经济学人91:应敌之策 Dealing with the enemy

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;History of diplomacy;Dealing with the enemy;

　　文艺；书评；外交往事；应敌之策；

　　George Kennan invented the American post-war policy of “containment¹” of the Soviet² Union. His biography, 30 years in the making, fills in the detail；

　　乔治·凯南是战后美国对苏“遏制”政策的始作俑者。他这本耗时30年而成的传记，充满了“遏制”政策的点点滴滴；

　　George F. Kennan: An American Life. By John Lewis Gaddis.

　　乔治·凯南：大国之策 约翰·加迪斯著。

　　Three decades ago George Kennan— former American ambassador to Moscow, multilingual diplomat³ and conceptualiser of “containment”, the heart of his country's foreign policy towards the Soviet Union—agreed to allow an American cold-war historian, John Lewis Gaddis, to serve as his biographer. Kennan had decamped from public service to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton more than 20 years earlier and was already 78 years old. When he began giving Mr Gaddis interviews and stacks of personal papers in 1981, their understanding was that the biography would appear in the presumably not-too-distant future after the elder man's passing.

　　三十年前，乔治·凯南—前美国驻莫斯科大使，掌握多种语言的外交官，美国对苏外交核心“遏制”政策的始作俑者—同意由美国冷战历史学者约翰·加迪斯为其撰写传记。那时，已78岁高龄的乔治·凯南，早退出政界在普林斯顿高级研究院从事研究已超过二十个年头。1981年起乔治·凯南开始与约翰·加迪斯会面并给予后者大堆个人资料，两人商定乔治·凯南的传记将在其过世后不久的将来面世。

　　Decades of interviews later, Mr Gaddis, who is now 70, had become accustomed to his students “speculating sombrely about which of us might go first”. Even Kennan felt sorry for “poor John”; in 2003 he lamented⁴ the “serious burden” of his own “unnatural longevity”. It was only in 2005, when death finally claimed Kennan at the age of 101, that Mr Gaddis could begin thinking about publishing this long-awaited biography.

　　自两人会面后的几十年里，如今已古稀之年的约翰·加迪斯已经习惯了让他的学生们“严肃地预测一下我们两个谁会先走一步“。即便是乔治·凯南也对约翰·加迪斯心怀愧疚；2003年他曾为自己的“超然长寿”带来的“不堪重负”而悲叹不已。2005年，101岁的乔治·凯南终于等到了生命的终点，也是从那时起，约翰·加迪斯才可以开始考虑出版这本经历了漫长等待的传记了。

　　The extraordinary length of the book's gestation⁵ meant that much changed between conception and publication. Had it appeared in the mid-1980s, the context would have been cold-war stalemate; in the early 1990s, celebration; a decade ago in 2001, concern about terrorism. Because “George F. Kennan: An American Life” finally arrives in the uneasy year of 2011, its context is economic misery⁶ and questions about the future of American dominance in international affairs.

　　这本书无与伦比的超长“妊娠期”意味着其起初构思与最终出版之间的多次变更。在书中，80年代中期的背景主要是冷战僵局；90年代早期是庆祝冷战胜利；2001年之后的十年主要涉及反恐。熬到了经历漫长艰辛最终出版的2011年，背景则又成了经济困局和对美国将来是否能主导全球事务的疑问。

　　Mr Gaddis is unequivocal on this topic. He told the New York Times in 2004 that “American imperial power…has been a remarkable⁷ force for good, for democracy, for prosperity.” He has also expressed his admiration⁸ for the former presidents, Ronald Reagan and George Bush junior, and their versions of “grand strategy”, a topic he now teaches at Yale University. All of these developments have naturally given rise to much speculation⁹. Could Mr Gaddis, who admits that he speaks no foreign languages, get on top of the mountain of material and do credit to such an international polymath? Would his own views emerge along with Kennan's? The 784-page answer to both these questions is yes.

　　约翰·加迪斯对每一个话题都不含糊。2004年他曾告诉《纽约时报》的记者：“美利坚帝国有种非常不平凡的力量，一种使之优秀、民主、繁荣的力量。”同时他也表达了对前总统里根和小布什以及他们的“伟大战略”的敬佩之意，这也是他在耶鲁大学教授的课题。这些言语自然引起了人们进一步的猜测。承认自己不懂外语的约翰·加迪斯，能否征服堆积如山的资料，为乔治·凯南这样的国际大家赢得赞颂？他的观点是否来自乔治·凯南？这部厚达784页的作品肯定的回答了这两个问题。

　　Mr Gaddis has mastered the sources that came his way over the decades. The resulting biography is engaging and lucid¹⁰. The first half of the book almost has the sweep of a novel. Readers join Kennan in Germany as the Nazis¹¹ rise; in Norway in 1931 as the awkward young man meets the parents of his fiancée, to whom he would remain married for 73 years; in the Soviet Union in 1933 as he establishes the first American embassy; in Czechoslovakia as Adolf Hitler arrives and the world descends¹² into another war; and back in Moscow again in 1945 when he receives skin-crawling personal compliments from Joseph Stalin on his Russian language skills. The chapter detailing Kennan's breakthrough—achieved by redesigning American foreign policy at a stroke, via his 5,000-word “Long Telegram” from Moscow to Washington, DC, in 1946—is particularly gripping. As he himself put it: “My reputation was made. My voice now carried.”

