评论
打印
Hello. I’m Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics
你好。我是克雷格，这里是政府与政治速成班
and congratulations you have made it to the final Crash Course Government and Politics video! Whoo!
恭喜你进入了政府与政治速成课程的最后一节！唔！
Today we’re going to look at the mystifying paradox of both the least and most important aspect of government: foreign policy.
今天我们来看看政府最不重要和最重要的两个方面的神秘悖论:外交政策。
Foreign policy is the most important because it has the potential to affect the largest number of people, especially if you include environmental policy, which we should.
外交政策是最重要的，因为它有可能影响最多的人，特别是如果你包括环境政策，我们应该这样做。
Also, foreign policy includes a lot of elements of economic policy, so that’s important.
此外，外交政策包含了很多经济政策的元素，所以这很重要。
But it’s also the least important,
但这也是最不重要的，
first because it tends to have a minimal impact on how Americans think about their government, unless the U.S. is at war and even then not always so much.
首先，它往往对美国人如何看待他们的政府影响最小，除非美国处于战争状态，即使战争并不总是那么重要。
Second, because it is the least democratic government policy.
第二，因为这是最不民主的政府政策。
Which might be a good thing.
这可能是一件好事。
Foreign policy is the collection of policies that determine America’s relations with other nations and foreign entities.
外交政策是决定美国与其他国家和外国实体关系的一系列政策。
It includes: - diplomacy - military and security policy - international human rights policies - economic policies such as trade and international energy policy, and - environmental policy.
它包括:-外交-军事和安全政策- -国际人权政策- -经济政策，例如贸易和国际能源政策- -环境政策。
My environmental policy is...that.
我的环境政策是……
In some ways, foreign policy is the quintessential public good.
从某种意义上说，外交政策是最基本的公共利益。
Everybody benefits from a policy that makes citizens, and the world, safer, and no individual, except for maybe a Bond-style supervillain could pull it off by themselves.
每个人都能从一项政策中受益，这项政策使公民和世界更加安全，而且除了邦德式的超级恶棍之外，没有人能独自完成这项政策。
Like all government policy, foreign policy has goals.
与所有政府政策一样，外交政策也有目标。
Of course, foreign policy is about providing security, but American foreign policy also seeks to create prosperity, and works toward a somewhat idealistic goal of making the world a better place.
当然，外交政策是为了提供安全，但美国的外交政策也寻求创造繁荣，并朝着让世界变得更美好的理想主义目标努力。
Security has many facets, and like most things, it has grown more complex over time.
安全有很多方面，而且像大多数事情一样，随着时间的推移，它变得越来越复杂。
It used to simply mean being able to repel invaders.
它过去仅仅意味着能够击退入侵者。
No, not like the Mongols, more like the British.
不，不像蒙古人，更像英国人。
Now however, in addition to physical security, foreign policy encompasses transportation, energy, cyber-security, and food security.
然而现在，除了物质安全，外交政策还包括交通、能源、网络安全和粮食安全。
So we can see how foreign policy and economic policy are closely related.
所以我们可以看到外交政策和经济政策是如何紧密相连的。
And of course, we can’t forget terrorism.
当然，我们不能忘记恐怖主义。
I can’t resist a little history here, especially since this is the last episode of the series.
我无法抗拒这段历史，尤其是因为这是这部剧的最后一集。
From the beginning, starting with George Washington, in terms of physical security, the U.S. has been pretty isolationist, although Canadians and Mexicans would probably disagree.
从一开始，从乔治·华盛顿开始，在物质安全方面，美国就相当孤立，尽管加拿大人和墨西哥人可能不同意。
George Washington urged the U.S. to avoid “foreign entanglements” and we basically did, right up until World Wars I and II,
乔治·华盛顿敦促美国避免“外国干涉”，我们基本上做到了，直到第一次和第二次世界大战，
when threats to the international order were seen as detrimental to American security, even though there wasn’t much danger of the Germans invading the U.S.
