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双语阅读：《时代周刊》评出2012年十大国际新闻
summ(2012/12/9 22:12:42) 点击:291462 回复:0 IP:14.* * *
summ(2012/12/9 22:12:42) 点击:291462 回复:0 IP:14.* * *
1. India’s Corruption Woes 印度发生多起腐败丑闻
The ruling Congress Party-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has seen its popularity and credibility plummet following waves of corruption scandals implicating top politicians accused of exploiting their positions for financial gain。在发生多起涉及高级官员以权谋私的腐败丑闻后，由来自国大党的印度总理曼莫汉·辛格领导政府的支持度和信誉大幅下降。
The reported incidents of graft have been both epic—a billion-dollar telecoms scandal—and petty, but all have fueled the fires of public anger. Foreign observers now warn that the Indian model for democracy and development could be derailed by the country’s venal bureaucracies and crony capitalism. 媒体报道的贪腐事件牵涉甚广，有案值10亿美元的电信案，也有多起案值不高的小案件，这些都引发了公众的怒火。外国观察家现在警告称，印度的民主和发展模式可能被其贪腐的官僚政治和裙带资本主义所葬送。
2. Afghanistan: Escaping the Quagmire 阿富汗：逃离泥潭
It’s no secret that the diminishing coalition of Western governments still involved in the 11-year war in Afghanistan are desperate to get out. Some, like the French, have already wound down their military operations ahead of schedule. Washington preaches staying the course through gritted teeth until the end of 2014, at which point Afghan government forces will ostensibly have the numbers, the training, the equipment and the will to take over the fight against the Taliban. 卷入阿富汗11年战争的西方国家政府联盟急于脱身不是一个秘密。法国等一些国家已提前结束了军事行动，美国将坚守至2014年年底，阿富汗政府军到时候从名义上说拥有接管打击塔利班任务的所需人员、训练能力、装备和意愿。
That narrative has been challenged by events in 2012, not least the steady toll of regular “green-on-blue” killings—when supposedly friendly Afghan personnel attack their NATO mentors. More than 60 coalition soldiers have died in such attacks this year alone. No surprise, then, that the Administration is currently in negotiations with Kabul over keeping a residual force in Afghanistan well after the departure date。不过2012年发生的事件对这种说法提出了挑战，其中包括一系列阿富汗政府军攻击北约教官的事件(被称为绿对蓝攻击事件)，今年就有60多名联军士兵在此类袭击事件中丧生。奥巴马政府正在与阿富汗政府就在撤军后在阿驻留部队的问题进行会谈。
3. Asia’s Troubled Waters亚洲海洋领土问题
In a year Washington had announced would see a “pivot” of its strategic priorities away from the Middle East and toward the Asia-Pacific region, things heated up in the waters surrounding the continent’s budding hegemon, China. 就在美国宣布其战略优先事务将从中东转往亚太地区的今年，中国与其邻国出现海洋领土问题。
Beijing has grown more and more assertive in its territorial claims, both to its east in contests with Japan and in the South China Sea, which the Chinese imagine as their sphere of influence. In the East China Sea, the Chinese locked horns with Japan over its control over the Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu by the Chinese). 中国政府对东海和南海的领土主权态度越来越强硬，中国渔船和海监船越来越频繁地在南海与越南、菲律宾船只发生对抗。在东海，中国与日本就钓鱼岛主权问题发生对抗。
4. Latin America Seeks Reforms on Drugs 拉美试图在打击毒品方面进行改革
After decades of bloodshed and billions of dollars spent, there’s an emerging consensus in much of Latin America that the U.S.-authored war on drugs has caused more problems than it has solved, and ought to be ended. Some governments in the region now champion a move away from the longstanding focus on prohibition towards more practical and progressive measures。在经过数十年的流血和数十亿美元的投入，大部分拉美国家开始认为美国主导的扫毒战争弊大于利，应该结束了。一些地区国家的政府现在主张把重点从禁止转向更为实际和前进的措施。
The greatest change has come in the small republic of Uruguay, whose center-left government pushed through legislation making the state the sole legal dispensary of marijuana. Elsewhere, a host of Latin American leaders such as Guatemala’s Otto Perez Molina have called for drug legalization, with the support of regional players such as Mexico and Colombia. 拉圭在这方面采取了最大的变化，它的中左政府推动立法，使本国成为大麻唯一合法发放者。其他拉美国家的领导人，如危地马拉总统莫利纳呼吁起草毒品法案，他的诉求也得到了墨西哥和哥伦比亚等国的支持。
