democracy.	一些人希望把已开始下降的针对外国投资的保护主义壁垒进一步提高； 还有一些人认为强力国家机器比失败的民主更好。


As the victors in May cobble together a government, their challenge will be to sustain a pluralist India of competing ideas and interests, unafraid of the power or products of the outside world, and determined to liberate and fulfill its people’s creative energies.	5月的胜利这将组成新政府，他们的挑战是保持相互竞争的观点和利益共存的、无惧权力或外部世界产物的、致力于自由和实现人民创造力的多元的印度。


I have little doubt that the democratic process will ensure inclusiveness rather than fragmentation.	我毫不怀疑民主程序能确保包容性而不会带来分裂。


The only possible idea of India is that of a nation greater than the sum of its parts.	印度唯一可行的思想就是国家的整体大于部分之和。


In India, as elsewhere, there will always be a choice between a world of edicts and crusades, where orthodoxies rule and foreign heresies are ruthlessly suppressed, and a world in which the virtues of tolerance, dissent, and cooperation are recognized and practiced.	与其他地区一样，印度永远面临着一个选择：一边是诏谕和十字军，正统派残酷地镇压外来异端邪说； 另一边是认识并实践容忍、异见和合作的美德。


As it goes to the polls, India, with a sixth of the world's population, should offer an instructive example of the latter.	正在走向大选的人口占世界六分之一的印度应该成为后者的典范。


The Return of the Ugly American	丑陋美国的回归


NEW DELHI – Nearly a month after American authorities arrested India’s deputy consul general in New York, Devyani Khobragade, outside her children’s school and charged her with paying her Indian domestic worker a salary below the minimum wage, bilateral relations remain tense.	新德里—近一个月前，美国当局在其孩子的学校门口拘捕了印度驻纽约副总领事科巴拉加德（Devyani Khobragade），并起诉她向其印度本国工人支付的工资低于最低工资标准，至此以后，印美关系便陷入了紧张。


India’s government has reacted with fury to the mistreatment of an official enjoying diplomatic immunity, and public indignation has been widespread and nearly unanimous.	印度政府对享有外交豁免权的官员受到如此不公待遇十分愤怒，印度公众更是一边倒地表示极大愤慨。


So, has an era of steadily improving ties between the two countries come to an end?	那么，两国关系日渐改善的时期就这样结束了吗？


Judging from Indian leaders’ statements, it would certainly seem so.	从印度领导人的声明看，显然如此。


India’s mild-mannered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that Khobragade’s treatment was “deplorable.”	温文尔雅的印度总理辛格声称，科巴拉加德所遇到的对待是“悲惨的”。


National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon called her arrest “despicable” and “barbaric,” and Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid refused to take a conciliatory phone call from US Secretary of State John Kerry.	国家安全顾问米农（Shivshankar Menon）表示科巴拉加德的被捕是“卑劣”而“野蛮”的，外交部长胡尔西德（Salman Khurshid）拒绝接听美国国务卿克里的调停电话。


Emotions have run high in India’s Parliament and on television talk shows as well.	印度议会和电视脱口秀也是群情激动。


Writing to her diplomatic colleagues after her arrest, Khobragade, who has denied the charges against her, noted that she “broke down many times,” owing to “the indignities of repeated handcuffing, stripping, and cavity searches, swabbing,” and to being held “with common criminals and drug addicts.”	在被捕后写给外交同事的信中，拒绝承认指控的科巴拉加德说她因为“反复带上镣铐、去除镣铐、脱衣搜查和探肛搜查”以及“与普通罪犯和瘾君子关在一起”而“崩溃了好几次”。


A former Indian foreign minister, Yashwant Sinha, has publicly called for retaliation against gay American diplomats in India, whose sexual orientation and domestic arrangements are now illegal after a recent Supreme Court ruling.	前印度外交部长辛哈（Yashwant Sinha）公开要求对驻印美国同性恋外交官予以相同待遇，根据最新的最高法院裁决，该美国外交官的性取向和国内安排是非法的。


The government has not taken him seriously, but his suggestion indicates how inflamed passions have become.	政府并未把他的建议当真，但他的要求表明了印度人的怒气有多大。


Some retaliation has occurred.	一些报复已经发生。


The initial American rationale (that foreign consuls in the US enjoy a lower level of immunity than other diplomats) led India’s government to re-examine privileges enjoyed by US consular officials that are unavailable to their Indian counterparts in the US.	美国最初给出的理由（外国驻美领事享有的豁免权低于其他外交官）让印度政府重新审视了美国领事官员所享有的、而他们的印度驻美国同等官员所无法享有的特权。


These privileges – including full-fledged diplomatic ID cards, access to the restricted customs areas of airports, tax-free shipments of items for personal consumption, and no questions asked about the terms of their employment of local domestic staff – were swiftly withdrawn.	这些特权——包括全功能外交身份证、进出机场限制通关区、个人消费品免税运输、免于责问对当地人员的雇用情况等——马上就被取消。


The cardinal principle of diplomatic relations is reciprocity, and India realized that it had been naïve in extending courtesies to the US that it was not receiving in return.	外交关系的首要原则是互惠，印度意识到，把这些给予美国这些待遇是天真的，因为对方并未予以回报。


Likewise, the police have removed bollards and barriers that the US Embassy had unilaterally placed on the street in front of its complex in New Delhi, creating an obstacle to free circulation on a public road that India had tolerated in a spirit of friendship.	类似地，印度警方移除了美国大使馆单方面设置于其新德里所在地街上的路墩和路障，美国大使馆的这一行为侵犯了印度人民在公共道路上自由走动的权利，但出于友谊精神，印度人民忍了下来。


(The government has, however, reiterated its commitment to the US Embassy’s security, even reinforcing the police presence outside.)	（但是，政府重申了保证美国大使馆安全的承诺，因此加强了大使馆外的警力部署。 ）


Tempers remain inflamed, with US Ambassador Nancy Powell, in a New Year’s message to Indians, ruefully acknowledging that ties have been “jolted by very different reactions to issues involving one of your consular officers and her domestic worker.”	美国驻印度大使鲍威尔（Nancy Powell）在纽约给印度人民的信中沮丧地说，印美关系“因为牵涉到你们的领事官员及其本国工人的事件的不同反应而受到了伤害。 ”但印度人民依然怒气冲天。


Kerry has also expressed “regret” over the incident.	克里也表达了对该事件的“遗憾”。


But the US has shown no signs of moving to drop the charges to defuse the crisis.	但美国并没有拿出化解危机的信号。


Indians remain bewildered that the US State Department would so willfully jeopardize a relationship that American officials had been describing as “strategic” over a practice routinely followed by foreign diplomats for decades.	印度人仍然百思不得其解，为何美国国务院会有意地因为几十年来司空见惯的驻外外交官的行为而破坏被美国官员称为“战略性”的印美关系。


Most developing-country diplomats take domestic staff with them on overseas assignments, paying them a good salary by their national standards, plus a cost differential for working aboard.	大部分发展中国家外交官在出国赴任时都会带上本��随从，付给他们以本国标准衡量颇为可观的薪水，此外还会根据出国地点的不同给予补贴。


In Khobragade’s case, perquisites included a fully furnished room in a pricey Manhattan apartment, a television set, a mobile phone, medical insurance, and tickets home.	在科巴拉加德的例子中，她开出的条件是一间租金颇高的带家具的曼哈顿公寓、一台电视机、一部移动电话、医疗保险和回程机票。


The cash part of the salary may be low by US standards – Khobragade herself, as a mid-ranking Indian diplomat, earns less than what the US considers a fair wage – but, with the other benefits, the compensation is attractive for a domestic helper.	薪水的现金部分可能低于美国标准——作为印度中层外交官，科巴拉加德本人的薪水也低于美国人眼中的公平工资——但除了工资之外还有其他福利，对印度本国的侍从而言，报酬相当优渥。


More to the point, Khobragade did not find her maid in the US labor market and “exploit” her; she brought her from India to help her in her representational duties, on an official passport, with a US visa given for that purpose.	此外，科巴拉加德并没有从美国劳动力市场中寻找女佣并“剥削”她； 她是她从印度带来的随从，帮助她完成代表指责，持有因公护照并戳有美国的该目的签证。


In almost no other country are local labor laws applied in such a manner to a foreign diplomat’s personal staff.	其他国家的地方劳动法基本上都不适用于外国外交官员的个人随从。


Privately, US diplomats express frustration at their helplessness in the face of theatrical grandstanding by the ambitious federal prosecutor, Preet Bharara, an Indian-American who has launched a series of high-profile cases against Indians in America.	私下里，美国外交官员纷纷对面对雄心勃勃的联邦检察官巴拉拉（Preet Bharara）的这一哗众取宠之举无能为力而表示遗憾。 巴拉拉是印裔美国人，他曾经发动过多起针对在美印度人的大案。


