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北约领导人会商俄罗斯和中东问题

The leaders of the 28 NATO countries will gather for the first time in two years starting Thursday in Wales, in western Britain, with an agenda very different from the one they had for their last summit.

北约28个成员国的领导人将于周四在英国西部的威尔士开始两年来的首次会议。这次峰会的议题与上次大有不同。

When NATO leaders last met in Chicago, Afghanistan was at the top of their agenda, and Russia was considered a partner in addressing issues like terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation. This year, responding to Russia's annexation¹ of Crimea and its invasion of eastern Ukraine will top the agenda.

当北约各国领导人上一次于芝加哥会面的时候，阿富汗是他们的首要议题，而俄罗斯则被认为是在解决恐怖主义和核武器扩散等问题上的合作伙伴。今年，如何回应俄罗斯吞并克里米亚并出兵乌克兰东部将成为会议的首要议题。

The alliance faces a "changed world," according to NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

用北约秘书长安德斯?福格?拉斯穆森（Anders Fogh Rasmussen）的话说，北约联盟面对的是一个“改变了的世界”。

"We are faced with the reality that Russia considers us an adversary², and we will adapt to that situation," said Rasmussen.

他说：“我们面临的现实是俄罗斯将我们当成了对手，而我们将适应这样的局面。”

That means a greater NATO military presence in member countries close to Russia, like troops in Lithuania, and a new force designed to strike hard and fast in response to an attack on any member.

这意味着北约将加大在立陶宛等俄罗斯附近的成员国的军事存在，还会组建一支新的军事力量，目的是在任何成员国遭到袭击的情况下做出快速反应。

But NATO has also been clear that it won't go to war with Russia to protect non-members, like Ukraine - drawing a “red line” that Xenia Wickett of London's Chatham House says may be

counter-productive.

但是北约也明确表示，不会为了保护乌克兰这样的非成员国而与俄罗斯交战。伦敦皇家国际事务研究所（漆咸楼；Chatham House）专家泽妮娅?维克特（Xenia Wickett）认为，这是划了一道可能适得其反的“红线”。

"One of the things that's going to be interesting not just at the summit but more broadly is whether actually NATO tries to be a little bit more ambiguous with its red lines in the future, which actually gives it a little bit more freedom to act, but also makes potential adversaries³ a little bit more nervous about acting⁴ because they don't quite know when they're going to elicit⁵ a strong response," said Wickett.

她说：“不仅在峰会上而且在更广泛的意义上都值得观察的一件事是，北约未来是否真的会试图把自己的红线划得更模糊一点，这样做会给它带来更多一点的行动自由，但是也让潜在的对手增加了一点紧张，因为他们不知道他们什么时候会引发一场强烈的回应。”

NATO leaders will also discuss countering the threat from the Islamic State group that has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria and terrorized local people and foreigners. The United States has been bombing the group. And the U.S. and other NATO members have been providing humanitarian⁶ aid.

北约领导人也将讨论如何反击占领了伊拉克和叙利亚部分地区并将使民众和外国人陷入恐怖之中的“伊斯兰国”组织。美国已经对该组织实施了轰炸，美国和北约成员国也已经在提供人道主义援助。

Afghanistan will still be a topic, as Taliban forces are becoming more assertive⁷. NATO's combat mission there will end in December, and officials need Afghanistan's final approval for an agreement on a future advisory⁸ and training force.

由于塔利班武装变得越来越张狂，阿富汗也将继续成为议题。北约在阿富汗的作战使命将在12月结束，北约官员们需要阿富汗最后批准一项今后由北约部队担任顾问和教官的协议。

Even just a few months ago, there was frequent questioning of whether NATO is still relevant in the post-Cold War world. Such talk has been rightly silenced, says Chatham House director Robin⁹ Niblett, who chairs an alliance advisory group.

就在几个月之前，还有人质疑，在后冷战时代，北约是否还有存在价值。皇家国际事务研究所主任、同时担任北约一个顾问组主席的罗宾?尼布勒特（Robin Niblett）说，这类议论已经知趣地停止了。

"This is a summit in which all NATO members and their partners need to step up and start to communicate to themselves and externally and to their publics. This is a dangerous world, and there is a purpose to this alliance," said Niblett.

他说：“在这次峰会上，所有北约成员国和他们的合作伙伴们都需要正视局势，开始对内部、外部并对公众沟通：这是一个危险的世界，北约联盟有存在的意义。”

Experts and NATO leaders hope that the severity of the conflict over Ukraine has convinced people in alliance countries to put more money toward defense¹⁰, and to fund rapid response capabilities¹¹ designed to confront new threats to Europe and North America.

专家们和北约领导人希望像来自乌克兰的新闻画面这样的活生生的实例能够说服联盟成员国的民众支持投入更多国防经费，以便为建立快速反应能力、应对欧洲和北美新威胁提供资金。