5. Communist Leadership Changes 社会主义阵营领导层换届
In 2012, two of the world’s remaining Communist regimes completed two very different leadership handovers. The isolated pariah regime in North Korea saw the ascension of Kim Jon Un, the well-fed third son of the deceased Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. Kim Jon Un appears to have consolidated his power and is steadily building his own cult of authority.2012年社会主义阵营的两个国家实现了领导层换届。已故的朝鲜前领导人金正日的儿子金正恩成为朝鲜新领导人。金正恩看起来巩固了自己的权力，正在稳步建立自己的权威。
In neighboring China a once-in-a-decade leadership transition took place. How these newly leaders navigate the domestic and international challenges of their decade at the top will be critically important in shaping global events.中国也进行了十年一次的领导层换届，新一代领导集体在未来十年如何应对国内和国际挑战对于全球具有非常重要的意义。
6. Mali’s Crisis 马里危机
In one of the gloomier stories of a gloomy international news year, Mali turned from being hailed as one of West Africa’s democratic success stories to various metaphors of doom: it was labeled the next Somalia, a dysfunctional, failed state; the next Afghanistan, overrun by extremist militias and terrorist groups; and the next Libya, facing civil war and Western-backed military intervention. 非洲国家马里从西非的民主成功故事沦落为各种末日的隐喻，它被称作是下一个索马里、利比亚、阿富汗，被认为是一个失败国家，被极端民兵武装和恐怖团伙所控制，面临内战和西方支持的军事干涉。
After a military coup ousted the country’s democratically-elected government in March, an insurgency in Mali’s vast north rapidly gained ground. The rebels have de facto control over more than half the country, including the historic cities of Timbuktu and Gao. Meanwhile, the chaos has fueled a growing humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands displaced. 军事政变在三月推翻了民主选举产生的政府，马里北部的武装分子活动在这之后开始攻城掠地，反对派武装已控制了马里一半以上的领土，包括历史名城廷巴克图和加奥。与此同时，混乱加剧了人道主义危机，数百万人流所失所。
7. Netanyahu’s Year of Living Dangerously 内塔尼亚胡的一年
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has scarcely been out of the headlines in 2012, whether for warning of a possible war with Iran, launching a military offensive to stop Palestinian rocket fire out of Gaza, or appearing to signal a preference for Republican candidate Mitt Romney to win the White House in November。以色列总理内塔尼亚胡2012年多次出现在媒体头条上，包括警告要对伊朗动武、对加沙发动攻势以制止巴勒斯坦人的火箭弹攻击、表态支持罗姆尼成为美国总统。
At the U.N. in September, Netanyahu warned that at current rates of progress, Iran would likely cross Israel’s “red line” for action by next summer. And as the year draws to a close, the Israeli leader’s response to the Palestinians’ quest for U.N. recognition — initiating planning on new settlement construction in the West Bank — has prompted a flurry of Western pressure on Netanyahu to back down. On one front or another, it’s a safe bet that the Israeli Prime Minister whose reelection appears likely this January will remain a key player in the international headlines next year.9月在联合国大会上，内塔尼亚胡警告称，伊朗可能在明年夏季之前跨过以色列的“红线”。以色列为了应对巴勒斯坦成功入联而宣布将在约旦河西岸建设新的定居点，这使西方加大了对内塔尼亚胡作出让步的压力。内塔尼亚胡可能在明年1月的大选中获得连任，将继续出现在明年的国际新闻头条上。
8. The Eurozone Crisis 欧元区危机
Debt-ridden Southern Europe continued to reel from the fiscal nightmare gripping the eurozone, and clouding the prospects of the global economic recovery. Mass protests and general strikes became routine in 2012 in Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and elsewhere, as infuriated publics rallied against austerity measures imposed on their countries as the condition of bailouts from further north. 债务累累的欧洲南部国家继续受到欧元区危机的重压，这给全球经济恢复的前景蒙上了阴影。大规模抗议、罢工成为西班牙、希腊、意大利、葡萄牙和其它国家的家常便饭，愤怒的公众举行集会，反对强加的经济紧缩措施。