For once, however, the zealous Bharara seems to have slipped up, because Khobragade was arrested at a time when she enjoyed full diplomatic (not just consular) immunity as an adviser to India’s United Nations mission during the General Assembly.	但是，急躁的巴拉拉迟早要栽跟头，因为科巴拉加德被捕时享有完全的外交（而不仅仅是领事）豁免权，因为她是联合国大会期间印度驻联合国顾问。


The State Department’s handling of the matter – which included approval of Khobragade’s arrest – has been, to say the least, inept.	美国国务院对此事的处理——包括批捕科巴拉加德——不可不谓拙劣。


Worse, just before the arrest, the maid’s family was spirited out of India on US visas for victims of human trafficking.	更糟糕的是，在逮捕科巴拉加德之前，其女佣的家庭持有人口贩卖受害者美国签证离开印度。


The implication that an Indian diplomat in a wage dispute with her maid is guilty of human trafficking understandably riles Indian diplomats as much as the treatment of Khobragade after she was detained.	一位与其女佣存在工资纠纷的印度外交官犯有人口贩卖罪，这自然也引起了印度外交官的愤怒，其影响不亚于科巴拉加德被捕后得到的对待。


The American habit of imposing its worldview self-righteously on others is deeply unwelcome.	美国人习惯于自作聪明地把自己的世界观强加给被人，这十分令人讨厌。


To most Indians, common discourtesy cannot be repackaged as moral virtue.	对大部分印度人来说，司空见惯的粗鲁是不可能被包装成道德优点的。


Indian-American relations had been strengthening, owing to both sides’ shared commitment to democracy, common concerns about China, and increasing trade and investment.	印美关系一直在加强，这是因为双方有共同的民主事业、都担心中国、贸易和投资的关系日趋紧密。


The Khobragade affair suggests, however, that all of this is not enough: sustaining a strategic partnership requires, above all, mutual respect.	但科巴拉加德事件表明，所有这些还不足够：维持战略伙伴关系最重要的是互相尊重。


India had handled American diplomats with a generosity of spirit that it felt the bilateral relationship deserved.	印度以慷慨精神对待美国外交官，认为这是双边关系的应有之义。


Now, with the same spirit shown to be lacking from the other side, the friendship has suffered.	如今，对方并没有表现出同样的精神，这让两国友谊很受伤。


Until the US displays appropriate deference to the sensitivities, pride, and honor of other peoples and cultures, it will continue to be resented around the world.	除非美国对其他民族和文化的敏感性、骄傲和光荣表现出应有的尊重，否则它将继续为全世界所不齿。


The Return of Fiscal Policy	财政政策的回归


NEW YORK – Since the global financial crisis of 2008, monetary policy has borne much of the burden of sustaining aggregate demand, boosting growth, and preventing deflation in developed economies.	发自纽约——自2008年全球金融危机以来，货币政策已经在维持总需求，刺激经济增长，防止发达经济体通货紧缩方面承担了太多的负担。


Fiscal policy, for its part, was constrained by large budget deficits and rising stocks of public debt, with many countries even implementing austerity to ensure debt sustainability.	就其本身而言，财政政策会受到庞大预算赤字和公共债务膨胀的制肘，许多国家甚至实施紧缩政策来确保债务可持续性。


Eight years later, it is time to pass the baton.	八年过去了，是时候要找人接棒了。


As the only game in town when it came to economic stimulus, central banks were driven to adopt increasingly unconventional monetary policies.	作为刺激经济的唯一手段，中央银行被驱使去采取愈发非常规的货币政策。


They began by cutting interest rates to zero, and later introduced forward guidance, committing to keep policy rates at zero for a protracted period.	它们首先将利率削减至零，后来又推出了前进指导，承诺在一段相当长的时期将政策利率政策利率维持在零。


In rapid succession, advanced-country central banks also launched quantitative easing (QE), purchasing massive volumes of long-term government securities to reduce their yields.	发达国家的中央银行也接二连三地启动量化宽松政策，大量购买长期政府债券以减少其收益率。


They also initiated credit easing, or purchases of private assets to reduce the costs of private-sector borrowing.	它们还发起了信贷宽松或私人资产购买以减少私人部门的借贷成本。


Most recently, some monetary authorities – including the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, and several other European central banks – have taken interest rates negative.	最近一些货币当局——包括欧洲央行，日本银行以及其它几大欧洲央行——已将利率调为负值。


These policies boosted asset prices and economic growth, while preventing deflation. But they are reaching their limits.	虽然这些政策可以在提振资产价格和经济增长的同时防止通货紧缩，但其效力也已达到极限。


In fact, negative policy rates may hurt bank profitability and thus banks’ willingness to extend credit.	事实上，负面的政策利率可能会损害银行盈利并挫伤其发放贷款的积极性。


As for QE, central banks may simply run out of government bonds to buy.	至于量化宽松政策，央行可能会面临国债筹集资金耗尽以致无力继续采购的困境。


Yet most economies are far from where they need to be.	然而，大多数经济体的政策都远远不足以满足其需求。


If below-trend growth continues, monetary policy may well lack the tools to address it, particularly if tail risks – economic, financial, political, or geopolitical – also undermine recovery.	如果低于正常趋势的增长持续下去，货币政策很可能会耗尽解决这一问题的手段，尤其是如果尾部风险——经济，金融，政治和地缘政治——也对复苏构成了影响的时候。


If banks are driven, for any reason, to reduce lending to the private sector, monetary policy may become less effective, ineffective, or even counter-productive.	如果银行在任何理由的驱使下减少贷款给私营部门，货币政策可能变得不那么有效，或者无效，甚至适得其反。


In such a context, fiscal policy would be the only effective macroeconomic-policy tool left, and thus would have to assume much more responsibility for countering recessionary pressures.	在这样的背景下，财政政策将成为唯一剩余的有效宏观经济政策工具，从而将不得不承担起更多对抗经济衰退压力的责任。


But there is no need to wait until central banks have run out of ammunition. We should begin activating fiscal policy now, for several reasons.	但是不必等到央行耗尽弹药，我们应该现在就启动财政政策，原因如下：


For starters, thanks to painful austerity, deficits and debts have fallen, meaning that most advanced economies now have some fiscal space to boost demand.	首先，得益于痛苦的紧缩，赤字和债务已经有所下降，意味着大多数发达经济体如今至少拥有一些财政空间来刺激需求。


Moreover, central banks’ near-zero policy rates and effective monetization of debt by way of QE would enhance the impact of fiscal policy on aggregate demand.	此外，央行的近零政策利率以及借助量化宽松方式实现的有效债务货币化将加强财政政策对总需求的影响。


And long-term government bond yields are at an historic low, enabling governments to spend more and/or reduce taxes while financing the deficit cheaply.	而长期政府债券收益率正处于一个历史低点，使政府在增加支出和/或减少税收的同时得以用低廉的成本为赤字融资。


Finally, most advanced economies need to repair or replace crumbling infrastructure, a form of investment with higher returns than government bonds, especially today, when bond yields are extremely low.	最后，大多数发达经济体都需要维修或更换摇摇欲坠的基础设施，在如今债券收益率极低的情况下这可算是种比政府债券回报更高的投资形式。


Public infrastructure not only increases aggregate demand; it also increases aggregate supply, as it supports private-sector productivity and efficiency.	公共基础设施建设不仅增加了总需求； 还增加了总供给，因为它有助于提升私营部门的生产力和效率。


The good news is that the advanced economies of the G7 seem poised to begin – or perhaps have already begun – to rely more on fiscal policy to bolster sagging economic growth, even as they maintain the rhetoric of austerity.	好消息是，虽然依旧将紧缩言论挂在嘴边，但七国集团（G7）的各先进经济体似乎准备开始——或者已经开始——��多地依靠财政政策来支持下滑的经济增长。


In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration has announced a plan to boost public investment.	在加拿大，总理贾斯汀·特鲁多（Justin Trudeau）的政府已经宣布了一项计划以增加公共投资。


And Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decided to postpone a risky consumption-tax hike planned for next year, while also announcing supplementary budgets to increase spending and boost the household sector’s purchasing power.	与此同时日本首相安倍晋三已决定推迟明年可能导致风险的消费税上调，还宣布追加预算以提高家庭部门的购买力。


In the United Kingdom, the new government, led by Prime Minister Theresa May, has dropped the target of eliminating the deficit by the end of the decade.	在英国，新政府在首相特雷莎·梅伊（Theresa May）的带领下已经放弃了在2020年之前消灭赤字的目标。