　　约翰·加迪斯掌握着几十年里符合自己观点的资源，所创作出的传记引人入胜又清晰明了。传记的前半部读起来几乎就是一部小说的翻版。读者们一起与乔治·凯南在纳粹兴起时造访德国；1931年在挪威，一起与这位笨拙的青年会见之后陪伴了他73载未婚妻的父母；1933年与之一起建立美国第一个驻苏联大使馆；和他一道与希特勒一起来到捷克斯洛伐克并目睹了第二次世界大战；之后又一块在斯大林对其俄语技巧令人起鸡皮疙瘩般的恭维下于1945年返回莫斯科。而描写乔治·凯南事业取得重大突破的章节—在1946年通过其从莫斯科发往华盛顿的5，000字“长电”，一举改写了美国外交政策—尤为精彩。就如同乔治·凯南自己给自己的评价一样：“功成名就，四海扬声。”

　　Before this, Kennan was a promising¹³ young officer in the American foreign service; after it, he joined the top ranks of American strategists. His arguments convinced the Truman administration that efforts to continue wartime co-operation with Russia were fruitless. America should recognise the Soviet Union as a new kind of enemy, one seeking to destroy “our traditional way of life”. Rather than fighting a conventional war, America would need to contain Soviet hostility¹⁴ firmly and consistently over the long term. As America resisted Moscow more and more, Kennan felt it was crucial that his country maintain the “health and vigour¹⁵ of our own society” and not become a garrison¹⁶ state.

　　而在那之前，乔治·凯南不过是美国外交界里颇有前途的小青年，之后则位列顶级战略家之层。他的论据证实了杜鲁门政府继续与苏联战时合作的努力终究无果。美国应当把苏联做为一个新的，一个试图摧毁“我们传统的生活方式”的敌人来认识，应当放弃传统的战争方式，坚决地包纳苏联的敌意并长期持之以恒。随着美苏争霸的愈演愈烈，乔治·凯南意识到，对美国来讲最关键的是保持“我们这个社会的健康与活力”而不是变成一个堡垒式的国家。

　　After the “Long Telegram”, Kennan returned to Washington and founded the State Department's influential¹⁷ Policy Planning Staff. But, according to Mr Gaddis, his prestige had peaked by 1948. After that, Kennan became increasingly sidelined for opposing what he judged to be excessive militarisation of his containment strategy. Yet he continued to condemn¹⁸ overly militarised policies for the rest of his life.

　　“长电”之后，乔治·凯南返回华盛顿，组建了国务院颇具影响力的机构政策计划处。不过根据约翰·加迪斯的讲述，其名望在1948年达到了顶峰。之后由于抵制其认为的过度军事化遏制政策而逐步边缘化。而乔治·凯南终其余生都在谴责过度军事化的政策。

　　Kennan took particular offence at the attitude of the Reagan administration, which he viewed as “simply childish, inexcusably childish, unworthy of people charged with the responsibility for conducting the affairs of a great power in an endangered world.” Nor did the end of the cold war change his mind. In 1992 Kennan made a point of stating that “nobody ‘won' the cold war”. It had been a long, costly¹⁹ tragedy, “fuelled on both sides by unreal and exaggerated estimates of the intentions and strength of the other side.”

　　对于里根政府，乔治·凯南的态度尤其地冒犯，他认为里根“简单幼稚，无法理解地天真，根本不配担负起在有危险的世界指导一个超级大国事务如此之重任。”冷战结束后他也没有改变自己的看法。1992年乔治·凯南曾阐述自己的观点，认为“冷战无赢家”。这场旷日持久，代价高昂的悲剧，“将对另一方意图和力量进行了不现实和扩大估算的双方同时埋葬。”

　　Mr Gaddis disagrees. He closes his study by condemning²⁰ Kennan for having “blinded” himself to the fact that, in Mr Gaddis's opinion, Reagan brought Kennan's “strategy to its successful conclusion”. If Kennan were alive, he would probably still disagree, and not without reason. If the elder man's concern for the costs of bellicose²¹ foreign policy, rather than the younger man's enthusiasm for imperial exercise of American power, had dominated the last decade, it would have made for a sounder grand strategy. In ways that this biography seems not entirely²² to appreciate, Kennan's far-sighted opposition²³ to American over-militarisation makes his personal career history less gripping than his legacy²⁴.

　　约翰·加迪斯对此并不认同。在传记结尾他责备了乔治·凯南对事实的“视而不见”，按照约翰·加迪斯的观点，是里根的采纳“成就”了乔治·凯南的战略。但是如果乔治·凯南还健在，他可能还会反对，而且还自有道理。如果这位老人担心的是好战外交政策所付出的代价，而不是在其后的十年起决定性作用的青年人对美国超级力量运用的热情，那么它将会是一个更加合理的宏伟战略。如此来看这部传记对乔治·凯南也不全是赞誉，乔治·凯南颇有远见地反对美国过度军事化使其个人职业生涯的精彩程度比其传记略逊一筹。

1 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

2 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。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 gestation   

n.怀孕；酝酿

参考例句：

• The gestation period can be anything between 95 and 150 days.妊娠期从95天至150天不等。
• This film was two years in gestation.这部电影酝酿了两年。

6 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

7 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

8 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

9 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

10 lucid   

adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的

参考例句：

• His explanation was lucid and to the point.他的解释扼要易懂。
• He wasn't very lucid,he didn't quite know where he was.他神志不是很清醒，不太知道自己在哪里。

11 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

14 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

15 vigour   

（=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力

参考例句：

• She is full of vigour and enthusiasm.她有热情，有朝气。
• At 40,he was in his prime and full of vigour.他40岁时正年富力强。

16 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

17 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

18 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

19 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

20 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

21 bellicose   

adj.好战的；好争吵的

参考例句：

• He expressed alarm about the government's increasingly bellicose statements.他对政府越来越具挑衅性的声明表示担忧。
• Some irresponsible politicians made a bellicose remarks.一些不负责任的政客说出一些好战的话语。

22 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

23 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

24 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。