Steep cuts in public spending have done little to promote the growth needed to right the listing ships of the Mediterranean economies. Instead, hardship and inequality have deepened, and unemployment has skyrocketed — nearly a quarter of Spain’s workforce is out of a job。对公共支出的大幅削减无助于推动使地中海国家经济转好的增长。事实上，这些国家的困难和不平等加剧，失业率大幅增加，四分之一的西班牙劳动力没有工作。
9. An Arab Winter阿拉伯之冬
After the Year of the Protester, came the Year of the Politico. The next phase of revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia saw previously marginalized Islamist political forces make dramatic gains. Once banned or fringe parties now hold the levers of power: In Tunisia, Ennadha, a previously outlawed moderate Islamist movement, now commands a majority in the legislature and may set about overhauling the country’s relatively laissez-faire, secularist societal mores. In Libya, the Sept. 11 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi brought into stark relief both the security conundrum and growing radicalism。在经过示威者的一年后，又迎来了政客的一年。在埃及、利比亚、突尼斯革命的下一阶段，先前处于边缘地位的伊斯兰派政治势力取得了重大进展，一度被取缔或者处于边缘地位的政党现在掌握了权力。在突尼斯，一度被取缔的持温和立场的伊斯兰复兴运动已在议会上获得了多数席位。在利比亚，美国驻班加西领事馆9月11日遇袭事件说明了安全难题和不断增长的极端主义。
10. Syria’s Bloody Stalemate 叙利亚的流血僵局
As 2012 draws to a close, Syrians approach the second anniversary of a bloody civil war with little immediate prospect of resolution. By some estimates, more than 40,000 people have been killed since a peaceful uprising against President Bashar Assad in February 2011 morphed rapidly into a bloodbath. 在2012年接近尾声的时候，叙利亚正迈向血腥内战爆发二周年的日子，这场内战看不到任何立刻解决的希望。一些机构估计，自2011年2月针对阿萨德总统的抗议示威开始以来，已有4万多人死于冲突，抗议示威快速转变为流血事件。
Western powers are reluctant to be drawn into yet another conflagration in the Middle East in which an authoritarian secular state is being torn apart along lines of religious sect. The chaos is being further fueled by regional proxy-war agendas and has spilled over Syria’s borders into such tinderbox polities as Lebanon and Iraq. 西方国家不太愿意卷入另一场中东地区的冲突，作为独裁统治的世俗国家叙利亚，因为不同的宗教派别而被四分五裂。地区代理人战争日程进一步加剧了动荡，并蔓延至叙利亚边境以外的黎巴嫩和伊拉克。
The ruling Congress Party-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has seen its popularity and credibility plummet following waves of corruption scandals implicating top politicians accused of exploiting their positions for financial gain。在发生多起涉及高级官员以权谋私的腐败丑闻后，由来自国大党的印度总理曼莫汉·辛格领导政府的支持度和信誉大幅下降。
The reported incidents of graft have been both epic—a billion-dollar telecoms scandal—and petty, but all have fueled the fires of public anger. Foreign observers now warn that the Indian model for democracy and development could be derailed by the country’s venal bureaucracies and crony capitalism. 媒体报道的贪腐事件牵涉甚广，有案值10亿美元的电信案，也有多起案值不高的小案件，这些都引发了公众的怒火。外国观察家现在警告称，印度的民主和发展模式可能被其贪腐的官僚政治和裙带资本主义所葬送。
2. Afghanistan: Escaping the Quagmire 阿富汗：逃离泥潭
It’s no secret that the diminishing coalition of Western governments still involved in the 11-year war in Afghanistan are desperate to get out. Some, like the French, have already wound down their military operations ahead of schedule. Washington preaches staying the course through gritted teeth until the end of 2014, at which point Afghan government forces will ostensibly have the numbers, the training, the equipment and the will to take over the fight against the Taliban. 卷入阿富汗11年战争的西方国家政府联盟急于脱身不是一个秘密。法国等一些国家已提前结束了军事行动，美国将坚守至2014年年底，阿富汗政府军到时候从名义上说拥有接管打击塔利班任务的所需人员、训练能力、装备和意愿。
That narrative has been challenged by events in 2012, not least the steady toll of regular “green-on-blue” killings—when supposedly friendly Afghan personnel attack their NATO mentors. More than 60 coalition soldiers have died in such attacks this year alone. No surprise, then, that the Administration is currently in negotiations with Kabul over keeping a residual force in Afghanistan well after the departure date。不过2012年发生的事件对这种说法提出了挑战，其中包括一系列阿富汗政府军攻击北约教官的事件(被称为绿对蓝攻击事件)，今年就有60多名联军士兵在此类袭击事件中丧生。奥巴马政府正在与阿富汗政府就在撤军后在阿驻留部队的问题进行会谈。