In the wake of the Brexit vote, May’s government has designed expansionary fiscal policies aimed at spurring growth and improving economic conditions for cities, regions, and groups left behind in the last decade.	在英国脱欧投票之后，梅伊政府已经制定出旨在拉动经济增长并改善在过去十年间被抛离的那些城市，地区和群体经济状况的扩张性财政政策。


Even in the eurozone, there is some movement.	甚至在欧元区也有一些动作。


Germany will spend more on refugees, defense, security, and infrastructure, while reducing taxes moderately.	德国将在难民，国防，安全和基础设施方面增加支出，同时适度减税。


And, with the European Commission showing more flexibility on targets and ceilings, the rest of the eurozone may also be able to use fiscal policy more effectively.	同时，随着欧洲委员会在政策目标和上限方面表现出更多的灵活性，欧元区其他地区也能更有效地利用财政政策。


If fully implemented, the so-called Juncker Plan, named for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, will boost public investment throughout the European Union.	如果全面实施的话，因欧盟委员会主席让-克劳德·容克而得名的容克计划将推动整个欧盟的公共投资。


As for the United States, there will be some stimulus, regardless of whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins the presidential election.	至于美国，无论希拉里·克林顿还是唐纳德·特朗普赢得总统选举都会出台一些刺激政策。


Both candidates favor more infrastructure spending, more military spending, loosening limits on civilian spending, and corporate-tax reform.	两位候选人都倾向于更多的基础设施支出，更多的军费开支，放宽民生服务支出限制以及企业税改革。


Trump also has a tax-reduction plan that would not be revenue-neutral, and thus would expand the budget deficit (though the effect on demand would likely be small, given the concentration of benefits at the very top of the income distribution).	特朗普也有一个无法实现税收收入中性（指政府总收入不变，增加一种税的同时减少另一种税）的减税计划，因此将扩大预算赤字（因为利益高度集中在收入分配的最顶端阶层，因此对需求的影响可能会很小）。


The fiscal stimulus that will result from these uncoordinated G7 policies will likely be very modest – at best, 0.5% of GDP of additional stimulus per year for a few years.	G7各国各自为政的财政刺激政策只会产生极为平庸的效果——充其量在未来几年只能每年额外刺激国内生产总值增加0.


This means that more stimulus, particularly spending on public infrastructure, will probably be warranted.	5％。 这意味着更多的刺激措施，特别是公共基础设施支出，可能是有必要的。


Nonetheless, the measures undertaken or contemplated so far already represent a step in the right direction.	尽管如此，目前已经采取或设想的相关措施已经代表了在正确的方向上迈出了一步。


Israel’s Last Founding Father	以色列最后一位开国元勋


TEL AVIV – In 2006, a year before Shimon Peres was elected as Israel’s president, Michael Bar-Zohar published the Hebrew edition of his Peres biography.	特拉维夫—2006年，即西蒙·佩雷斯当选以色列总统的前一年，迈克尔·巴尔-左哈儿（Michael Bar-Zohar）出版了他的佩雷斯传记的希伯来文版。


It was aptly titled Like a Phoenix: by then, Peres had been active in Israeli politics and public life for more than 60 years.	书名恰如其分：《像一只凤凰》（Like a Phoenix）。 当时，佩雷斯已经在以色列政坛和公共生活中活跃了60余年。


Peres’s career had its ups and downs.	佩雷斯的职业生涯几经沉浮。


He reached lofty heights and suffered humiliating failures – and went through several incarnations.	他有过辉煌，也有过没落——并且多次大起大落。


A pillar of Israel’s national security leadership, he subsequently became an ardent peacemaker, always maintaining a love-hate relationship with an Israeli public that consistently declined to elect him Prime Minister but admired him when he did not have or seek real power.	他是以色列国家安全领导的支柱之一，后来成为坚定的和平派，与一直拒绝选他当总理、但在他不拥有或追求实际权力时又敬仰他的以色列共公众一直爱恨交织。


Undeterred by adversity, Peres kept pushing forward, driven by ambition and a sense of mission, and aided by his talents and creativity.	不惧逆境的佩雷斯一直努力向前，他的动力来自雄心和使命感，但天才和创造力也助他一臂之力。


He was a self-taught man, a voracious reader, and a prolific writer, a man moved and inspired every few years by a new idea: nanoscience, the human brain, Middle Eastern economic development.	他自学成才，嗜书如命，著作等身，每隔几年就会受到新思想的潜移默化和启发：纳米科学、人脑科学、中东经济发展等。


He was also a visionary and sly politician, who never fully shook off his East European origins.	他也是远见卓识、手段多端的政治家，从未摆脱其东欧出身。


When his quest for power and participation in policymaking ended in 2007, he reached the pinnacle of his public career, serving as President until 2014.	2007年，当他不再追求权力和参与决策时，他也达到了公职生涯的顶峰，成为以色列总统并一直履任至2014年。


He rehabilitated the institution after succeeding an unworthy predecessor and became popular at home and admired abroad as an informal global Elder on the international stage, a sought-after speaker in international fora, and a symbol of a peace-seeking Israel, in sharp contrast to its pugnacious prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.	他的前任名不副实，但他重塑了总统形象，以国际舞台上的非正式长者、国际论坛的热门演讲者、以色列追求和平的象征的身份赢得国民支持和国际敬仰，与以好战著称的以色列总理内塔尼亚胡形成鲜明对比。


Peres’s rich and complex political career passed through five main phases.	佩雷斯丰富而复杂的政治生涯可以包括五个主要阶段。


He began as an activist in the Labor Party and its youth movement in the early 1940s.	20世纪40年代，他作为工党（Labor Party）及其青年团活跃分子初出茅庐。


By 1946, he was considered senior enough to be sent to Europe as part of the pre-state delegation to the first post-war Zionist Congress.	1946年，他已经获得了足够的资格被派往欧洲作为以色列建国前代表团的一员参加第一届战后犹太复国大会（Zionist Congress）。


He then began to work closely with Israel’s leading founder, David Ben-Gurion, at the Ministry of Defense, mostly in procurement, during Israel’s Independence War, eventually rising to become the ministry’s director-general.	随后，在以色列独立战争期间，他开始在国防部紧紧跟随以色列国父大卫·本-古里安，主要从事采购工作，��终升职为国防部办公厅主任。


In that capacity, Peres became the architect of the young state’s defense doctrine.	在这个职位上，佩雷斯成为年轻的以色列国防思想的奠基者。


Running a sort of parallel foreign ministry, his main achievement was the creation of a close alliance and strong security cooperation – including with respect to nuclear technology – with France.	在负责同级的外交部时，他的主要成就是与法国结成紧密联盟并进行大量安全合作——包括在核技术方面的合作。


In 1959, Peres moved to full-time politics, supporting Ben-Gurion in his conflict with Labor’s old guard.	1959年，佩雷斯转为职业政治家，支持本-古里安与工党元老派的斗争。


Later, he was elected to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, and became Deputy Minister of Defense and subsequently a full member of the cabinet.	随后他当选为以色列议会议员并成为国防部副部长，随后成为内阁成员。


His career entered a new phase in 1974, when Prime Minister Golda Meir was forced to resign after the October 1973 debacle, in which Anwar Sadat’s Egyptian forces successfully crossed the Suez Canal.	1974年，他的职业生涯进入了新阶段。 1973年，萨达特的埃及军队成功跨越苏伊士运河，总理梅厄夫人因为这场大溃败而被迫辞职。


Peres presented his candidacy, but narrowly lost to Yitzhak Rabin.	佩雷斯参加了总理竞选，但以微弱劣势败给了拉宾。


As compensation, Rabin gave Peres the position of defense minister in his government.	作为补偿，拉宾任命佩雷斯担任其政府的国防部长。


Nonetheless, their contest in 1974 marked the start of 21 years of fierce rivalry, mitigated by cooperation.	尽管如此，1974年的竞争标志着两人长达21年的势不两立的开始，尽管合作让双方的对立有所缓和。


Twice, in 1977, after Rabin was forced to resign, and in 1995-1996, after Rabin was assassinated, Peres succeeded his rival.	1977年拉宾被迫下台以及1995—1996年拉宾遇刺后，佩雷斯两次接任对手的职位。


He was also Prime Minister (a very good one) in a national unity government in 1984-1986; but, despite trying for nearly 30 years, he never won his own mandate from Israeli voters for the post he coveted the most.	1984—1986年，他也担任过联合政府总理（干得非常优秀）； 但是，尽管他努力了近30年，但从未从以色列选民手中赢得对这个他最向往的职位的任命。


In 1979, Peres transformed himself into the leader of Israel’s peace camp, focusing his efforts in the 1980s on Jordan.	1979年，佩雷斯转身成为以色列和平阵营领袖，20世纪80年代，他的工作重心是约旦。


