時代週刊年度十大國際新聞:敘利亞內戰居首
10. India’s Corruption Woes
10. 印度發生多起腐敗醜聞The ruling Congress Party-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has seen its popularity and credibility plummet following waves of corruption scandals implicating top politicians accused of exploiting their positions for financial gain.
在發生多起涉及高級官員以權謀私的腐敗醜聞後，由來自國大黨的印度總理曼莫漢·辛格領導政府的支持度和信譽大幅下降。The reported incidents of graft have been both epic—a billion-dollar telecoms scandal—and petty, but all have fueled the fires of public anger. Foreign observers now warn that the Indian model for democracy and development could be derailed by the country’s venal bureaucracies and crony capitalism.
媒體報道的貪腐事件牽涉甚廣，有案值10億美元的電信案，也有多起案值不高的小案件，這些都引發了公衆的怒火。外國觀察家現在警告稱，印度的民主和發展模式可能被其貪腐的官僚政治和裙帶資本主義所葬送。
9. Afghanistan: Escaping the Quagmire
9. 阿富汗：逃離泥潭It’s no secret that the diminishing coalition of Western governments still involved in the 11-year war in Afghanistan are desperate to get out. Some, like the French, have already wound down their military operations ahead of schedule. Washington preaches staying the course through gritted teeth until the end of 2014, at which point Afghan government forces will ostensibly have the numbers, the training, the equipment and the will to take over the fight against the Taliban.
捲入阿富汗11年戰爭的西方國家政府聯盟急於脫身不是一個祕密。法國等一些國家已提前結束了軍事行動，美國將堅守至2014年年底，阿富汗政府軍到時候從名義上說擁有接管打擊塔利班任務的所需人員、訓練能力、裝備和意願。That narrative has been challenged by events in 2012, not least the steady toll of regular “green-on-blue” killings—when supposedly friendly Afghan personnel attack their NATO mentors. More than 60 coalition soldiers have died in such attacks this year alone. No surprise, then, that the Administration is currently in negotiations with Kabul over keeping a residual force in Afghanistan well after the departure date.
不過2012年發生的事件對這種說法提出了挑戰，其中包括一系列阿富汗政府軍攻擊北約教官的事件（被稱爲綠對藍攻擊事件），今年就有60多名聯軍士兵在此類襲擊事件中喪生。奧巴馬政府正在與阿富汗政府就在撤軍後在阿駐留部隊的問題進行會談。8. Asia’s Troubled Waters
8. 亞洲海洋領土問題In a year Washington had announced would see a “pivot” of its strategic priorities away from the Middle East and toward the Asia-Pacific region, things heated up in the waters surrounding the continent’s budding hegemon, China.
就在美國宣佈其戰略優先事務將從中東轉往亞太地區的今年，中國與其鄰國出現海洋領土問題。Beijing has grown more and more assertive in its territorial claims, both to its east in contests with Japan and in the South China Sea, which the Chinese imagine as their sphere of influence. In the East China Sea, the Chinese locked horns with Japan over its control over the Senkaku Islands (known as the Diaoyu by the Chinese).
中國政府對東海和南海的領土主權態度越來越強硬，中國漁船和海監船越來越頻繁地在南海與越南、菲律賓船隻發生對抗。在東海，中國與日本就釣魚島主權問題發生對抗。7. Latin America Seeks Reforms on Drugs
7. 拉美試圖在打擊毒品方面進行改革After decades of bloodshed and billions of dollars spent, there’s an emerging consensus in much of Latin America that the U.S.-authored war on drugs has caused more problems than it has solved, and ought to be ended. Some governments in the region now champion a move away from the longstanding focus on prohibition towards more practical and progressive measures.
在經過數十年的流血和數十億美元的投入，大部分拉美國家開始認爲美國主導的掃毒戰爭弊大於利，應該結束了。一些地區國家的政府現在主張把重點從禁止轉向更爲實際和前進的措施。The greatest change has come in the small republic of Uruguay, whose center-left government pushed through legislation making the state the sole legal dispensary of marijuana. Elsewhere, a host of Latin American leaders such as Guatemala’s Otto Perez Molina have called for drug legalization, with the support of regional players such as Mexico and Colombia.
拉圭在這方面採取了最大的變化，它的中左政府推動立法，使本國成爲大麻唯一合法發放者。其他拉美國家的領導人，如危地馬拉總統莫利納呼籲起草毒品法案，他的訴求也得到了墨西哥和哥倫比亞等國的支持。6. Communist Leadership Changes
6. 社會主義陣營領導層換屆In 2012, two of the world’s remaining Communist regimes completed two very different leadership handovers. The isolated pariah regime in North Korea saw the ascension of Kim Jon Un, the well-fed third son of the deceased Dear Leader Kim Jong Il. Kim Jon Un appears to have consolidated his power and is steadily building his own cult of authority.
2012年社會主義陣營的兩個國家實現了領導層換屆。已故的朝鮮前領導人金正日的兒子金正恩成爲朝鮮新領導人。金正恩看起來鞏固了自己的權力，正在穩步建立自己的權威。In neighboring China a once-in-a-decade leadership transition took place. How these newly leaders navigate the domestic and international challenges of their decade at the top will be critically important in shaping global events.
中國也進行了十年一次的領導層換屆，新一代領導集體在未來十年如何應對國內和國際挑戰對於全球具有非常重要的意義。
5. Mali’s Crisis
5. 馬裏危機In one of the gloomier stories of a gloomy international news year, Mali turned from being hailed as one of West Africa’s democratic success stories to various metaphors of doom: it was labeled the next Somalia, a dysfunctional, failed state; the next Afghanistan, overrun by extremist militias and terrorist groups; and the next Libya, facing civil war and Western-backed military intervention.
