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The Shah of Iran was a despotic dictator, but he was also America's anti-Communist ally.
當時的伊朗國王是暴君統治者，但他也是美國反共盟友。
He was deposed by a Shiite Muslim regime in 1979.
1979年他被什葉派政權免職。
When the former Shah was allowed to receive medical treatment in the US, the new Iranian regime stormed the American Embassy in Tehran.
當這位前國王得以在美國接受治療時，新伊朗政權下的人民沖進了美國在德黑蘭的大使館。
They took the inhabitants hostage and kept them until 1981.
他們將里面的人員扣為人質，直到1981年才釋放。
Carter had better luck working for world peace.
卡特在促進世界和平上的運氣還不錯。
He managed to broker a peace treaty between Israel and modern Egypt.
他促成了伊朗和埃及的和平條約。
He also caused the Panama Canal Zone to be returned to the Panamanians.
他也幫助巴拿馬人收回了巴拿馬運河。
But Carter could not make a dent in what he rightly termed "America's malaise."
但他不能使他稱為“美國低迷”的狀態有所好轉。
If anything, his well-meaning, but often inept, policies contributed to the malaise.
相反，他的良好意圖，但是通常無力的政策還加速了這一低迷。
Not that the USSR was riding a hot streak, either.
蘇聯當時也沒有在對抗中連連得分。
The Soviet people had long since gotten tired of paying for their nation's costly military build-up.
蘇聯人民已經厭倦了國家開支巨大的軍備擴張。
Living in cramped, shabby apartments, working at dreary jobs, standing in long lines for scarves and scanty consumer goods.
他們住在狹窄簡陋的公寓里，工作枯燥無聊，還經常需要排長隊才能拿到圍巾和匱乏的消費品。
They had come to see Communism as a bad joke.
于是他們把共產主義看成是一個糟糕的笑話。
Nor did Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev have any new ideas for combating the Soviet malaise.
列昂尼德·伊里奇·勃列日涅夫也沒有什么新辦法來解決這種蘇聯低迷。