But, though he came tantalizingly close to a peace deal in 1987, when he signed the London Agreement with King Hussein, the agreement was stillborn.	但是，尽管他在1987年无限接近和平协议，但在与侯赛因国王签订伦敦协定（London Agreement）时，协定最终胎死腹中。


In 1992, the Labor Party’s rank and file concluded that Peres could not win an election, and that only a centrist like Rabin stood a chance.	1992年，工党全体成员认定佩雷斯不可能赢得选举，只有拉宾这样的中间派才有可能赢得选举。


Rabin won and returned, after 15 years, to the premiership.	拉宾在时隔15年后再次赢得大选并成为总理。


This time, he kept the defense portfolio for himself and gave Peres the foreign ministry.	这一回，他亲自兼任国防部长，而让佩雷斯担任外交部长。


Rabin was determined to manage the peace process and assigned to Peres a marginal role.	拉宾决定自己来负责和平进程，只给了佩雷斯一个边缘角色。


But Peres was offered by Rabin’s deputy an opportunity to champion a track two negotiation with the PLO in Oslo, and, with Rabin’s consent, took charge of the talks, bringing them to a successful conclusion in August 1993.	但拉宾的副手给了佩雷斯给了佩雷斯一个机会，由他组织在奥斯陆与巴勒斯坦解放组织进行备选方案（track two）谈判，并在拉宾的批准下担任谈判负责任，并在1993年8月成功达成协议。


Here was the prime example of competition and collaboration that typified the Rabin-Peres relationship.	这是拉宾-佩雷斯之间竞争与合作关系的最佳例证。


It took Peres’s boldness and creativity to conclude the Oslo Accords; but without Rabin’s credibility and stature as a military man and security hawk, the Israeli public and political establishment would not have accepted it.	依靠佩雷斯的果断和创造力，奥斯陆协定得以成功谈成； 但没有拉宾和信誉和作为军人和安全鹰派的形象，以色列公众和政治建制不可能接受奥斯陆协定。


The grudging cooperation between Rabin and Peres continued until November 4, 1995, when Rabin was murdered by a right-wing extremist.	拉宾和佩雷斯之间的勉强合作一直维持到1995年11月4日拉宾被极右翼极端分子刺杀为止。


The assassin could have killed Peres, but decided that targeting Rabin was the more effective way to derail the peace process.	杀手本来想杀死佩雷斯，但他认定以拉宾为目标是破坏和平进程更有效的方式。


Succeeding Rabin, Peres tried to negotiate a peace deal with Syria on the heels of Oslo.	继任拉宾的职位后，佩雷斯试图效仿奥斯陆的先例与叙利亚谈判和平协议。


He failed, called an early election, ran a bad campaign, and lost narrowly to Netanyahu in May 1996.	但他失败了，于是他宣布提前举行大选，糟糕的选战让他在1996年5月以微弱劣势输给了内塔尼亚胡。


The next ten years were not a happy period for Peres.	接下来的十年对佩雷斯并不愉快。


He lost the leadership of Labor to Ehud Barak, joined Ariel Sharon’s new Kadima party and his government, and was the object of criticism and attacks by the Israeli right, who blamed him for the Oslo Accords.	他的工党领袖地位输给了巴拉克。 他加入了沙龙新成立的前进党（Kadima）和沙龙政府，并成为以色列右翼批评和抨击的对象。


Peres began to play down the Nobel Peace Prize that he had shared with Yasser Arafat and Rabin after Oslo.	奥斯陆协定成为他的一个污点。 佩雷斯开始淡化他与阿拉法特和拉宾因为奥斯陆协定而获得的诺贝尔和平奖。


The discrepancy between his stature on the international stage and his position in Israeli politics became glaringly apparent during these years – disappearing, however, when he became President in 2007.	在这几年中，他的国际地位与他在以色列政坛中的处境对比日益鲜明——但在2007年成为以色列总统后，这一反差便不复存在。


Peres was an experienced, gifted leader, an eloquent speaker, and a source of ideas.	佩雷斯是一位有经验、有才华的领袖，一位雄辩的演讲者，一位思想家。


But perhaps most important, he was an Israeli leader who had a vision and a message.	但也许最重要的是，他是一位有远见、有内容的以色列领导人。


This was the secret of his international stature: people expect the leader of Israel, the man from Jerusalem, to be just that type of visionary figure.	这就是他赢得国际地位的秘密：人们希望以色列领导人，这位来自耶路撒冷的人，正是这样一位有远见卓识的人物。


When the country’s political leadership does not meet that expectation, a leader like Peres assumes the role – and gains the glory.	当以色列政治领导层无法满足这一期望时，像佩雷斯这样的领导人能够填补这一角色——并赢得荣耀。


The Promise of Abenomics	安倍经济学的祝福


TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s program for his country’s economic recovery has led to a surge in domestic confidence.	东京—日本首相安倍晋三的经济复苏计划极大地激发了国内信心。


But to what extent can “Abenomics” claim credit?	但“安倍经济学”可信度几何？


Interestingly, a closer look at Japan’s performance over the past decade suggests little reason for persistent bearish sentiment.	有趣的是，仔细考察日本过去数十年的经验，你会觉得没有什么理由持续看空。 事实上，从工作人口人均产出增长看，日本从上世纪末以来表现相当出色。


Indeed, in terms of growth of output per employed worker, Japan has done quite well since the turn of the century.	在劳动力人数下降的情况下，2012年（即安倍经济学之前）的日本标准估计是工作人口人均产出年增长率3. 03%。


With a shrinking labor force, the standard estimate for Japan in 2012 – that is, before Abenomics – had output per employed worker growing by 3.08% year on year.	这比美国稳健得多——美国去年人工作人口人均产出只增加了0. 37%；


That is considerably more robust than in the United States, where output per worker grew by just 0.37% last year, and much stronger than in Germany, where it shrank by 0.25%.	也比德国坚挺得多——德国的数字是下降0. 25%。


Nonetheless, as many Japanese rightly sense, Abenomics can only help the country’s recovery.	尽管如此，许多日本人正确地觉得，安倍经济学只是有助于日本的复苏。


Abe is doing what many economists (including me) have been calling for in the US and Europe: a comprehensive program entailing monetary, fiscal, and structural policies.	安倍晋三在做很多经济学家（包括我）一直建议美国和欧洲所做的事：包括货币、财政和结构政策在内的全面的计划。


Abe likens this approach to holding three arrows – taken alone, each can be bent; taken together, none can.	安倍晋三用三支箭的故事来为这一计划打比方：一支箭易折，三支箭不可折。


The new governor of the Bank of Japan, Haruhiko Kuroda, comes with a wealth of experience gained in the finance ministry, and then as President of the Asian Development Bank.	日本银行新任行长黑田东彦曾任日本财相和亚洲开发银行行长，积累了丰富的经验。


During the East Asia crisis of the late 1990’s, he saw firsthand the failure of the conventional wisdom pushed by the US Treasury and the International Monetary Fund.	在20世纪90年代末东亚危机期间，他在第一线目睹了美国财政部和IMF所推行的传统智慧的失败。


Not wedded to central bankers’ obsolete doctrines, he has made a commitment to reverse Japan’s chronic deflation, setting an inflation target of 2%.	黑田东彦没有央行行长的陈词滥调，他承诺逆转日本的长期通缩形势，将通胀目标定在2%。


Deflation increases the real (inflation-adjusted) debt burden, as well as the real interest rate.	通缩增加了真实（经通胀调整的）债务负担和真实利率。


Though there is little evidence of the importance of small changes in real interest rates, the effect of even mild deflation on real debt, year after year, can be significant.	尽管没有证据表明真实利率的微小变动事关重大，但哪怕是略有通缩，年复一年对真是债务的影响也是巨大的。


Kuroda’s stance has already weakened the yen’s exchange rate, making Japanese goods more competitive.	黑田东彦的立场让日元贬值，日本商品变得更具竞争力。


This simply reflects the reality of monetary-policy interdependence: if the US Federal Reserve’s policy of so-called quantitative easing weakens the dollar, others have to respond to prevent undue appreciation of their currencies.	这反映出货币政策独立的现实：如果美联储的所谓量化宽松政策让美元贬值，则其他央行就必须采取应对措施防止本币过度升值。 总有一天，我们会达到更紧密的全球货币政策协调；


Someday, we might achieve closer global monetary-policy coordination; for now, however, it made sense for Japan to respond, albeit belatedly, to developments elsewhere.	但是，目前日本根据其他国家的发展形势作出的应对措施尽管姗姗来迟，却相当有效。


Monetary policy would have been more effective in the US had more attention been devoted to credit blockages – for example, many homeowners’ refinancing problems, even at lower interest rates, or small and medium-size enterprises’ lack of access to financing.	如果美国把更多的注意力放在信用渠道堵塞上——如大量屋主所面临的再融资问题（尽管利率已有所下降）和中小企业难以获得融资的问题，那么货币政策应该远比现在有效。


