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At the same time, Mikhail Gorbachev was allowing the Soviet Union's network of client states to go in peace.
與此同時，米哈伊爾·戈爾巴喬夫允許蘇聯的附庸國網絡和平解體。
Apparently, the containment strategy was working.
顯然，遏制戰略在起作用。
It looked like everything was going right.
一切似乎都進行得很順利。
The Cold War's end would bring with it a peace dividend, which would take the place of Cold War military expenditures.
冷戰的結束帶來了和平紅利，取代了之前冷戰時期的軍費開支。
Saddam Hussein had other tricks up his sleeve.
但薩達姆·侯賽因還藏著別的把戲。
Iraq had traditionally regarded the tiny but oil-rich emirate of Kuwait as, really, Iraqi territory.
伊拉克一直把石油蘊藏的小國科威特酋長國看成是伊拉克的領土。
Saddam thought that war against A defenseless enemy would restore his damaged prestige at home and abroad.
薩達姆以為對這樣無自衛能力的敵人作戰可以修復他在國內和國外受損的聲譽。
On August 2nd 1990, Iraqi forces attacked and quickly overran Kuwait.
1990年8月2日，伊拉克軍隊襲擊并迅速侵占了科威特。
Five years earlier, the Western bloc would have sided with Kuwait, forcing the Soviets to side with Iraq.
如果是5年前，西方集團會和科威特站在一邊，迫使蘇聯支持伊拉克。
Weirder things have happened.
更奇怪的事情發生了。
But while Gorbachev was taking congratulations for his Nobel Peace Prize.
戈爾巴喬當時因為獲得了諾貝爾獎而接受多方的祝賀。
President George Herbert Walker Bush, a veteran of the Second World War, was planning to retake Kuwait.
喬治·赫伯特·沃克·布什總統，一位二戰的老兵，在打算奪回科威特。
Saudi Arabia, a valued United States ally, was in danger, and so as its oil.
沙特阿拉伯，美國重要的盟友，受到了威脅，它的石油也是。
While the United Nations engaged in ultimately fruitless negotiations,
在聯合國進行最終一無所獲的協調時，
President Bush very quietly built up a huge allied strike force in Saudi Arabia, under the name Desert Shield.
布什總統在沙特阿拉伯建立了強大的聯合軍事力量，取名為“沙漠盾牌行動”。
