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THE AUTOCRAT’S ASCENT
独裁者的崛起
Saudi heir Mohammed bin Salman is pitching his plan to disrupt the Middle East
沙特继承人穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼兜售分裂中东计划
By Karl Vick
文/卡尔·维克
There may not even be a name for what the crown prince of Saudi Arabia has been doing in the U.S. for three weeks,
或许，说沙特阿拉伯王储这次为期三周的美国之旅师出无名并不为过，
but he has been doing a lot of it.
但他这次并没有闲着。
By the time 32-year-old Mohammed bin Salman departs,
到他踏上归国之旅时，
he will have visited five states plus the District of Columbia, four Presidents, five newspapers, uncounted moguls and Oprah.
时年32岁的穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼将已经访问完五个州及哥伦比亚特区，四位总统，五家报纸，数不清的大亨和奥普拉。
America has not seen the like since Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrived
自从1959年9月苏联总理赫鲁晓夫乘坐一架带有裂缝的TU-114专机抵达美国，
in September 1959 in a Tupolev 114 with cracks in the fuselage to knock around the country for 13 days,
开启在美全国各地为期13天的访问之旅，同时也给美国最危险的敌人戴上了一副讨人喜欢的面具以来，
putting a relatable human face on America’s most dangerous enemy.
这次的情况美国还是第一次见。
Bin Salman’s ride is a Boeing 747 with GOD BLESS YOU emblazoned under the cockpit in Arabic and English.
本·萨尔曼乘坐的是一架波音747专机，驾驶舱下绘有英语和阿拉伯语的“上帝保佑你”字样。
And the kingdom he essentially rules—as iron-fisted regent of his ailing 82-year-old father, King Salman—defines frenemy.
而基本在他统治之下的那个国家——以摄政王的身份和铁腕的手段帮助他82岁高龄又被病魔缠身的父亲，国王萨尔曼统治着那个国家——也展示了什么是“亦敌亦友”。
His U.S. itinerary (a week longer than Khrushchev’s) is as wide-ranging as the American distrust of his homeland:
可以说，美国人对他的国家有多不信任，盖洛普的最新调查显示，有55%的美国人都对沙特阿拉伯持反面态度，
55% of Americans disapprove of Saudi Arabia, according to the latest Gallup survey.
他这次来美国的行程(比当年赫鲁晓夫的访问还多出了一个星期)就有多广泛。
In the 1970s, the Saudis engineered the oil embargo that had Americans waiting in gas lines;
上世纪70年代，沙特策划了石油禁运令，迫使美国加入了排队购买天然气的行列；
in the ’90s, U.S. troops scrambled into the desert to save the Saudis in the First Gulf War;
上世纪90年代第一次海湾战争爆发后，美国军队急忙进入沙漠支援沙特；
and when American families drew up emergency safety plans in the fall of 2001,
2001年秋，美国家家户户的老百姓都忙着制定紧急安全计划，
it was after the terrorist attacks orchestrated by one Saudi, Osama bin Laden,
也是拜沙特人奥萨马·本·拉登策划的恐怖袭击所赐——
whose countrymen accounted for 15 of the 19 people who carried out the attacks.
发动袭击的19人中有15人都是他的同胞。
A great deal has turned on the actions of men in red checkered headscarves and flowing robes.
这群戴着红色格子头巾、穿着飘逸长袍的人的行为引起了很多不满。
So there could hardly be a more disarming question than the one bin Salman poses in the hotel suite
所以，当本·萨勒曼在酒店套房接受完众多媒体的拍照，等大家都走了，他转头就问，
where he has just sat for a formal portrait, once the cameras are finally gone:
“我能把这身衣服脱下来吗？”
“Can I take this stuff off?”
没有什么比这个问题更能让大家安心的了。
The instant transformation that follows—kerchief off, ceremonial robe handed to an aide—
随后的瞬间变身——摘掉方巾，并将长袍递给助手——
captures the entire point of his sojourn:
可以说是道出了他这次行程的全部宗旨：
to sell skeptical Americans on his audacious, risky plan to modernize Saudi Arabia and reassert its primacy in the Middle East.
那就是，向心怀疑虑的美国人兜售他推动沙特社会现代化，重新确立该国在中东的主导地位这一大胆而冒险的计划。
Over the course of three years since his father became king,
在他父亲加冕为王后的这三年里，
bin Salman has ruthlessly consolidated control over the kingdom’s economic and security power centers.
本·萨勒曼以铁腕的手段巩固了自己对沙特的经济权力中心和安全权力中心的控制。
He has introduced modest liberalization and sharply escalated a proxy war with Iran across the region,
他一方面为沙特社会引入了一定程度的自由风气，一方面急剧升级了该地区与伊朗的代理人战争，
creating a humanitarian crisis in neighboring Yemen.
让邻国也门因此陷入了一场人道主义危机。
And he proposes to wean the kingdom off oil exports and diversify its economy for a post-petroleum future.
他还建议沙特阿拉伯摆脱对石油出口的依赖，实现经济多元化，迎接“后石油时代”。
If it works, bin Salman’s putative revolution could transform one of world’s most retrograde autocracies
如果真的奏效，本·萨勒曼的这次公认的革命性举措或许能够一举将位列世界上最落后的独裁政权国家之列的沙特
from exporter of oil and terrorist ideology into a force for global progress.
从一个依赖石油出口，恐怖主义横行的国家，变成一股推动全世界进步的力量。
But sudden change often ends badly in the Middle East,
只不过，在中东，突然的改变通常都只会以糟糕的结局收场，
and warning flags snap from the crown prince’s actions at home and abroad.
而王储在国内国外的行为也纷纷为他竖起了警告。
“He is an ambitious young man willing to act aggressively and decisively to consolidate power,”
“他是一个雄心勃勃的年轻人，为了巩固政权，他愿意采取积极果断的行动，”
says Chas W. Freeman Jr., a former U.S. ambassador to Riyadh under President George H.W. Bush.
布什总统在任期间曾任美国驻利雅得大使的查斯·W. 小弗里曼说。
“(But) the rashness of much of what the crown prince has been doing—it’s pretty radical stuff—it does make him vulnerable.”
“(只是)王储一直在做的很多事情——那些事情都相当的激进——都很轻率，这一点确实会让他很容易受到攻击。”
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