Japan’s monetary policy, one hopes, will focus on such critical issues.	希望日本的货币政策会专注于这些关键问题。


But Abe has two more arrows in his policy quiver.	但安倍晋三的政策是三管齐下的。


Critics who argue that fiscal stimulus in Japan failed in the past – leading only to squandered investment in useless infrastructure – make two mistakes.	认为日本过去财政刺激无效——唯一结果是将大量投资浪费在无用的基础设施上——的批评家犯了两个错误。


First, there is the counterfactual case: How would Japan’s economy have performed in the absence of fiscal stimulus?	首先是违反事实：如果没有财政刺激，日本经济表现将如何？


Given the magnitude of the contraction in credit supply following the financial crisis of the late 1990’s, it is no surprise that government spending failed to restore growth.	20世纪90年代末的金融危机后，信用供应量大幅萎缩，因此政府支出没能重塑增长并不令人奇怪。 要不是政府支出，日本的情形会糟糕得多；


Matters would have been much worse without the spending; as it was, unemployment never surpassed 5.8%, and, in throes of the global financial crisis, it peaked at 5.5%.	事实是失业率从未超过5. 8%，即使受到了金融危机的严重打击，失业率最高也只达到了5.


Second, anyone visiting Japan recognizes the benefits of its infrastructure investments (America could learn a valuable lesson here).	5%。 其次，任何访问过日本的人都认为其基础设施投资好处多多（美国在这方面可以学到极有价值的一课）。


The real challenge will be in designing the third arrow, what Abe refers to as “growth.”	正真的挑战是设计第三支箭，即安倍晋三所谓的“增长”。


This includes policies aimed at restructuring the economy, improving productivity, and increasing labor-force participation, especially by women.	这包括旨在重组经济、改善生产率和增加劳动力参与率（特别是妇女）的政策。


Some talk about “deregulation” – a word that has rightly fallen into disrepute following the global financial crisis.	有人大谈“去监管化”——全球金融危机爆发后，这个词声名狼藉。


In fact, it would be a mistake for Japan to roll back its environmental regulations, or its health and safety regulations.	事实上，如果日本放松其环境监管或卫生和安全监管，将是一个错误。


What is needed is the right regulation.	日本需要的是正确的监管。


In some areas, more active government involvement will be needed to ensure more effective competition.	在一些领域，政府的积极介入是确保更有效竞争之所必须。


But many areas in which reform is needed, such as hiring practices, require change in private-sector conventions, not government regulations.	但在很多需要改革的领域，如用工政策等，需要的是私人部门的约定俗成，而不是政府监管。


Abe can only set the tone, not dictate outcomes.	安倍晋三可以定调而不规定结果。


For example, he has asked firms to increase their workers’ wages, and many firms are planning to provide a larger bonus than usual at the end of the fiscal year in March.	比如，他要求企业增加妇女工资，而许多企业计划在3月结束的本财年发放比往年更高的奖金。


Government efforts to increase productivity in the service sector probably will be particularly important.	提高服务部门生产率的政府动作或许将特别重要。


For example, Japan is in a good position to exploit synergies between an improved health-care sector and its world-class manufacturing capabilities, in the development of medical instrumentation.	比如，日本有很好的条件实现在改善的卫生部门及其世界级制造能力之间形成协同效应，发展医疗仪表化。


Family policies, together with changes in corporate labor practices, can reinforce changing mores, leading to greater (and more effective) female labor-force participation.	家庭政策与公司劳动力雇用行为变化一起可以促进移风易俗，使女性更多（也更有效地）参与劳动力。


While Japanese students rank high in international comparisons, a widespread lack of command of English, the lingua franca of international commerce and science, puts Japan at a disadvantage in the global marketplace.	尽管日本学生在国际评比中的排名很高，但普遍缺乏国际商界和科学界通用语英语的训练，这使得日本在全球市场中落在了下风。


Further investments in research and education are likely to pay high dividends.	进一步提高研究和教育投资或能产生极高的收益。


There is every reason to believe that Japan’s strategy for rejuvenating its economy will succeed:  the country benefits from strong institutions, has a well-educated labor force with superb technical skills and design sensibilities, and is located in the world’s most (only?) dynamic region.	各种原因表明，日本的重振经济战略将会成功：这个国家从强大的制度中获益良多，拥有教育程度高、技术技能强、设计敏感度卓越的劳动力，并且身处世界（唯一？ ）最具活力的地区。


It suffers from less inequality than many advanced industrial countries (though more than Canada and the northern European countries), and it has had a longer-standing commitment to environment preservation.	它受不平等性影响的程度比诸多发达工业国都要低（尽管比加拿大和北欧国家更大），它的环境保护眼光更加长远。


If the comprehensive agenda that Abe has laid out is executed well, today’s growing confidence will be vindicated.	安倍晋三的全面计划若能完美实施，今天的信心提高就会得到印证。


Indeed, Japan could become one of the few rays of light in an otherwise gloomy advanced-country landscape.	事实上，日本可以称为死气沉沉的发达国家中的活力之光。


Securing the Rule of Law at Sea	捍卫海洋法治精神


TOKYO – Japan is in a better position than ever before to play a larger and more proactive role in ensuring peace in Asia and the world.	东京—日本正处在一个比以往任何时候都更有利于其在确保亚洲和世界和平的问题上起到更大更积极作用的位置。


We enjoy the explicit and enthusiastic support of our allies and other friendly countries, including every ASEAN member country and the United States, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and France, among others.	我们拥有来自盟国和其他友邦的明确而热烈的支持，包括所有东盟成员国、美国、澳大利亚、印度、英国、法国等。


All of them know that Japan stands for the rule of law – for Asia and for all people.	所有这些国家都知道日本站在法治精神这一边——也站在亚洲和全人类这一边。


We are not alone.	我们不孤单。


In most Asia-Pacific countries, economic growth has nurtured freedom of thought and religion, as well as more accountable and responsive political systems.	在大部分亚太国家，经济增长培育了思想和宗教自由以及可问责性更高、响应更快的政治制度。


Though the pace of such changes varies from country to country, the idea of the rule of law has taken root.	尽管这一变革的速度因国而异，但法治精神的思想已经站稳了脚跟。


And that means that the region’s political leaders must ensure respect for international law.	而这意味着亚太地区政治领导人必须确保尊重国际法。


Nowhere is that need clearer than in the area of international maritime law.	关于这一点，没有比国际海���法领域更清楚的了。


The Asia-Pacific region has achieved tremendous growth in the span of a single generation.	亚太地区在一代人的时间里实现了巨大的增长成就。


Regrettably, a large and relatively disproportionate share of the fruits of that growth is going toward military expansion.	遗憾的是，这一果实的大到有些不成比例的部分被用在了军事扩张上。


The sources of instability include not only the threat of weapons of mass destruction, but also – and more immediately – efforts to alter the territorial status quo through force or coercion.	不稳定的源头不但包括大规模杀伤性武器的威胁，也包括通过武力或吞并改变领土现状的企图的威胁。


And those efforts are taking place largely at sea.	其中又以主要发生在海洋的后者的威胁为甚。


Recently, US President Barack Obama and I mutually reaffirmed our countries’ alliance as the cornerstone of regional peace and security.	最近，美国总统奥巴马和我共同确认，两国的盟友关系是地区和平与安全的基石。


Moreover, the United States and Japan are strengthening trilateral cooperation with like-minded partners to promote regional and global peace and economic prosperity.	此外，美国和日本正在强化与观念相近的伙伴国家的三角合作以促进地区和全球和平与经济繁荣。


Already, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and I have agreed that we should do exactly that.	澳大利亚总理阿伯特和我已经达成共识，这正是我们需要努力的方向。


The history of international maritime law is long, stretching back to ancient Greece.	国际海洋法的历史十分悠久，可以追溯到古希腊。


By Roman times, the seas were open to all, with personal possession and partitioning prohibited.	在罗马时期，海洋已经向所有人开放，个人占有和划界的行为是被禁止的。


Since the dawn of the Age of Exploration, large numbers of people have crossed the seas for myriad reasons, and marine-based commerce has connected the world’s regions.	自地理大发现时期以来，许多人出于各种理由从事航海，基于海洋的商业将世界各地区连接在一起。


Freedom on the high seas became a foundational principle for human prosperity.	公海自由成为人类繁荣的基本原则。


No particular country or group created international maritime law as it now exists.	现在所形成的国际海洋法不是由一国或一个集团制定的。


It is the product of humankind’s collective wisdom, cultivated over a great many years for the wellbeing of all.	它是全人类集体智慧的产物，是以全人类的福利为目标经历多年形成的。