当时，国际秩序受到的威胁被视为对美国安全的威胁，尽管德国入侵美国的危险并不大
After World War II, the advent of long range bombers and then ICBMs meant that there was a threat to Americans in America and security policy developed into one of deterrence,
二战后，远程轰炸机和洲际弹道导弹的出现意味着在美国的美国人受到了威胁，安全政策发展成为一种威慑，
which meant building up enough military strength to discourage potential enemies, pronounced Soviet Union, from attacking us.
这意味着建立足够的军事力量来阻止潜在的敌人，即苏联，攻击我们。
Deterrence was expensive, and required a large arsenal of dangerous weapons and a willingness to fight, which the U.S. did in Korea and Vietnam.
威慑是昂贵的，需要大量的危险武器和战斗意愿，美国在韩国和越南就是这样做的。
We still maintain an enormous nuclear arsenal, but nowadays, different security threats mean deterrence is less important.
我们仍然拥有庞大的核武库，但如今，不同的安全威胁意味着威慑不再那么重要。
It’s not clear that a gigantic nuclear threat has much effect on terrorists,
目前还不清楚巨大的核威胁对恐怖分子有多大影响，
and since 2001, America has pursued a global war on terror, that, as we saw in Iraq, includes the doctrine of preemptive war to forestall potential threats.
自2001年以来，美国一直在进行一场全球反恐战争，正如我们在伊拉克所看到的，其中包括先发制人的原则，以防止潜在的威胁。
Although military force may be the most visible form of U.S.
虽然军事力量可能是美国最明显的形式
foreign policy, it might not be the most useful.
外交政策，它可能不是最有用的。
For one thing, it’s generally seen as a last resort, which I’d say is a good thing.
首先，它通常被视为最后的手段，我认为这是一件好事。
It also has significant downsides, including costs, both in terms of lives and money.
它也有显著的缺点，包括生命和金钱方面的成本。
It’s also politically dangerous because, while Americans are usually on board with short, decisive and victorious military action, the longer a war drags on, the less support it tends to have.
这在政治上也很危险，因为尽管美国人通常都支持短期、决定性和胜利的军事行动，但战争拖得越久，得到的支持往往就越少。
The main economic goals of foreign policy are to expand opportunities for the U.S., promote foreign investment, maintain access to foreign energy supplies, and promote trade policies that will keep prices low at American big box stores.
外交政策的主要经济目标是为美国扩大机会，促进外国投资，保持获得外国能源供应的渠道，促进贸易政策，使美国大卖场的价格保持在低水平。
What this means in practice is that the U.S. maintains an active role in international organizations, like the World Trade Organization, that make and uphold free trade rules.
这在实践中意味着，美国在制定和维护自由贸易规则的国际组织中保持积极的作用，比如世界贸易组织。
We grant “most favorable nation” status to trading partners that agree to low tariffs, and most notably we engage in regional trade agreements like NAFTA.
我们给予同意低关税的贸易伙伴“最惠国家”地位，最引人注目的是，我们参与了北美自由贸易协定等地区性贸易协定。
The third goal of foreign policy is to make the world a better place.
外交政策的第三个目标是让世界变得更美好。
One way that the U.S.does this is through international human rights initiatives.
一种是美国这是通过国际人权倡议实现的。
The U.S. is a party to many human rights treaties, but we have a somewhat complicated relationship with the UN and international lawmaking bodies, so we don’t sign on to all of them.
美国是许多人权条约的缔约国，但我们与联合国和国际立法机构的关系有些复杂，所以我们不会签署所有这些条约。
For example, the U.S.hasn’t signed on to the international criminal court, probably because we’re afraid that submitting to its jurisdiction would be a loss of our sovereignty.
例如，美国还没有签署加入国际刑事法院，可能是因为我们担心服从它的管辖会失去我们的主权。
But in reality international law isn’t a huge part of American foreign policy.
但实际上，国际法并不是美国外交政策的重要组成部分。
The U.S. also engages in international peace-keeping missions, and international peace certainly makes the world a better place.
