经济学人：欧盟大谈欧盟军，最多只能过“嘴瘾”
欧洲防务|《经济学人》：欧盟大谈欧盟军，最多只能过“嘴瘾”本期导读：自曾经的日不落帝国英国的国民决定脱欧之后，欧盟就注定需踏上属于自己的一段新征程。
不过，对欧盟来说，前面的征程虽然是新的，但是，将要遇到的问题却都是老问题，比如，与安全保护伞北约之间的唇齿爱，与带头大哥美国之间的兄弟情，与东方巨邻俄罗斯之间的剪不断，以及与自身内部成员国之间的患难交。
新的征程已经开启，前路必然漫漫，且修远。。。
2014年北约成员国军费支出
Potemkin Euro-armies
欧盟军者，纸老虎也
Grand talk of a “defence union” risks exposing Europe’s weakness
对“防务联盟”夸夸其谈，小心“弹”出欧洲的致命弱点
THE idea of a European army is as old as the hope for European unity. After creating the European Coal and Steel Community, the embryo of today’s European Union, the six founding members agreed in 1952 to form a supranational European force. But the plan was voted down by the French parliament; thereafter countries focused on gradual economic integration.
组建欧盟军队的想法，与欧洲一体化之梦同样悠久。欧盟的前身“欧洲煤钢共同体”建立没多久，六个创始成员国便于1952年商定组建一支超国家的欧盟军队。但该计划当时却遭法国国会否决，这样，几个国家就把重点放在了逐步实现经济的一体化。
1.Potemkin: 源于 Potemkin Village （波特金村庄），原指用来骗人的村庄。1787年叶卡捷琳娜二世出巡通过俄土战争而得到的克里米亚的途中，格里戈里•波将金为让女皇对他领地的富足有个良好印象，在第聂伯河两岸建起一批豪华的假村庄来欺骗女皇及其随行。现代政治经济用语中，“波将金村庄”指专门用来给人虚假印象的建设和举措，常用来嘲弄那些看上去崇高堂皇实际上却空洞无物的事物。
2.embryo ['embrɪəʊ] n. [胚] 胚胎；胚芽；初期；adj. 胚胎的；初期的
Now that the EU is in trouble and Britain has voted to leave, the idea of military integration is being revived. Some countries talk of a “European Defence Union”. Others, evoking the “Schengen” passport-free travel area, envisage a “Schengen for defence”. Eurocrats want to show there is life in the EU after Brexit: with the British gone, they say, the biggest obstacle to defence integration will be gone, too. France, left as the unrivalled EU military power, delights in the chance to reclaim leadership from Germany. The danger is not that such big talk will threaten NATO, as some fear, but that it will come to nothing and expose Europe’s weakness. That would aggravate two big threats to its security: bullying by an emboldened Russia and abandonment by an exasperated America.
欧盟目前危机重重，英国已决定脱欧，因此，军队一体化又被提上日程。有些欧盟成员国，对“欧洲防务联盟”喋喋不休，有些欧盟成员国，借鉴“申根签证”经验，开始设想“申根防务”。欧盟官员在英国脱欧决定后想要向世界展示的是：欧盟依然具有生命力，英国走了，防务一体化的最大障碍也就不存在了。作为军力最强的欧盟成员国的法国，则会很乐意逮到这个机会，这样就能重新从德国手中夺回欧盟的领导权。当前，潜在危险不在于人们担心的那样，对防务一体化的讨论会威胁到北约，而是在于，对防务一体化的讨论，不会有什么结果，只会暴露出欧盟的致命弱点。而且，到最后，会加剧欧盟目前所面临的两个威胁：一个是助长俄罗斯加大对欧盟的那种咄咄逼人的气势，一个是激怒美国减少对欧盟的那种欲罢不能的支持。
1.revivevi. 复兴；复活；苏醒；恢复精神；vt. 使复兴；使苏醒；回想起；重演，重播
2.evoke [ɪ'vəʊk]vt. 引起，唤起；博得
3.envisage [ɪn'vɪzɪdʒ] vt. 正视，面对；想像
4.Eurocrat ['juərəkræt]n. 欧洲共同市场的官员或职员；欧洲经济共同体的官员
5.left (leave) 英文有个意项是act or be so as to become in a specified state
6.delight n. 高兴；vi. 高兴；vt. 使高兴
7.reclaim vt. 开拓；回收再利用；改造某人，使某人悔改；vi. 抗议，喊叫；n. 改造，感化；再生胶
8.aggravate ['ægrəveɪt]vt. 加重；使恶化；激怒
9.bully ['bʊlɪ]n. 欺凌弱小者；土霸；adj. 第一流的；特好的；vt. 欺负；威吓；vi. 欺侮人；adv. 很；十分；int. 好；妙
10.embolden[ɪm'bəʊld(ə)n]vt. 使有胆量，使大胆
11.abandonment [ə'bændənm(ə)nt] n. 抛弃；放纵
12.exasperate [ɪg'zæsp(ə)reɪt]vt. 恶化；使恼怒；激怒
EU and whose army?
欧盟军队，谁的军队？
Europeans have every reason to do more. Russia is a growing menace, and the transatlantic alliance is fraying. American isolationism, were Donald Trump to be elected president, could wreck NATO; Hillary Clinton would like Europeans to do more. Why should America, with a smaller population and economy than the EU, keep underwriting Europe’s security? Only four of its 25 European allies—Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland—meet the minimum standard of spending 2% of GDP on defence. And Europeans waste much of their money on mostly useless toy armies, navies and air forces. Any serious European policy must start from the fact that Europeans have to spend more on defence. And they should share critical equipment. Not even the biggest EU powers can do it all alone, as Britain and France discovered in Libya in 2011.