Today, many benefits for humanity depend on the seas from the Pacific to the Indian Oceans remaining fully open.	如今，许多人道利益取决于从印度洋到太平洋的海路的完全开放。


But what, exactly, does that mean?	但是，这又意味着什么？


If we distill the spirit that we have infused into international law over the ages and reformulate it as three principles, the rule of law at sea becomes a matter of common sense.	如果我们提取千百年来我们在国际法中所注入的精神病总结出三条原则，那么海洋法治精神就成为了常识问题。


First, states should make and clarify their claims based on international law.	首先，各国应该基于海洋法主张并论证它们的权利。


Second, states should not use force or coercion in trying to realize their claims.	其次，各国不应该试图使用武力或吞并手段来实现它们的主张。


And, third, states should seek to settle disputes by peaceful means.	第三，各国应该寻求通过和平途径解决争端。


All three of these very simple – almost self-evident – principles must be emphasized, because all governments in Asia and the Pacific must uphold them rigorously.	这三条原则都非常简单——几乎可以说不言自明——它们必须予以强调，因为亚洲和太平洋地区的所有国家政府都必须严格遵守它们。


Consider Indonesia and the Philippines, countries whose leaders have peacefully reached agreement on the delimitation of their overlapping exclusive economic zones.	以印尼和菲律宾为例，两国领导人和平地就各自专属经济区重叠的问题形成了一致。


Likewise, my government strongly supports the Philippines’ call for a resolution to the territorial dispute in the South China Sea that is truly consistent with the three principles of international maritime law, just as we support Vietnam’s efforts to resolve conflicting territorial claims through dialogue.	类似地，我的政府强烈支持菲律宾呼吁就南海领土纠纷形成于国际海洋法的三大原则真正相符的解决方案，正如我们支持越南通过对话解决领土主张冲突的努力。


Rather than attempting to consolidate changes to the status quo by piling one fait accompli upon another, the region’s governments should make a firm pledge to return to the spirit and provisions of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, to which all parties concerned previously agreed.	亚太地区各国政府不能试图通过让某一既成事实凌驾于另一既成事实而巩固现状的改变，而应该切实承诺回归所有相关各方都同意的2002年《南海各方行为宣言》（Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea）的精神和条款。


In today’s world, countries should not fear that coercion and threats will replace rules and laws.	当今世界，各国不应该害怕吞并和威胁将取代规则和法律。


I strongly hope that ASEAN member states and China can swiftly establish a truly effective code of conduct for the South China Sea.	我强烈地希望东盟成员国和中国能够迅速建立真正有效的南海行动法则。


Japan and China have an agreement that then-Premier Wen Jiabao and I concluded in 2007, during my first term as Prime Minister.	2007年，时任中国总理温家宝和首次担任日本首相的我代表两国形成了一项协议。


We made a commitment to create a maritime and air communication mechanism in order to prevent unforeseen incidents between our countries from generating tensions and miscalculation.	我们承诺建立海洋和空中沟通机制以防止两国间未预见到的事故导致紧张和误会。


Unfortunately, this commitment has not translated into the implementation of such a mechanism.	不幸的是，这一承诺并未转化为这一机制的实施。


We do not welcome dangerous encounters by fighter aircraft and vessels at sea.	我们不欢迎战斗机和军舰在海上的危险对峙。


What Japan and China must exchange are words.	日本和中国需要交流的是辞令。


Should we not meet at the negotiating table, exchange smiles and handshakes, and get down to talking?	难道我们不应该在谈判桌前相见，微笑着握手然后坐下来谈判？


I believe that following through on the 2007 agreement would advance the cause of peace and stability in the entire region.	我相信，遵循2007年协议有助于促进整个地区的和平与稳定。


But I also know that ensuring long-term security will require many more agreements, each one a crucial strand in a region-wide web of freedom and prosperity.	但我也知道，确保长期安全需要更多的协议，每一个协议都是地区自由与繁荣网的重要节点。


Military Transparency and Asian Security	军事透明与亚洲安全


TOKYO – We have all heard the saying, “Sunshine is the best disinfectant.”	东京—我们都听说过，“阳光是最好的消毒剂。


That is particularly true where Asian security is concerned.	”在亚洲安全问题上，这句话尤其正确。


Indeed, I believe that a framework under which Asian governments publicly disclose their military budgets needs to be established if we are to build trust and avoid a regional arms race.	事实上，我相信，若要建立信任、避免地区军备竞赛，我们需要制定一个亚洲各国政府公开披露军事预算的框架。


More broadly, keeping military expansion in check, enlarging the number of countries that conclude the Arms Trade Treaty, and improving mutual understanding among national defense authorities are now the paramount issues facing Asia.	更广泛地说，保持军事扩张得到监督、扩大武器贸易条约（Arms Trade Treaty）参与国、改善国防当局间的互相谅解现已成为亚洲所面临的重大问题。


They should be the focus of the East Asia Summit, which in turn should become the premier forum for taking up regional security issues and ensuring that stability is maintained.	这些问题应该成为东亚峰会（East Asia Summit）的焦点，而东亚峰会反过来又应该成为讨论确保维持稳定的地区安全问题的主论坛。


Military expansion is inherently incompatible with Asia’s move toward the center of the global economy.	军事扩张与亚洲成为全球经济中心的趋势存在内在矛盾。


The fruits of prosperity should be reinvested in improving people’s lives, not in weapons that can take them.	繁荣的果实应该再投资于改善人民的生活，而不是夺走人命的武器。


And yet safeguarding the rule of law counts most.	然而捍卫法治精神才是最重要的。


For example, Japan will offer its utmost support for efforts by ASEAN member countries to ensure the security and free navigation of the seas and skies.	比如，日本将全力支持东盟成员国确保安全和航海航空自由的措施。


But let me be transparent about what Japan will actually support, and how.	但在这里，我要开诚布公地讲一讲日本实际可以支持什么、怎样支持。


We have already provided three new patrol vessels to Indonesia through grant aid cooperation and have decided to provide ten more to the Philippine Coast Guard.	我们已经通过无偿援助合作为印度尼西亚提供了三艘巡逻艇，并决定再为菲律宾海岸警卫队提供十艘。


Moreover, we are moving forward with the necessary survey to enable us to provide such vessels to Vietnam.	此外，我们也在进行必要的调查，以便向越南提供同样的巡逻艇。


No less important, when Japan sends hardware, experts and training follow, and we convey our sense of pride in committing ourselves to our duties.	同样重要的是，日本不但提供硬件，也提供专家和训练，承诺履行职责让我们备感自豪。


By cultivating a high degree of morale and proficiency, we strengthen the bonds between the peoples of Japan and recipient countries.	通过培养高昂的士气和熟练的技能，我们增强了日本和受助国人民之间的联系。


In the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia alone, Japan has trained more than 250 coast guard personnel.	仅仅在菲律宾、印度尼西亚和马来西亚，日本便已训练了250位海岸警卫队人手。


In 2012, when we invited senior officials responsible for enforcing maritime law in each of the five major ASEAN countries to a month-long training program, three members of the Japan Coast Guard were assigned to each trainee, with all of them living, eating, and sleeping together under the same roof.	2012年，我们邀请五个东盟主要成员国负责海洋法执法的高级官员参加为期一个月的培训项目，为每位学员指定三名日本海岸警卫队成员，培训期间同吃同住，朝夕相处。


Recently, Japan formulated a new framework for transfers of defense equipment and technology to other countries.	最近，日本提出了一个新的防务设备与技术转移框架。


On the basis of appropriate controls and strict inspections, we can now offer rescue, transport, surveillance, and minesweeping equipment.	这一框架基于合理的控制与严格的检查，目前日本可以提供救援、运输、监控和扫雷设备。


To support ASEAN countries in safeguarding the seas, Japan will combine various options, including official development assistance, capacity building by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), and provision of defense equipment and technology.	为了支持东盟国家的海洋防卫力量，日本将结合多种选择，包括官方发展援助、通过日本自卫队进行的能力建设，以及提供防务设备和技术。


No country can secure its own peace alone anymore.	如今，已没有一个国家能够完全自力更生确保和平。


That is why it is incumbent upon us in Japan to reconstruct the legal basis for collective self-defense and international cooperation, including participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations – a reform that my administration has begun.	因此，我们日本人有责任重新构建集体自卫与国际合作的法律基础，包括参与联合国的维和行动——我的政府已经开始了这项改革。


