《历史如何评论奥巴马.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《历史如何评论奥巴马.doc（4页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、Barack Obama贝拉克奥巴马How will history see me?历史会对我做出怎样的评价？If Barack Obama wants to be remembered as a great president, he should focus on three long-term problems如果贝拉克奥巴马想作为一位伟大的总统而留名，他应当把重点放在三个长远问题上NEXT week Barack Obama will take the oath of office as elected president of the United States for the se
2、cond timean honour granted only to 16 men before him. When he returns to the Oval Office he will rediscover a string of problems, from domestic struggles over Americas debt ceiling and gun control to bloodier conflicts in Mali and Syria. But now more than ever he would be wise to look at the long te
3、rm. Mr Obama will not run for office again. How will history see him?下周，奥巴马将第二次作为美国当选总统宣誓就职在他之前只有16个人获得这一荣誉。当他返回椭圆形办公室时，他会再次发现一连串的问题：在国内，两党在债务上限和枪支管控问题上谁也不肯让步；在国外，马里和叙利亚的冲突更加血腥。不过，他应当抱着比以前更明智的态度着眼长远问题。奥巴马再也不会竞选公职。历史会怎样看待他呢？More favourably, we hope, than it would if he were judged just on the past fo
4、ur years. That is not to dismiss the accomplishments of his first term. Few presidents have had to take office against such a dismal backdrop, with the economy contracting at 5% a year, jobs being shed at the rate of 800,000 a month and America mired in two failing wars. Mr Obama has done a creditab
5、le job of putting a critically ill patient on the road to recovery. His main legislative achievementhealth-care reformmay yet help millions of Americans, though the verdict on that must await its full implementation. All this, together with an unconvincing opponent, persuaded enough Americans (and T
6、he Economist) to back him in November. But his first term was nowhere near successful enough to earn Mr Obama the mantle of greatnessor to guard him against the possibility of a disastrous second term wiping away all else.若仅依据过去4年对他做出评判，我们希望结果可能会对他更有利。这并不是去否定他首个任期的成就。在他就职时，经济以每年5%的速度在萎缩，失业人数以每月80万的速
7、度在增加，国家陷于两场走向失败的战争。很少有总统不得不在如此低迷的大背景下就职。把一个身染沉疴的病人带上复苏之路，奥巴马的功绩可圈可点。他在立法方面的主要成就医疗保险改革虽说有可能给数百万美国人带来好处，但是结论必须在其全面实施后才能给出。所有这些，加之对手无法令人信服，说服了足够多的美国人（和本报）在去年11月支持他。不过，奥巴马首个任期的成就还不足以为其赢得伟大的衣钵也无法保证第二个任期将所有这些都抹除的可能性。The Obama legacy will partly be defined by events. When George W. Bush sat reading to scho
8、olchildren in Florida on September 11th 2001, “the war on terror” was not part of his vocabulary. Mr Obama may well be blindsided by something similarly out of the blue. But Mr Bush is also often described as the man who expanded government more than any president since Lyndon Johnson; that was a le
9、gacy he could have avoided. More to his credit, Mr Bush will also be remembered for dramatically increasing and improving aid to Africa.决定奥巴马遗产的可能是一连串的事件。当乔治W布什于2001年9月11日在佛罗里达州坐着为学生们读书时，“反恐战争”可能还不在他的字典中。同样的突发事件也可能把奥巴马搞得晕头转向。但是，布什常被当成是林登约翰逊以来扩展政府最大的总统；这本是他能避免的一项遗产。更出乎意料的是，布什还被当做是大幅增加和改进对非洲援助的人。Polit
10、ical capital, like a leaders time and energy, is a scarce resource, and the list of areas where Mr Obama could spend his profitably is a long one. Immigration reform would be a great gift to leave America (see Lexington); the construction of an EU-US free-trade zone would help the West. But to our m
11、ind, three great issues stand out as not just likely to provide vast benefits if resolved, but also as liable to do immense damage to Mr Obamas legacy if neglected.领导人的时间和精力有限，政治资本也一样稀缺，奥巴马能够出手的领域有很多。移民改革会给美国留下一个大礼；构建欧盟-美国自由贸易区将有助于西方。但是，在我们看来，在我们看来，奥巴马的遗产取决于三大问题。解决了，益处多多；放任自流，麻烦就大了。First, balance th
12、e books第一，理顺自家账本The most fundamental is that America must put its fiscal house in order. Admiral Mike Mullen, then the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, was not exaggerating when he said in 2010 that Americas debt was the greatest strategic threat the country faces. Since then, $3 trillion has
13、been added, pushing the dolorous pile above $16 trillion. Much of that has been caused by the recession and the stimulus to fight it; but by the end of this decade, with ever more baby-boomers retiring, the deficit is set to rise relentlessly. If Mr Obama hands over a country heading towards bankrup
14、tcy in January 2017, he can forget any idea of being remembered as an economic saviour.最根本的问题是，美国必须理顺其财政问题。时任参谋长联席会议主席的麦克马伦将军在2010年称，债务是美国面临的最大战略威胁。他这样说并没有耸人听闻。从那以后，债务增加了3万亿美元，总额已超过16万亿美元。其中大部分是拜衰退和为了摆脱衰退而提出的刺激计划所赐；但是，到2020年的时候，随着婴儿潮一代退休的人数大大超出之前的数字，财政赤字注定毫不留情地增加。如果奥巴马在2017年1月交出的是一个走向破产的国家，那么他就可以放弃任
15、何当经济救世主的想法。Having ignored the recommendations of the deficit committee he himself established, Mr Obama has never given any sign, other than rhetorically, of being at all serious about cutting “entitlements”: these are the pensions and government health-care schemes for the poor and elderly that wil
16、l overwhelm the budget as the population ages and medical costs continue their uncontrolled rise. Far from reforming entitlements, Mr Obama added an expensive new one in his first term: subsidised health insurance for lower-paid workers. And the president has just avoided coming up with any cuts in the deal made on January 1st to stop America heading over the fiscal cliff, despite bullying the Republicans in Congress to accept tax rises