3. Asia’s Troubled Waters亚洲海洋领土问题
In a year Washington had announced would see a “pivot” of its strategic priorities away from the Middle East and toward the Asia-Pacific region, things heated up in the waters surrounding the continent’s budding hegemon, China. 就在美国宣布其战略优先事务将从中东转往亚太地区的今年，中国与其邻国出现海洋领土问题。
Beijing has grown more and more assertive in its territorial claims, both to its east in contests with Japan and in the South China Sea, which the Chinese imagine as their sphere of influence. In the East China Sea, the Chinese locked horns with Japan over its control over the Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu by the Chinese). 中国政府对东海和南海的领土主权态度越来越强硬，中国渔船和海监船越来越频繁地在南海与越南、菲律宾船只发生对抗。在东海，中国与日本就钓鱼岛主权问题发生对抗。
4. Latin America Seeks Reforms on Drugs 拉美试图在打击毒品方面进行改革
After decades of bloodshed and billions of dollars spent, there’s an emerging consensus in much of Latin America that the U.S.-authored war on drugs has caused more problems than it has solved, and ought to be ended. Some governments in the region now champion a move away from the longstanding focus on prohibition towards more practical and progressive measures。在经过数十年的流血和数十亿美元的投入，大部分拉美国家开始认为美国主导的扫毒战争弊大于利，应该结束了。一些地区国家的政府现在主张把重点从禁止转向更为实际和前进的措施。
The greatest change has come in the small republic of Uruguay, whose center-left government pushed through legislation making the state the sole legal dispensary of marijuana. Elsewhere, a host of Latin American leaders such as Guatemala’s Otto Perez Molina have called for drug legalization, with the support of regional players such as Mexico and Colombia. 拉圭在这方面采取了最大的变化，它的中左政府推动立法，使本国成为大麻唯一合法发放者。其他拉美国家的领导人，如危地马拉总统莫利纳呼吁起草毒品法案，他的诉求也得到了墨西哥和哥伦比亚等国的支持。
5. Communist Leadership Changes 社会主义阵营领导层换届
In 2012, two of the world’s remaining Communist regimes completed two very different leadership handovers. The isolated pariah regime in North Korea saw the ascension of Kim Jon Un, the well-fed third son of the deceased Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. Kim Jon Un appears to have consolidated his power and is steadily building his own cult of authority.2012年社会主义阵营的两个国家实现了领导层换届。已故的朝鲜前领导人金正日的儿子金正恩成为朝鲜新领导人。金正恩看起来巩固了自己的权力，正在稳步建立自己的权威。
In neighboring China a once-in-a-decade leadership transition took place. How these newly leaders navigate the domestic and international challenges of their decade at the top will be critically important in shaping global events.中国也进行了十年一次的领导层换届，新一代领导集体在未来十年如何应对国内和国际挑战对于全球具有非常重要的意义。
6. Mali’s Crisis 马里危机
In one of the gloomier stories of a gloomy international news year, Mali turned from being hailed as one of West Africa’s democratic success stories to various metaphors of doom: it was labeled the next Somalia, a dysfunctional, failed state; the next Afghanistan, overrun by extremist militias and terrorist groups; and the next Libya, facing civil war and Western-backed military intervention. 非洲国家马里从西非的民主成功故事沦落为各种末日的隐喻，它被称作是下一个索马里、利比亚、阿富汗，被认为是一个失败国家，被极端民兵武装和恐怖团伙所控制，面临内战和西方支持的军事干涉。
After a military coup ousted the country’s democratically-elected government in March, an insurgency in Mali’s vast north rapidly gained ground. The rebels have de facto control over more than half the country, including the historic cities of Timbuktu and Gao. Meanwhile, the chaos has fueled a growing humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands displaced. 军事政变在三月推翻了民主选举产生的政府，马里北部的武装分子活动在这之后开始攻城掠地，反对派武装已控制了马里一半以上的领土，包括历史名城廷巴克图和加奥。与此同时，混乱加剧了人道主义危机，数百万人流所失所。
7. Netanyahu’s Year of Living Dangerously 内塔尼亚胡的一年