The importance of this reform can hardly be overstated.	这项改革的重要性不论如何强调都不过分。


The JSDF is now working to foster peace in South Sudan, under the flag of the UN mission there, alongside units from Cambodia, Mongolia, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, the Republic of Korea, and China, as well as many civilian UN staffers and NGO personnel from various countries.	日本自卫队正在南苏丹履行联合国的维和任务，与来自哥伦比亚、蒙古、孟加拉国、印度、尼泊尔、韩国、中国的作战单元以及许多来自联合国和各国非政府组织的文职人员并肩作战。


All are partners with us in assisting South Sudan’s nation-building process.	我们共同协助南苏丹的建国进程。


But imagine now that civilian workers there, powerless to defend themselves, came under sudden attack by armed elements.	但是，现在你可以想象一下手无寸铁的文职人员在南苏丹突然遭到武装分子袭击时的情景。


Under the approach that Japanese governments have taken up to now, the JSDF would be unable to rescue the civilians.	在日本政府此前所持的方针下，日本自卫队是不能解救文职人员的。


Is this really an appropriate response?	这真的合理吗？


My government is thinking hard about this dilemma, and close consultation is underway within the ruling coalition.	我的政府对这一困境进行了深入思考，执政联盟正在接近结论。


It is precisely because Japan depends so heavily on the international community for the stability of its external environment that we wish to work even more proactively for world peace.	正因为日本如此依赖国际社会维持其外部环境稳定，我们才希望更加积极地位世界和平做出贡献。


Many generations of Japanese have walked a single path – that of freedom, human rights, and the rule of law – and we will continue to walk this path for generations to come.	一代又一代日本人都走在一条简单的道路上——自由、人权和法治精神之路，未来一代又一代日本人将继续走这条路。


But, as we revitalize Japan’s economy, we need “new” Japanese who shoulder global responsibilities commensurate with their country’s size and economic resources.	但是，随着我们重新振兴日本经济，我们需要“新”日本人承担与国家规模和经济资源相匹配的全球责任。


These new Japanese will lose none of their good qualities.	这些新日本人不会丢掉光荣传统。


They will still loathe poverty, embrace universal values, and find joy in hard work.	他们仍然厌恶贫困、认同普世价值、乐于努力工作。


If anything has changed, it is that women are much more visible among these new Japanese.	如果说有什么改变了的话，那就是在这些新日本人中间更容易看到女性的身影。


For example, all three of the Japanese judges and public prosecutors who helped draft Cambodia’s civil code were young women.	比如，帮助起草柬埔寨民法的三名日本法官和公共检察官都是年轻女性。


The new Japanese will actively serve the cause of Asian peace.	新日本人将积极地参与到亚洲的和平事业中。


In August 2011, President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines and Chairman Murad Ebrahim of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front met in Narita, Japan.	2011年8月，菲律宾总统阿基诺三世和莫洛伊斯兰解放阵线（Moro Islamic Liberation Front）主席伊布拉西姆（Murad Ebrahim）在日本成田举行了会晤。


Three months ago, in March, the two sides finally reached a comprehensive peace agreement.	三个月前的3月，双方最终达成了全面和平协议。


When the new Bangsamoro local government assumes power two years from now, Japanese assistance teams will be there from the start.	邦萨摩洛（Bangsamoro）新地方政府两年后掌权时，日本从一开始就会派遣援助团队。


Japan is already focusing on giving women in the region the skills they need to earn a living.	日本一开始专注于让亚洲地区女性获得生活所需的技能。


In Mindanao, where Japan built a vocational training center for women, the sounds of gunshots and angry cries have been replaced by the whir of sewing machines.	在棉兰老岛（Mindanao），日本建立了一个女性职业培训中心，让纺织机的旋转的运转声取代了枪声和愤怒的哭喊声。


All of this is nothing other than an expression of Japan’s determination to spare no effort for the sake of peace, security, and wider prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.	所有这些无非是在表明日本决心竭尽全力促进亚太地区的和平、安全与更广泛的繁荣。


By working with our regional allies and partners, including the United States and ASEAN, we will translate that determination into a rock-solid zone of stability.	通过与地区盟友和伙伴（包括美国和东盟）的合作，我们将把这一决心转化为坚如磐石的稳定地区。


Mr. Abe Goes to Washington	安倍先生来到华盛顿


TOKYO – On April 29, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address a joint session of the United States Congress.	东京—4月29日，日本首相安倍晋三将面对美国国会两院联席会议上发表演讲。


The Japan-US alliance is now 63 years old, but this will be the first time that a Japanese leader will be accorded this high honor from the American government and people.	如今，日美同盟已经63岁，但安倍晋三将是第一位有幸获得这一美国政府和人民所给予的崇高荣誉的日本领导人。


Abe’s visit to the US comes at a time when friction between the two countries is at an all-time low.	安倍的美国之旅恰逢两国历史上摩擦最小的时期。


The trade and economic disputes that incited tensions – and a sub-genre of paranoid movies about Japan – in the 1980s, when nine members of Congress even smashed a Toshiba radio with sledgehammers, rarely make an appearance nowadays.	20世纪80年代造成紧张态势、以至于九位国会议员用大锤砸毁一台东芝收音机的贸易和经济纠纷——以及关于日本的偏执狂电影次类型——如今已经难觅踪影。


Those past disputes probably explain why former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, though a political soul mate of then-President Ronald Reagan, was never invited to address a joint session of Congress.	这些昔日的纠纷也许能够解释为何前首相中曾根康弘尽管与时任美国总统里根惺惺相惜，但从未获邀在国会两院联席会议上发表演讲。


Today, however, the bilateral relationship is very different.	但是，今天，两国关系已今非昔比。


Japan’s economic interests are more closely aligned with America’s – the country is poised to join the US-initiated Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will create a vast free-trade zone among a dozen Pacific Rim countries – and the two sides’ strategic visions for Asia are in near-harmony.	日本的经济利益与美国联系得更加紧密——并且即将加入美国发起的跨太平洋合作伙伴关系（Trans-Pacific Partnership，由环太平洋十多个国家组成的大型自由贸易区）——双方对亚洲的战略观点也接近一致。


Moreover, the long-simmering dispute over the US Marine Corps base on Okinawa, which had roiled bilateral relations during the years the Democratic Party of Japan was in power, has been settled amicably, with the US agreeing to move the base to a less populated part of the island.	此外，从日本民主党执政时期便开始困扰两国关系的关于冲绳美国海军基地的纠纷也已经获得友好解决，美国同意将基地迁往冲绳岛人口稀疏地区。


Of course, some Okinawa residents remain opposed to the US base’s continued presence on their island, but most Japanese recognize the need for this tangible symbol of their alliance with America, which remains the bedrock of Japan’s national-security strategy.	当然，一些冲绳居民仍然反对美国在岛上继续设置军事基地，但大部分日本人认为有必要存在实体象征以证明日本晕乎乎美国的同盟关系，而这一关系仍然是日本国家安全战略的基石。


The two sides’ increasingly similar views on international security issues as well, particularly where China is concerned, no doubt also contributed to the decision by the US Congress and President Barack Obama’s administration to honor Abe.	双方关于国际安全问题的观点也日趋一致，特别是在涉华问题上，这毫无疑问推动了美国国会和总统奥巴马政府授予安倍国会演讲的荣誉。


Both Abe and Obama are focused on creating a durable structure of peace for all of Asia, and Abe has been eager for Japan to play a more active role in this regard, and in supporting its allies.	安倍和奥巴马都在关注为全亚洲建立持久和平结构，而安倍更是急切地渴望日本在这方面以及在支持盟友方面扮演更加积极的角色。


That stance is making the alliance much more a partnership of equals than it has been for the last six decades.	这一立场让美日同盟比过去六十年中更像是平等的合作关系。


In America’s view, the reinterpretation of Article 9 of Japan’s “peace constitution” that Abe undertook – thereby allowing Japan’s self-defense forces to aid allies under attack and to assist the US and other allies in meeting their commitments to securing Asia’s peace – was long overdue.	在美国看来，安倍所发起的对日本“宪法” 第9条的重新解释——从而允许日本自卫队援助遇袭盟国以及协助美国和其他盟国兑现确保亚洲和平的承诺——可谓姗姗来迟。


That bold policy initiative – in the face of the Japanese public’s deeply ingrained skepticism toward any increased exposure to military risks – has no doubt endeared Abe to US diplomats and military strategists, as well as secured both open and sometimes tacit approval from Japan’s Asian neighbors.	这一大胆的政策措施——需要面临日本公众对增加军事风险暴露的根深蒂固的怀疑——毫无疑问让安倍深受美国外交和军事战略家的欢迎，也确保了日本的亚洲邻国的公开肯定或默认。


Increased military cooperation with the US is particularly important now, given American worries about many of its other strategic partners’ readiness.	加强与美国的军事合作在眼下特别重要，因为美国担心其他许多战略伙伴还没有准备就绪。


