President-elect Barack Obama has indicated his administration is likely to be less reliant on the threat of military force to persuade and influence other countries, and more likely to use so-called "soft power," the attractiveness of a nation's ideals, culture and way of life.
美国当选总统奥巴马表示，他的政府很可能减少通过军事威胁的力量来说服或影响其他国家的做法，而更多地使用所谓的“软实力”，也就是美国的理念、文化和生活方式等。
The sheer military might of the United States is unquestioned - U.S. troops are among the best trained and equipped in the world and they are stationed in some 130 countries. But as American military superiority has increased, its reputation and ability to persuade others appear to have taken a hit.
美国军力的绝对优势是不容质疑的，美国的军队在世界上是经受过最好的训练、配备最精良装备的军队之一，他们在130来个国家有驻军。但是在美国军力独占鳌头的势力不断加强的时候，它的声望和说服力却似乎有所减弱。
A recent Pew Global Attitudes survey shows that positive views of the United States declined in 26 of the 33 countries where the question was posed in 2002 and 2007, with even close U.S. allies critical of American foreign policy. Recent surveys show majorities in nearly all countries think it is time for U.S. troops to leave Iraq and Afghanistan.
民意调查机构皮尤公司最近所作的全球态度调查显示，2002年和2007年，该机构在33个发放了调查问卷的国家中，有26个国家对美国的正面看法有所下降，有些美国的紧密盟国也对美国的外交政策持批评的态度。最近的调查显示，几乎所有国家中的多数人都认为，现在是美国军队撤离伊拉克和阿富汗的时候了。
Nancy Snow is associate professor of public diplomacy at Syracuse University in New York. She says the election of Barack Obama itself is likely to boost America's standing in the world, before he even sets foot in the White House.
南希.斯诺是纽约州雪城大学公共外交副教授，她说奥巴马当选总统这件事本身就很可能提高美国在世界上的地位，甚至在他入主白宫之前就显现效应了。
"The world was holding its collective breath, hoping that the outcome would favor Obama-Biden," said Snow. "And it did. And I think there was an immediate downtick of the anti-American sentiment. Now how long that will last is another thing. Because now he has to govern. But just as candidate, a candidate of change, to use his words, really symbolically represented a release from a very unpopular president worldwide."
During his victory speech on election night in Chicago, President-elect Obama promised "a new dawn" of American leadership in the world.
奥巴马赢得选举当天晚上在芝加哥所做的胜选演讲中承诺要开启美国在世界上领导地位的“新曙光”。
"And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright - tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope," he said.
“对这些想知道美国的灯塔是否还依然明亮的人们来说，今天晚上我们再次证明，美国真正的力量不是靠我们军队的威力，不是靠我们国家的财富，而是来自我们理想持久的威力，这就是民主、自由、机会和坚定不移的希望。”
Mr. Obama has promised to take the nation in a different direction than the Bush administration. He has said he will close down the prison at Guantanamo Bay as one of his first acts in office, and declared the United States will not use techniques such as water-boarding to obtain information.
奥巴马承诺将领导美国走向与布什政府不同的方向。他说过，他要关闭设在关塔纳摩湾的拘押中心，以此作为他执政的以后最新的行动之一，他还宣布美国将不再利用把犯人的头部强按到水里等手段获取口供。
Nancy Snow say Mr. Obama knows that restoring trust is key.
南希.斯诺说，奥巴马知道，恢复信誉才是关键。
"He said he wants to restore trust in government. He wants to restore trust in American leadership, both abroad, and at also here at home," she said. "I think what is required now through soft power, it includes non-violent practices of attracting people, through what you represent, and what you do, and that is the type of president he has said he would be."
“他说，他要恢复人们对政府的信任。他要恢复人们对美国的领导地位的信任，不仅让国内民众，也让海外民众信任。我认为这就要通过软实力，包括吸引民众的非暴力行为，通过你所代表的政策，通过你的所作所为来说话，这就是奥巴马所说的，他要当这样的总统。”
Snow says Mr. Obama can make use of his excellent communication skills and his multi-cultural background to restore America's ability to wield soft power through diplomacy and development programs.