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has scarcely been out of the headlines in 2012, whether for warning of a possible war with Iran, launching a military offensive to stop Palestinian rocket fire out of Gaza, or appearing to signal a preference for Republican candidate Mitt Romney to win the White House in November。以色列总理内塔尼亚胡2012年多次出现在媒体头条上，包括警告要对伊朗动武、对加沙发动攻势以制止巴勒斯坦人的火箭弹攻击、表态支持罗姆尼成为美国总统。
At the U.N. in September, Netanyahu warned that at current rates of progress, Iran would likely cross Israel’s “red line” for action by next summer. And as the year draws to a close, the Israeli leader’s response to the Palestinians’ quest for U.N. recognition — initiating planning on new settlement construction in the West Bank — has prompted a flurry of Western pressure on Netanyahu to back down. On one front or another, it’s a safe bet that the Israeli Prime Minister whose reelection appears likely this January will remain a key player in the international headlines next year.9月在联合国大会上，内塔尼亚胡警告称，伊朗可能在明年夏季之前跨过以色列的“红线”。以色列为了应对巴勒斯坦成功入联而宣布将在约旦河西岸建设新的定居点，这使西方加大了对内塔尼亚胡作出让步的压力。内塔尼亚胡可能在明年1月的大选中获得连任，将继续出现在明年的国际新闻头条上。
8. The Eurozone Crisis 欧元区危机
Debt-ridden Southern Europe continued to reel from the fiscal nightmare gripping the eurozone, and clouding the prospects of the global economic recovery. Mass protests and general strikes became routine in 2012 in Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and elsewhere, as infuriated publics rallied against austerity measures imposed on their countries as the condition of bailouts from further north. 债务累累的欧洲南部国家继续受到欧元区危机的重压，这给全球经济恢复的前景蒙上了阴影。大规模抗议、罢工成为西班牙、希腊、意大利、葡萄牙和其它国家的家常便饭，愤怒的公众举行集会，反对强加的经济紧缩措施。
Steep cuts in public spending have done little to promote the growth needed to right the listing ships of the Mediterranean economies. Instead, hardship and inequality have deepened, and unemployment has skyrocketed — nearly a quarter of Spain’s workforce is out of a job。对公共支出的大幅削减无助于推动使地中海国家经济转好的增长。事实上，这些国家的困难和不平等加剧，失业率大幅增加，四分之一的西班牙劳动力没有工作。
9. An Arab Winter阿拉伯之冬
After the Year of the Protester, came the Year of the Politico. The next phase of revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia saw previously marginalized Islamist political forces make dramatic gains. Once banned or fringe parties now hold the levers of power: In Tunisia, Ennadha, a previously outlawed moderate Islamist movement, now commands a majority in the legislature and may set about overhauling the country’s relatively laissez-faire, secularist societal mores. In Libya, the Sept. 11 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi brought into stark relief both the security conundrum and growing radicalism。在经过示威者的一年后，又迎来了政客的一年。在埃及、利比亚、突尼斯革命的下一阶段，先前处于边缘地位的伊斯兰派政治势力取得了重大进展，一度被取缔或者处于边缘地位的政党现在掌握了权力。在突尼斯，一度被取缔的持温和立场的伊斯兰复兴运动已在议会上获得了多数席位。在利比亚，美国驻班加西领事馆9月11日遇袭事件说明了安全难题和不断增长的极端主义。
10. Syria’s Bloody Stalemate 叙利亚的流血僵局
As 2012 draws to a close, Syrians approach the second anniversary of a bloody civil war with little immediate prospect of resolution. By some estimates, more than 40,000 people have been killed since a peaceful uprising against President Bashar Assad in February 2011 morphed rapidly into a bloodbath. 在2012年接近尾声的时候，叙利亚正迈向血腥内战爆发二周年的日子，这场内战看不到任何立刻解决的希望。一些机构估计，自2011年2月针对阿萨德总统的抗议示威开始以来，已有4万多人死于冲突，抗议示威快速转变为流血事件。
Western powers are reluctant to be drawn into yet another conflagration in the Middle East in which an authoritarian secular state is being torn apart along lines of religious sect. The chaos is being further fueled by regional proxy-war agendas and has spilled over Syria’s borders into such tinderbox polities as Lebanon and Iraq. 西方国家不太愿意卷入另一场中东地区的冲突，作为独裁统治的世俗国家叙利亚，因为不同的宗教派别而被四分五裂。地区代理人战争日程进一步加剧了动荡，并蔓延至叙利亚边境以外的黎巴嫩和伊拉克。