美国还参与国际维和任务，国际和平当然会使世界变得更美好。
America doesn’t usually commit its soldiers to UN peacekeeping missions, preferring to make its own coalitions or work through NATO, which by the way is an example of an international security agreement too.
美国通常不会派遣士兵参加联合国的维和任务，而是更愿意建立自己的联盟，或者通过北约合作，顺便说一下，北约也是国际安全协议的一个例子。
See there’s a lot of overlap here.
这里有很多重叠。
Another way the U.S. makes the world a better place is through international environmental policy.
美国让世界变得更美好的另一种方式是通过国际环境政策。
Again, that’s my environmental policy.
这也是我的环保政策。
Keep eagles away from me.
让老鹰离我远点。
Environmental policy has a domestic component, as when we set fuel standards or rules for power plant emissions or dumping toxic chemicals.
环境政策也包括国内因素，比如我们为发电厂排放或倾倒有毒化学品制定燃料标准或规则。
But since we’re all on one planet with one environment, it’s also part of foreign policy.
但既然我们都生活在同一个星球上，生活在同一个环境中，这也是外交政策的一部分。
Talk to me when you live on Mars.
当你住在火星上的时候和我谈谈。
Then maybe you don’t have to worry about this stuff.
那时候你就不用担心这些了。
On the other hand, the U.S. lags behind other nations in terms of participation in many global environmental initiatives,
另一方面，美国在参与许多全球环境倡议方面落后于其他国家，
which is a bit of a problem considering we’re one of the world’s biggest polluters and producers of greenhouse gasses.
考虑到我们是世界上最大的污染者和温室气体排放国之一，这有点问题。
I can’t imagine these statements are going to lead to any bad comments. At all.
我无法想象这些陈述会导致任何不好的评论。一点也想象不到。
When it comes to the conflict between environmental protection and economic growth, Americans tend to choose economic growth.
当谈到环境保护和经济增长之间的冲突时，美国人倾向于选择经济增长。
So, overall, in terms of foreign policy goals, security comes first, economics second and making the world a better place definitely third, at least in terms of formal foreign policy.
所以，总的来说，就外交政策目标而言，安全第一，经济第二，让世界变得更美好绝对是第三，至少就正式的外交政策而言。
This brings us to the question of how foreign policy is made,
这就引出了外交政策是如何制定的问题，
and why foreign policy is the least democratic type of policy the government makes.
以及为什么外交政策是政府制定的最不民主的政策类型。
Let’s go to the final Thought Bubble for Crash Course Government and Politics. Whoo!
让我们进入政府和政治速成课程的最后一个思想泡泡。哇!
At the top of the foreign policy picture is the President, who the constitution suggests is the nation’s chief diplomat, having the power to receive foreign ambassadors and negotiate treaties.
外交政策的首要人物是总统，宪法规定他是国家的首席外交官，有权接待外国大使和谈判条约。
The president gets all the face to face meetings with foreign leaders and has authority to hammer out agreements;
总统拥有与外国领导人面对面的所有会议，并有权敲定协议；
remember that when the Constitution was written most other countries were still ruled by kings, emperors, and sultans, so we needed a single person to do the negotiating.
请记住，当宪法制定时，大多数其他国家仍然由国王、皇帝和苏丹统治，所以我们需要一个人来进行谈判。
He also has the advantage of being “the decider” on crucial issues, which may be good or bad depending on whether or not you like his decisions.
他还具有在关键问题上“做决定者”的优势，这些问题的好坏取决于你是否喜欢他的决定。
But the president, like John Green, is only one man, so most of the day-to-day work of foreign policy is relegated to bureaucrats.
但是和约翰·格林一样，总统只是一个人，所以外交政策的大部分日常工作都交给了官僚们。
Like most of the day-to-day work of Crash Course is relegated to bureaucrats like me, and Stan, and Zulaiha, and Raoul, and Brandon, and Thought Cafe, oh this isn’t the credits let’s move on.