斯诺说，奥巴马可以利用他优秀的沟通技巧和他多元的文化背景来恢复美国通过外交和发展项目来运用软实力的能力。
Kristen Lord is an expert on U.S. relations with the Islamic world at the Brookings Institution in Washington. She says she is optimistic Mr. Obama will immediately change the tone of dialogue with other countries, from a "go it alone" approach, to one of mutual respect and cooperation.
克里斯顿.洛德是华盛顿布鲁金斯学会中美国伊斯兰世界关系研究部门的专家，她说，她对奥巴马保持乐观态度，他认为新政府会在和其他国家对话中改变腔调，从过去美国特立独行的做法，改变为相互尊重、相互合作。
"When Americans show that they are willing to listen, when they are willing to engage, when they are willing to address some of the underlying challenges that Muslim societies are facing, perhaps paradoxically to some, that actually makes the United States more secure," said Lord.
她说：“当美国人显示出他们愿意听取别人的意见，愿意接触，愿意应对穆斯林社会所面临的挑战，那么 ，尽管有些人认为这自相矛盾，这样实际上可以让美国更安全。”
At her Senate confirmation hearing, Mr. Obama's choice to be Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, vowed to move away from what she called the "rigid ideology" that many analysts have associated with President Bush's foreign policy.
在奥巴马提名希拉里.克林顿为国务卿的参议院听证会上，克林顿参议员强调要摈弃她所称的“僵化的意识形态”。很多分析人士把这种僵化的意识形态和布什总统的外交政策联系起来。
"I believe that American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted. We must use what has been called smart power, the full range of tools at our disposal - diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural - picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy," she said.
希拉里.克林顿说：“我认为美国过去和现在都没有展现领导力量。我们必须巧妙地使用我们的实力，就是充分利用我们的各种手段，以外交、经济、军事、政治、法律和文化手段，选择最恰当的方法，或者结合某些方法，来处理具体情况。巧妙的使用实力，让外交将成为我们对外政策的先锋。”
Clinton said she and Mr. Obama would always try persuasion first, and would rely on military force only as a last resort. Mrs. Clinton said the United States needs to make more friends and fewer enemies, and called for the State Department to be fully empowered and funded to seize the many opportunities for leadership.
克林顿说，她和奥巴马都将首先尝试说服对方，军事能力只能作为最后的手段。克林顿说，美国需要结交更多的朋友，减少敌人，并呼吁国务院能得到充分授权和充足资金来抓住巩固领导地位的机会。
President Bush's former defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, was a well known skeptic of the notion of soft power, saying popularity is fleeting and should not guide U.S. foreign policy. Rumsfeld maintained the U.S. is strong enough to pursue its interests as it sees fit, and must accept that others will sometimes resent it.
布什总统前国防部长拉姆斯菲尔德被认为是怀疑软实力的代表人物，他说，美国是否受欢迎是经常变化的，不能用它来指导美国的外交政策。拉姆斯菲尔德坚持认为，美国有足够能力以恰当的方式来追求自己的利益，并且必须接受别人有时会产生反感这样的事实。
Others caution that many people in the United States and abroad have such high expectations for Mr. Obama to resolve the world's many problems, that some measure of disappointment is inevitable.
还有一些人警告说，很多美国人和外国人都对奥巴马解决国际问题抱有过高的期待，这将不可避免地带来失望。
But millions of people across the world are expected to watch the inauguration of the new president with a sense of pride and hope for a better future, and will look to Mr. Obama's administration for a new kind of American leadership.
但是世界上数以百万计的人们都以一种自豪和对未来希望的心情期待着观看新总统的宣誓就职仪式，希望奥巴马政府让美国展现一种新的领导能力。 |