Even the United Kingdom, long seen as America’s closest ally, now seems intent on undermining its ability to work cooperatively with the US in times of crisis, even in meeting its NATO commitments, because of severe cuts to its military budget.	即使是长期被视为美国最紧密盟友的英国，如今也似乎倾向于削减其在危机时与美国采取联合行动的能力，甚至在兑现其北约承诺方面也是如此，因为其军事预算被大大削减了。


Other allies are also increasingly regarded in the US as free riders on America’s military might.	其他盟友也日益被美国视为美国军力的免费搭车者。


Abe’s commitment to the rules and institutions of the post-1945 world order, which helped bring Japan out of the ruins of World War II and has allowed China to rise so peacefully, gives the US another reason to honor him.	安倍对1945年后规则和机构的承诺——这些规则和机构让日本从二战的废墟中复苏，也让中国得以和平崛起——是美国授予他国会演讲荣誉的另一个原因。


Like the US, Japan has many concerns about the parallel institutions – including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS countries’ New Development Bank – that China is creating.	与美国一样，日本也非常担心中国所建立的对立机构——包括亚洲基础设施投资银行和金砖国家的新开发银行。


Having benefited so much from the post-war global order, most Japanese share Abe’s view that China’s efforts to replace it with one more to its liking is both unwise and dangerous for Asia.	从战后国际秩序中获得了大量好处，这让大部分日本人同意安倍的观点——中国试图用另一套更有利于它的秩序取而代之既不明智，也是对亚洲的威胁。


Indeed, countries that have decided to cooperate with China in creating rival multilateral institutions should ask themselves a simple question: Would a world order designed by China allow for the rise of another power to challenge it in the way the US-led world order allowed for – indeed, encouraged and assisted �� China’s three-decade-long boom?	事实上，那些决定于中国合作建立对立多边机构的国家应该扪心自问一个简单的问题：中国所设计的世界秩序允许另一股力量崛起挑战中国，就像三十年前美国领导的世界秩序允许——事实上，是鼓励和协助——中国那样？


To answer that question, one can look to the writings of the Chinese strategist Yan Xuetong, whose book Ancient Chinese Thought/Modern Chinese Power argues that all countries must recognize and accept China’s centrality to the world as the Middle Kingdom.	要回答这个问题，可以看一看中国战略学者阎学通的著作。 他的作品《古代中国思想，现代中国力量》（Ancient Chinese Thought/Modern Chinese Power）指出，所有国家都必须承认和接受中国作为“中央王国”在世界的核心地位。


Moreover, China has thus far shown little interest in discussing the standards by which the multilateral institutions it has launched will be governed – or, indeed, the extent to which they will be truly multilateral.	此外，到目前为止，中国没有表现出多少兴趣讨论它所发起的多边机构将以何种标准来治理——事实上，是它们在何种程度上能成为真正的多边机构。


Abe’s visit to the US thus comes at a moment of clarity in bilateral relations.	因此，安倍的访美之旅正逢双边关系意义明确的时期。


Both countries seek to create a viable structure of peace for Asia, one that allows China to continue to grow and prosper, but that prevents any one country from claiming hegemony.	两国都在寻求为亚洲建立可行的和平结构，这个结构将允许中国继续成长和繁荣，也将阻止任何国家的霸权行为。


And both favor a rules-based Asian trading order that reinforces the global norms that have served the world so well since WWII’s end.	两国都支持基于规则的亚洲贸易秩序，期待它能够强化二战结束以来给世界带来无穷好处的国际范式。


In honoring Abe with an address to Congress, the US is really honoring the values and vision that both countries share.	美国给予安倍国会演讲的荣誉，这实际上也是两国所共有的价值和愿景的荣誉。


Japan in Action	日本在行动


TOKYO – Japan’s prolonged political anni horribiles – spanning more than half a decade – has ended.	东京—日本持续了五年多的长期政治悲剧已经结束了。


The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won a decisive victory in elections to the upper house of parliament held on July 21, bringing to an end the indecisive politics caused by the lack of an effective majority.	7月21日，自民党在议会上院选举中大获全胜，宣告因缺少有效多数导致的政治无力的时代终结。


During the previous six years, there were six prime ministers, ten defense ministers, and 14 justice ministers (ten of whom came and went during the 39 months of rule by the Democratic Party of Japan).	在过去六年中，日本有六位首相、十位防务大臣，14位法务大臣（其中在民主党执政的39个月中换了10任）。


These figures indicate just how unstable the country’s political situation had become.	这些数字说明了日本政治局势是多么动荡。


But anxiety about the immature DPJ government, prolonged deflation, and unprecedented challenges posed by neighboring countries created a widespread sense of crisis among Japanese voters.	但关于民主党政府的不成熟、长期铜锁和来自邻国的前所未有的挑战在日本选民中间形成了普遍的危机感。


It was this that motivated them to return the LDP to power, though many voters seemed fed up with the party just a few short years ago.	这令他们重现选举自民党掌权，其中不少选民几年前因为无法忍受自民党而倒戈。


In the recent election campaign, the LDP continued to criticize the previous DPJ government’s immaturity, but avoided attacks on other parties.	最最近的选战中，自民党继续批评前民主党政府的不成熟，但避免攻击其他党派。


Instead, the LDP highlighted the beneficial effects of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reforms (colloquially known as “Abenomics”), such as increased share prices, faster GDP growth, and higher employment, all of which have created hope for a turnaround in Japan’s prospects.	事实上，自民党着重宣扬了首相安倍晋三改革（被称为“安倍经济学”）的积极影响，如股价上涨、GDP增长加快、就业增加等，所有这些都让人们觉得日本的前景有望扭转。


Since Abe returned last December for a second stint as Prime Minister, Japanese voters have entrusted him with maintaining political stability and ensuring economic revitalization.	自去年12月安倍第二次出任首相以来，他以维持政治稳定、确保经济复苏获得了选民的信任。


But, following monetary easing and fiscal expansion, it is Abenomics’ third “arrow” that will prove most important – and most politically challenging.	但是，在货币宽松和财政扩张之外，安倍经济学的“第三支箭”才是最重要也最具政治挑战性的。


The Abe government must implement deregulation and other structural reforms while convincing powerful interest groups to adjust to a new national and global environment in which Japan’s old economic model no longer works.	安倍政府必须实施去监管话和其他结构性改革，同时说服权势利益集团为新的国家和全球环境作出调整——日本的就经济模式已不再适合新环境。


Fortunately, Abe will not need to worry about elections for the next three years.	幸运的是，未来三年中安倍都不需要担心选举的问题。


With strong majorities in both houses, he should be able to secure whatever reform legislation he needs – that is, provided that he can maintain the LDP’s internal discipline (his enormous popularity will help him).	他在议会两院都拥有绝对多数，应能确保任何需要的改革立法——如果他能维持自民党内部纪律的话（他的高支持度对他有利）。


Abe’s agenda includes reform of social security in response to demographic trends, as well as gaining the agriculture sector’s acceptance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the bold regional trade agreement that will unite the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and much of the rest of Asia, with the exception of China.	安倍的日程包括应对人口趋势的社会保障改革以及赢得农业部门接受跨大西洋合作伙伴关系（TPP，联合了美国、日本、澳大利亚、新西兰和亚洲大部的雄心勃勃的地区贸易协定，中国不在其中）。


The rigors of the TPP are bound to force significant agricultural reforms, and pushing it through will, indeed, test party discipline.	TPP谈判是一个艰难的任务，必然会迫使日本进行重大农业改革，推行TPP将是对党纪的严峻考验。


But Abe is also pressing for change in medical research and the technology sector by embracing long-shunned innovations such as iPS cells (artificial stem cells).	但安倍还在敦促医药研究和技术部门的改变，启动长期回避的人造干细胞等创新项目。


He is also emphasizing the development of renewable energy and power-saving innovations, which became an urgent policy objective following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant two years ago.	他还强调可再生能源开发和节能技术创新，在两年前福岛第一核电站事故爆发后，这已经成为紧迫的政策目标之一。


Abe is resolved to make steady progress on each of these key issues.	安倍决心在这些关键问题上全面出击。


But Abenomics has a strategic corollary as well.	但安倍经济学还有一个战略结果。


Japanese diplomacy lost its footing in the unstable – and often naive – politics of the DPJ years.	在民主党当政时期，日本外交因为政治动荡（和不成熟）迷失了立足点。


Thus, Abe has been traveling abroad every month since last December in an effort to demonstrate that Japan has returned as a global player, and is particularly keen to play a prominent role in recasting Asia’s security structures in the wake of China’s rise.	因此，自去年12月以来，安倍每个月都会出访他国，以试图表明日本以全球参与者的身份归来，特别急切地意欲在中国崛起的背景下重构亚洲安全结构方面起到主导作用。