就像速成班的大部分日常工作都归我、斯坦、祖莱哈、拉乌尔、布兰登这些官僚管，还有思想咖啡馆，哦，这不是职员名单，我们继续。
Diplomatic work is handled mainly by the State Department, but they get a lot of help from the defense department and the intelligence gathering agencies like the CIA, NSA, and DHS.
外交工作主要由国务院负责，但他们得到了国防部和中央情报局、国家安全局和国土安全部等情报收集机构的大量帮助。
After all, you want to have as much information as you can before you sit down at the table to negotiate.
毕竟，在你坐下来谈判之前，你想要尽可能多的信息。
Unless you are negotiating the size and shape of the table. Which has happened.
除非你在谈判桌子的大小和形状。这已经发生了。
Congress has a role in foreign policy but it's a limited one, and that’s probably a good thing.
国会在外交政策中发挥作用，但作用有限，这可能是件好事。
The Senate has the constitutional power to ratify treaties, but since a 2/3 vote is required,
宪法赋予参议院批准条约的权力，但由于需要2/3的投票，
the president will often try to create foreign policy with executive agreements that only require a majority vote in both houses, which is usually easier to secure, especially recently.
总统经常试图通过行政协议来制定外交政策，而行政协议只需要两院的多数投票，这通常更容易获得，尤其是最近。
One way Congress has a big role to play in foreign policy through its power of the purse.
一种方法是国会通过其财政权力在外交政策中发挥重要作用。
It takes money to pursue a policy, and it takes a purse to hold money.
推行一项政策需要资金，而持有资金则需要钱包。
And especially in the area of defense Congress appropriates a lot of it.
特别是在国防领域，国会拨款很多。
Money not purses.
钱不是钱包。
Contrary to popular belief, though, Congress hasn’t budgeted a lot of money for other types of foreign policy, especially aid to foreign nations.
然而，与普遍看法相反的是，国会并没有为其他类型的外交政策(尤其是对外国的援助)编列大量预算。
Thanks, Thought Bubble.
谢谢，思想泡泡。
I’m going to miss you.
我会想你的。
Congressional committees, like those on foreign relations can provide some expertise,
国会委员会，比如外交关系委员会可以提供一些专业知识，
but not as much as bureaucracies, because Congressmen still have to spend a lot of time running for re-election and usually those elections don’t hinge on their knowledge of foreign affairs.
但没有官僚机构那么多，因为国会议员仍然要花很多时间竞选连任，而这些选举通常不取决于他们对外交事务的了解。
They can also try to limit the executive branch’s authority through hearings like the one that targeted the State Department’s handling of the Benghazi incident,
他们还可以通过听证会来限制行政部门的权力，比如针对国务院处理班加西事件的听证会，
but these don’t usually effect business as usual at the bureaucracy, although they may force a few resignations.
但这些措施通常不会影响官僚机构的正常运作，尽管它们可能会迫使一些人辞职。
Congress at times does try to assert a foreign policy power like it recently did with Iran’s nuclear deal.
国会有时确实试图维护一种外交政策权力，就像最近在伊朗核协议上所做的那样。
But it takes a hot-button issue like Iranian nuclear weapons to garner enough public attention for Congress to wade into foreign policy like this, and I think there’s a good argument that they should stay out and leave it to experts.
但是，像伊朗核武器这样的热点问题需要得到足够的公众关注，才能让国会介入这样的外交政策。
Like me. I’m real good at Iranian nuclear weapons dealing.
喜欢我。我真的很擅长伊朗的核武器交易。
For the state department and the president to work directly with other countries, those countries need to be confident that the deals they hammer out won’t be undercut by congress.
对于国务院和总统与其他国家直接合作，这些国家需要有信心，他们敲定的协议不会被国会削弱。
Fewer actors in this arena helps build predictability, which is something you want, especially when nuclear weapons are on the table… no matter the table’s size or shape.
