2019年经济学人 非洲新抢夺战(1)

 

Leaders

《社论》

The new scramble¹ for Africa

非洲新抢夺战

This time, the winners could be Africans themselves

这一次，赢家可能是非洲人

The first great surge of foreign interest in Africa, dubbed² the “scramble”, was when 19th-century European colonists³ carved up the continent and seized Africans’ land. The second was during the cold war, when East and West vied for the allegiance of newly independent African states; the Soviet⁴ Union backed Marxist tyrants⁵ while America propped⁶ up despots who claimed to believe in capitalism⁷. A third surge, now under way, is more benign⁸. Outsiders have noticed that the continent is important and becoming more so, not least because of its growing share of the global population (by 2025 the UN predicts that there will be more Africans than Chinese people). Governments and businesses from all around the world are rushing to strengthen diplomatic, strategic and commercial ties. This creates vast opportunities. If Africa handles the new scramble wisely, the main winners will be Africans themselves.

19世纪，欧洲殖民者瓜分非洲大陆，夺取了非洲人的土地，这是第一次外国对非洲兴趣激增，被称为“抢夺”。第二次发生在冷战期间，东西方抢夺新独立的非洲国家的支持；苏联支持信奉马克思主义的暴君，美国扶持自称信奉资本主义的专制者。而目前正在进行的第三次争夺，相比之前更为温和。外界已经注意到，非洲大陆很重要，而且越来越重要，尤其是因为非洲在全球人口中所占的比例越来越大（根据联合国预测，到2025年，非洲人口将超过中国人口）。世界各国政府和企业都急于加强和非洲的外交、战略和商业纽带。这创造了巨大的机遇。如果非洲巧妙地处理好这场新的争夺，那么最大的赢家将是非洲人自己。

The extent of foreign engagement is unprecedented⁹. Start with diplomacy¹⁰. From 2010 to 2016 more than 320 embassies were opened in Africa, probably the biggest embassy building boom anywhere, ever. Turkey alone opened 26. Last year India announced it would open 18. Military ties are deepening, too. America and France are lending muscle and technology to the struggle against jihadism in the Sahel. China is now the biggest arms seller to sub-Saharan Africa and has defence-technology ties with 45 countries. Russia has signed 19 military deals with African states since 2014. Oil-rich Arab states are building bases on the Horn of Africa and hiring African mercenaries.

外国在非洲的参与程度前所未有。从外交开始。从2010年到2016年，各国在非洲开设了320多个大使馆，这可能是史上最大的大使馆建设潮。仅土耳其一国就开设26个大使馆。去年，印度宣布将开设18个。军事关系也在不断深化。美国和法国正在为萨赫勒地区打击圣战主义的斗争提供力量和技术。中国现在是撒哈拉以南非洲地区最大的武器出口国，与45个国家建立了防务技术关系。自2014年以来，俄罗斯与非洲国家签署了19项军事协议。石油资源丰富的阿拉伯国家正在非洲之角建立基地，雇佣非洲雇佣兵。

1 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

2 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 tyrants   

专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a succession of tyrants. 这个国家接连遭受暴君的统治。
• The people suffered under foreign tyrants. 人民在异族暴君的统治下受苦受难。

6 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

7 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

8 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。