非洲國家馬裏從西非的民主成功故事淪落爲各種末日的隱喻，它被稱作是下一個索馬里、利比亞、阿富汗，被認爲是一個失敗國家，被極端民兵武裝和恐怖團伙所控制，面臨內戰和西方支持的軍事幹涉。After a military coup ousted the country’s democratically-elected government in March, an insurgency in Mali’s vast north rapidly gained ground. The rebels have de facto control over more than half the country, including the historic cities of Timbuktu and Gao. Meanwhile, the chaos has fueled a growing humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands displaced.
軍事政變在三月推翻了民主選舉產生的政府，馬裏北部的武裝分子活動在這之後開始攻城掠地，反對派武裝已控制了馬裏一半以上的領土，包括歷史名城廷巴克圖和加奧。與此同時，混亂加劇了人道主義危機，數百萬人流所失所。4. Netanyahu’s Year of Living Dangerously
4. 內塔尼亞胡的一年Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has scarcely been out of the headlines in 2012, whether for warning of a possible war with Iran, launching a military offensive to stop Palestinian rocket fire out of Gaza, or appearing to signal a preference for Republican candidate Mitt Romney to win the White House in November.
以色列總理內塔尼亞胡2012年多次出現在媒體頭條上，包括警告要對伊朗動武、對加沙發動攻勢以制止巴勒斯坦人的火箭彈攻擊、表態支持羅姆尼成爲美國總統。At the U.N. in September, Netanyahu warned that at current rates of progress, Iran would likely cross Israel’s “red line” for action by next summer. And as the year draws to a close, the Israeli leader’s response to the Palestinians’ quest for U.N. recognition — initiating planning on new settlement construction in the West Bank — has prompted a flurry of Western pressure on Netanyahu to back down. On one front or another, it’s a safe bet that the Israeli Prime Minister whose reelection appears likely this January will remain a key player in the international headlines next year.
9月在聯合國大會上，內塔尼亞胡警告稱，伊朗可能在明年夏季之前跨過以色列的“紅線”。以色列爲了應對巴勒斯坦成功入聯而宣佈將在約旦河西岸建設新的定居點，這使西方加大了對內塔尼亞胡作出讓步的壓力。內塔尼亞胡可能在明年1月的大選中獲得連任，將繼續出現在明年的國際新聞頭條上。3. The Eurozone Crisis
3. 歐元區危機Debt-ridden Southern Europe continued to reel from the fiscal nightmare gripping the eurozone, and clouding the prospects of the global economic recovery. Mass protests and general strikes became routine in 2012 in Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and elsewhere, as infuriated publics rallied against austerity measures imposed on their countries as the condition of bailouts from further north.
債務累累的歐洲南部國家繼續受到歐元區危機的重壓，這給全球經濟恢復的前景蒙上了陰影。大規模抗議、罷工成爲西班牙、希臘、意大利、葡萄牙和其它國家的家常便飯，憤怒的公衆舉行集會，反對強加的經濟緊縮措施。Steep cuts in public spending have done little to promote the growth needed to right the listing ships of the Mediterranean economies. Instead, hardship and inequality have deepened, and unemployment has skyrocketed — nearly a quarter of Spain’s workforce is out of a job.
對公共支出的大幅削減無助於推動使地中海國家經濟轉好的增長。事實上，這些國家的困難和不平等加劇，失業率大幅增加，四分之一的西班牙勞動力沒有工作。2. An Arab Winter
2. 阿拉伯之冬After the Year of the Protester, came the Year of the Politico. The next phase of revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia saw previously marginalized Islamist political forces make dramatic gains. Once banned or fringe parties now hold the levers of power: In Tunisia, Ennadha, a previously outlawed moderate Islamist movement, now commands a majority in the legislature and may set about overhauling the country’s relatively laissez-faire, secularist societal mores. In Libya, the Sept. 11 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi brought into stark relief both the security conundrum and growing radicalism.
在經過示威者的一年後，又迎來了政客的一年。在埃及、利比亞、突尼斯革命的下一階段，先前處於邊緣地位的伊斯蘭派政治勢力取得了重大進展，一度被取締或者處於邊緣地位的政黨現在掌握了權力。在突尼斯，一度被取締的持溫和立場的伊斯蘭復興運動已在議會上獲得了多數席位。在利比亞，美國駐班加西領事館9月11日遇襲事件說明了安全難題和不斷增長的極端主義。1. Syria’s Bloody Stalemate
1. 敘利亞的流血僵局As 2012 draws to a close, Syrians approach the second anniversary of a bloody civil war with little immediate prospect of resolution. By some estimates, more than 40,000 people have been killed since a peaceful uprising against President Bashar Assad in February 2011 morphed rapidly into a bloodbath.
在2012年接近尾聲的時候，敘利亞正邁向血腥內戰爆發二週年的日子，這場內戰看不到任何立刻解決的希望。一些機構估計，自2011年2月針對阿薩德總統的抗議示威開始以來，已有4萬多人死於衝突，抗議示威快速轉變爲流血事件。Western powers are reluctant to be drawn into yet another conflagration in the Middle East in which an authoritarian secular state is being torn apart along lines of religious sect. The chaos is being further fueled by regional proxy-war agendas and has spilled over Syria’s borders into such tinderbox polities as Lebanon and Iraq.
西方國家不太願意捲入另一場中東地區的衝突，作爲獨裁統治的世俗國家敘利亞，因爲不同的宗教派別而被四分五裂。地區代理人戰爭日程進一步加劇了動盪，並蔓延至敘利亞邊境以外的黎巴嫩和伊拉克。
