評論
打印
How the world sees America
世界如何看待美國？
Still on a hill
依然在巔峰
The NSA's snooping has done less damage than previously thought
美國國家安全局的窺探造成的破壞比預(yù)想的要小
VOTERS, journalists and just about everyone paying attention to politics all tend to overestimate the power of the president. When Barack Obama won the White House in 2008, many Americans were dazzled by his promises of change at home and a more judicious mix of strength and humility abroad. Indeed, it was hoped that Mr Obama would rescue America's image after eight years of George Bush's brand of cowboy-booted diplomacy. Since then, America's worries about how the world sees the president, and by extension the country, have divided between those who think he is aloof and reluctant to use military force, which makes America look weak, and those who think his administration intervenes too much, making the country seem callous.
選民、記者以及關(guān)注政治的民眾貌似都高估了總統(tǒng)的權(quán)力。當(dāng)奧巴馬總統(tǒng)2008年競選成功入主白宮時(shí)，眾多的美國民眾被其國內(nèi)改革和判斷準(zhǔn)確的實(shí)力與謙虛并重的國外政策弄得眼花繚亂。確實(shí)，在經(jīng)歷了布什總統(tǒng)8年的牛仔外交之后，人們希望奧巴馬能夠拯救美國的國家形象。自此以后，美國民眾對世界如何看待美國總統(tǒng)及其怎樣讓國家富強(qiáng)的擔(dān)憂已經(jīng)分為兩大陣營。一些人認(rèn)為他不愿意使用軍事力量，這讓美國看起來十分懦弱，另一些民眾則認(rèn)為他干涉過多，讓這個(gè)國家看起來很不近人情。
This seems to have passed the rest of the world by, according to a Pew Research Centre world poll, published on July 14th. Foreigners do not much like being snooped on, and most countries disapprove of America's use of drones. Yet most places outside the Middle East still view America favourably. Nor does America's disenchantment with its president, whose job approval numbers hover around 40%, seem to be echoed elsewhere. Taking Pew's numbers on whether countries expect Mr Obama to do the right thing in world affairs and comparing them with state-by-state presidential approval numbers from Gallup, it turns out that the 44th president is more popular in China than in all but three of the 50 states: Maryland, Massachusetts and Hawaii.
根據(jù)皮尤調(diào)查研究中心7月14日發(fā)布的國際民意思調(diào)查報(bào)告，這種觀點(diǎn)似乎不為外界所知。外國人不是很喜歡被窺視，許多國家都反對美國使用無人機(jī)。然而在中東以外的許多地區(qū)人們依然很喜歡美國。美國民眾并沒有對其總統(tǒng)失去信心、不抱幻想。總統(tǒng)的工作得到40%的民眾的支持，這也在其他方面得到回應(yīng)。
Mr Obama's popularity in China could come in handy. The most alarming finding in the study is that 62% of those polled in China worry that its border disputes will lead to armed conflict. Some 67% of Americans say the same thing. The president's approval ratings did drop considerably in the two countries most affronted by the NSA: Brazil and Germany. Yet these opinions should be placed in context. Brazilians have long harboured suspicions of America. The country's president, Dilma Rousseff, was once tortured for her opposition to a military government that most people on the Brazilian left believe was supported by America; the government that did the torturing fretted that Yankees might come and grab the Amazon.
奧巴馬在中國的歡迎程度極易可得。最令人警醒的結(jié)果是調(diào)查中，接受調(diào)查的中國人里約62%的人擔(dān)心邊界爭端將會導(dǎo)致武裝沖突。約67%的美國人也表達(dá)了同樣的看法。總統(tǒng)的支持率在被美國國家安全局公然侮辱的兩個(gè)國家（巴西和德國）驟降。然而這些觀點(diǎn)必須放在特定的語境中審視。長期以來，巴西人就對美國持懷疑態(tài)度。巴西總統(tǒng)迪爾瑪·盧瑟福曾經(jīng)因?yàn)樗磳娛抡庹勰ィ^大多數(shù)的巴西左派人士認(rèn)為這一軍事政府是美國支持的。實(shí)施折磨的政府擔(dān)心美國人可能會入侵并攫取亞馬孫地區(qū)。
Meanwhile Germany's internal history with snooping has left the country wary of all government surveillance. And even Germans view America more favourably now than they did when Mr Bush was in charge. The one place where Obama's America is much less popular than Mr Bush's is Russia, a fact likely to be passed over when Republicans discuss how Mr Obama's weakness has emboldened Vladimir Putin.
與此同時(shí)，德國窺探的內(nèi)部歷史使這個(gè)國家堤防所有形式的政府監(jiān)視。現(xiàn)在，甚至連德國，相較于布什主政時(shí)期，對美國的態(tài)度更為友善。唯一一個(gè)讓奧巴馬通知下的美國不如布什時(shí)代受歡迎的國家是俄羅斯，這是共和黨人討論奧巴馬的羸弱怎樣給普金壯膽很可能會忽視的一個(gè)環(huán)節(jié)。
Unfortunately what Pew's numbers also suggest is that being well regarded does not count for much. Mr Obama's presence in the White House has improved America's image abroad, but that has not helped to bring trade pacts, peace in the Middle East, a worldwide deal to cut carbon-dioxide emissions or any of the other things Mr Obama's boosters once thought he could achieve. Like most presidents, Mr Obama has so far had a foreign policy that consists of making unpleasant and unsatisfactory choices when faced with crises, rather than reshaping the world.
然而不幸的是，皮尤調(diào)查中心的數(shù)據(jù)同時(shí)還表明被友好地對待并不能說明太多問題。奧巴馬入主白宮確實(shí)提升了美國在國外的國家形象，但是這并沒有幫助帶來貿(mào)易協(xié)定、中東地區(qū)的和平、全球范圍的二氧化碳減排協(xié)議抑或是其他奧巴馬總統(tǒng)的支持者曾經(jīng)認(rèn)為他所能帶來的變化。正如許多其他的總統(tǒng)一樣，目前為止，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)在面對危機(jī)的時(shí)候，他所倡導(dǎo)的外交政策是做一些令人不愉快不滿意的選擇而非重整整個(gè)世界的秩序。
