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THE AUTOCRAT’S ASCENT
獨裁者的崛起
Saudi heir Mohammed bin Salman is pitching his plan to disrupt the Middle East
沙特繼承人穆罕默德·本·薩勒曼兜售分裂中東計劃
By Karl Vick
文/卡爾·維克
There may not even be a name for what the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has been doing in the U.S. for three weeks,
或許，說沙特阿拉伯王儲這次為期三周的美國之旅師出無名并不為過，
but he has been doing a lot of it.
但他這次并沒有閑著。
By the time 32-year-old Mohammed bin Salman departs,
到他踏上歸國之旅時，
he will have visited five states plus the District of Columbia, four Presidents, five newspapers, uncounted moguls and Oprah.
時年32歲的穆罕默德·本·薩勒曼將已經訪問完五個州及哥倫比亞特區，四位總統，五家報紙，數不清的大亨和奧普拉。
America has not seen the like since Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrived
自從1959年9月蘇聯總理赫魯曉夫乘坐一架帶有裂縫的TU-114專機抵達美國，
in September 1959 in a Tupolev 114 with cracks in the fuselage to knock around the country for 13 days,
開啟在美全國各地為期13天的訪問之旅，同時也給美國最危險的敵人戴上了一副討人喜歡的面具以來，
putting a relatable human face on America’s most dangerous enemy.
這次的情況美國還是第一次見。
Bin Salman’s ride is a Boeing 747 with GOD BLESS YOU emblazoned under the cockpit in Arabic and English.
本·薩爾曼乘坐的是一架波音747專機，駕駛艙下繪有英語和阿拉伯語的“上帝保佑你”字樣。
And the kingdom he essentially rules—as iron-fisted regent of his ailing 82-year-old father, King Salman—defines frenemy.
而基本在他統治之下的那個國家——以攝政王的身份和鐵腕的手段幫助他82歲高齡又被病魔纏身的父親，國王薩爾曼統治著那個國家——也展示了什么是“亦敵亦友”。
His U.S. itinerary (a week longer than Khrushchev’s) is as wide-ranging as the American distrust of his homeland:
可以說，美國人對他的國家有多不信任，蓋洛普的最新調查顯示，有55%的美國人都對沙特阿拉伯持反面態度，
55% of Americans disapprove of Saudi Arabia, according to the latest Gallup survey.
他這次來美國的行程(比當年赫魯曉夫的訪問還多出了一個星期)就有多廣泛。
In the 1970s, the Saudis engineered the oil embargo that had Americans waiting in gas lines;
上世紀70年代，沙特策劃了石油禁運令，迫使美國加入了排隊購買天然氣的行列；
in the ’90s, U.S. troops scrambled into the desert to save the Saudis in the First Gulf War;
上世紀90年代第一次海灣戰爭爆發后，美國軍隊急忙進入沙漠支援沙特；
and when American families drew up emergency safety plans in the fall of 2001,
2001年秋，美國家家戶戶的老百姓都忙著制定緊急安全計劃，
it was after the terrorist attacks orchestrated by one Saudi, Osama bin Laden,
也是拜沙特人奧薩馬·本·拉登策劃的恐怖襲擊所賜——
whose countrymen accounted for 15 of the 19 people who carried out the attacks.
發動襲擊的19人中有15人都是他的同胞。
A great deal has turned on the actions of men in red checkered headscarves and flowing robes.
這群戴著紅色格子頭巾、穿著飄逸長袍的人的行為引起了很多不滿。
So there could hardly be a more disarming question than the one bin Salman poses in the hotel suite
所以，當本·薩勒曼在酒店套房接受完眾多媒體的拍照，等大家都走了，他轉頭就問，
where he has just sat for a formal portrait, once the cameras are finally gone:
“我能把這身衣服脫下來嗎？”
“Can I take this stuff off?”
沒有什么比這個問題更能讓大家安心的了。
The instant transformation that follows—kerchief off, ceremonial robe handed to an aide—
隨后的瞬間變身——摘掉方巾，并將長袍遞給助手——
captures the entire point of his sojourn:
可以說是道出了他這次行程的全部宗旨：
to sell skeptical Americans on his audacious, risky plan to modernize Saudi Arabia and reassert its primacy in the Middle East.
那就是，向心懷疑慮的美國人兜售他推動沙特社會現代化，重新確立該國在中東的主導地位這一大膽而冒險的計劃。
Over the course of three years since his father became king,
在他父親加冕為王后的這三年里，
bin Salman has ruthlessly consolidated control over the kingdom’s economic and security power centers.
本·薩勒曼以鐵腕的手段鞏固了自己對沙特的經濟權力中心和安全權力中心的控制。
He has introduced modest liberalization and sharply escalated a proxy war with Iran across the region,
他一方面為沙特社會引入了一定程度的自由風氣，一方面急劇升級了該地區與伊朗的代理人戰爭，
creating a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Yemen.
讓鄰國也門因此陷入了一場人道主義危機。
And he proposes to wean the kingdom off oil exports and diversify its economy for a post-petroleum future.
他還建議沙特阿拉伯擺脫對石油出口的依賴，實現經濟多元化，迎接“后石油時代”。
If it works, bin Salman’s putative revolution could transform one of world’s most retrograde autocracies
如果真的奏效，本·薩勒曼的這次公認的革命性舉措或許能夠一舉將位列世界上最落后的獨裁政權國家之列的沙特
from exporter of oil and terrorist ideology into a force for global progress.
從一個依賴石油出口，恐怖主義橫行的國家，變成一股推動全世界進步的力量。
But sudden change often ends badly in the Middle East,
只不過，在中東，突然的改變通常都只會以糟糕的結局收場，
and warning flags snap from the crown prince’s actions at home and abroad.
而王儲在國內國外的行為也紛紛為他豎起了警告。
“He is an ambitious young man willing to act aggressively and decisively to consolidate power,”
“他是一個雄心勃勃的年輕人，為了鞏固政權，他愿意采取積極果斷的行動，”
says Chas W. Freeman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Riyadh under President George H.W. Bush.
布什總統在任期間曾任美國駐利雅得大使的查斯·W. 小弗里曼說。
“(But) the rashness of much of what the crown prince has been doing—it’s pretty radical stuff—it does make him vulnerable.”
“(只是)王儲一直在做的很多事情——那些事情都相當的激進——都很輕率，這一點確實會讓他很容易受到攻擊。”
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