在这个舞台上，更少的参与者有助于建立可预测性，这是你想要的，尤其是当核武器摆在桌面上时……无论桌子的大小或形状如何。
Interest groups can play a role in foreign policy in terms of shaping the agenda, but they don’t do much of the work of crafting the policies themselves.
利益集团可以在外交政策中扮演塑造议程的角色，但他们自己不做多少制定政策的工作。
As with domestic policy, interest groups are most effective when they are focused on a single issue, especially if that issue is narrow.
与国内政策一样，当利益集团专注于一个问题时，尤其是当这个问题很狭隘时，它们的效率最高。
Industry interests can lobby, sometimes vigorously, for trade deals, and labor groups often lobby against them.
行业利益集团可以游说，有时是大力游说，要求达成贸易协议，而劳工组织常常游说反对这些协议。
Since foreign policy often involves foreign nations, you tend to find ethnically based interest groups that can often lobby very vocally, as some Irish-Americans did during the 1980s.
由于外交政策往往涉及外国，你往往会发现以种族为基础的利益集团往往能够大声游说，就像一些爱尔兰裔美国人在上世纪80年代所做的那样。
Interest groups that coalesce around issues have been growing in importance, especially as communication technologies enable them to get their message to a wider audience and to organize grassroots lobbying efforts.
围绕各种问题联合起来的利益集团越来越重要，尤其是随着通讯技术的发展，它们能够向更广泛的受众传达信息，并组织基层游说活动。
In general environmental groups are more effective at organizing demonstrations and human rights groups are more effective at lobbying,
总的来说，环保组织更善于组织示威活动，人权组织更善于游说，
but especially in the environmental arena it’s difficult to see where their efforts have caused major policy shifts.
但尤其是在环境领域，很难看出他们的努力在哪些方面导致了重大政策转变。
Because there aren’t that many foreign policy bureaucrats it should be easy for lobbyists to influence them,
因为没有那么多的外交政策官僚，游说者应该很容易影响他们，
but the President, who is often the last word on foreign policy is kind of difficult to lobby. He’s a busy guy.
但是总统，这个经常是外交政策的最后拍板者，有点难以游说。他是个大忙人。
There is a lot more I could say about foreign policy, but this is a good place to stop,
关于外交政策，我还有很多要说的，但这是一个很好的地方，
because I’ve mentioned the structural aspects of foreign policy – the branches of government and how they make it – and some of the political elements that can influence it.
因为我已经提到了外交政策的结构性方面——政府的各个部门以及它们是如何制定外交政策的——以及可能影响外交政策的一些政治因素。
And we’ll talk about more of it in a later episode. No we won’t! This is the last episode!
我们将在后面的章节中讨论更多。我们不会了！这是最后一集!
Foreign policy affects all Americans in ways that other policies don’t.
外交政策以其他政策所没有的方式影响着所有美国人。
And at least as far as security policy goes, keeping Americans safe from external threats is one thing that almost all Americans, from both ends of the spectrum, agree on.
至少就安全政策而言，保护美国人不受外部威胁是一件几乎所有美国人都同意的事情，来自两个极端的人都是如此。
I hope this series on American government and politics provided you with a little bit of understanding about the way the U.S. works and that it encourages everyone to participate in the political process, wherever you live.
我希望这个关于美国政府和政治的系列文章能让你对美国的运作方式有一点了解，它鼓励每个人都参与政治进程，无论你住在哪里。
Except for you, you stupid eagle!
除了你，你这只笨鹰!
Crash Course Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios.
政府与政治速成班是与PBS数字工作室联合制作的。
Support for Crash Course: U.S. Government comes from Voqal.
对于美国政府速成课的支持来自于Voqal。
Voqal supports nonprofits that use technology and media to advance social equity.
Voqal支持使用技术和媒体促进社会公平的非营利组织。
Learn more about their mission and initiatives at Voqal.org.
更多关于他们的使命和倡议，请访问Voqal.org。
Crash Course was made with the help of all these soaring eagles.
速成班是在这些翱翔的鹰的帮助下完成的。
Thanks for watching.
感谢收看。