欧盟要增强防务能力，原因不一而足，一方面，俄罗斯威胁越来越大，另一方面，跨大西洋联盟也日趋紧张。美国的孤立主义势力重新开始抬头，若特朗普当选美国总统，将对北约构成致命性威胁，即使是希拉里当选，也希望欧盟这边对北约多出点力。对很多美国人来讲，他们想问的是，作为人口数量和经济规模都比不上欧盟的美国，有什么理由继续对欧盟的安全埋单？北约成员国中的欧洲成员，只有英国、爱沙尼亚、希腊以及波兰四个国家满足了防务支出占GDP比重需达2%的要求。而且，防务支出中有很大一部分都用在了陆海空军队的装点门面方面，这是一种极大的浪费。当前，欧盟若想要进行任何具有重要性的决策，都必须考虑防务支出偏低的这个现实。同时，欧盟成员国之间对关键军力设施的共享程度也不够充分。即使欧盟中军力较强的成员国，他们也难以独自面对各种问题，这已由2011年利比亚问题中英法曾有过的经验得到了验证。
1.menace ['menəs]n. 威胁；恐吓；vi. 恐吓；进行威胁；vt. 威胁；恐吓
2.fray n. 争论；打架；磨损处；vt. 使磨损；变得令人紧张、急躁；vi. 被磨损
3.isolationism ['aɪsə'leʃə'nɪzəm] n. 孤立主义
4.wreck n. 破坏；失事；残骸；失去健康的人；vt. 破坏；使失事；拆毁；vi. 失事；营救失事船只
5.underwrite [ʌndə'raɪt; 'ʌndəraɪt]vt. 给...保险；承诺支付；签在...下；vi. 经营保险业
The EU can add value. Many modern-day threats—from terrorism to energy blackmail and cyber-security—are best dealt with by civilian bodies. The EU is better placed than NATO to muster these. In Afghanistan, Iraq and other places, the generals have learnt that soldiers alone cannot fix broken countries; they are the first to plead for the aid and state-building advice that the EU can offer. The EU can also provide a stepping-stone for neutral Nordic countries, Sweden and Finland, to be more involved in the defence of vulnerable Baltic states and ultimately join NATO. And the European Commission can put up money for defence research; as with its monitoring of deficits, it can scrutinise national defence budgets.
不过，欧盟自有其自己的价值所在。当前所面临的各种威胁，从伊斯兰的恐怖主义到俄罗斯的能源讹诈，再到全球性的网络安全，最好的处理渠道就是通过非军事性组织，而在此方面，欧盟显然比北约更具优势。在阿富汗、伊拉克以及其他动荡地区，军官们已认识到，光靠军力是解决不了问题的，而欧盟则可在国际援助以及政府建设等问题上提供智力支持。同时，欧盟还可就瑞典、芬兰等中立的北欧国家为波罗的海弱小国家的防务做更大贡献起到一定作用，并最终使它们也加入北约。还有，欧盟也可提高对防务研究的资金支持，借鉴对成员国财政赤字监控经验，对成员国防务预算进行监督。
1.blackmail ['blækmeɪl]n. 勒索，敲诈；勒索所得之款；vt. 勒索，敲诈
2.muster ['mʌstə] vt. 召集；对…进行点名；使振作；n. 集合；检阅；点名册；集合人员；vi. 召集；聚集
3.plead vt. 借口；为...辩护；托称；vi. 恳求；辩护
4.scrutinise ['skruːtɪnaɪz] vi. 作仔细检查；细致观察；vt. 细看；仔细观察或检查；核对
The risk is that, in their desire to show quick results, European leaders will seize only on the symbols of military integration and not the substance. One obsession is a separate headquarters for EU operations. This is a waste: NATO and EU states already have lots of headquarters. But it would be churlish for Britain, as it negotiates its new ties with the EU, to block the idea; and the EU should still aim for close defence co-operation with Britain. The EU’s military ambitions need not displace NATO: they will remain puny compared with America’s heft.
潜在的危险在于，欧盟领导人总想急于求成，这样的话，军事一体化最后可能会徒有其表、名不副实。欧盟领导人还想为欧盟军队建立一个独立的总部，这会是一种浪费，因为，北约与欧盟已设立很多这样或那样的总部。但是，随着英国即将与欧盟进行谈判以建立新的英欧关系，对英国来说，阻止欧盟的此类想法有点不合时宜。不过，欧盟仍需与英国在防务领域进行紧密合作。不管怎样，欧盟的军事雄心都不能撇开北约，因为，与美国军力相比，欧盟的军力仍是小巫见大巫。
1.obsession [əb'seʃ(ə)n] n. 痴迷；困扰；[内科][心理] 强迫观念
2.churlish ['tʃɜːlɪʃ] adj. 没有礼貌的；脾气暴躁的
3.displace vt. 取代；置换；转移；把…免职；排水
4.puny ['pjuːnɪ] adj. 弱小的；微不足道的；微小的
5.heft n. 重量；重要性；vt. 举起；举起试重量；vi. 称重量
A Franco-German defence paper talks vainly of “strategic autonomy”. But there is nothing less autonomous than armies that cannot move, fight or even see the enemy without American help. The Europeans need transport planes, air-refuelling tankers, helicopters, drones, satellites, field hospitals and much else. It does not matter whether these are acquired in the name of NATO or the EU. Military forces are national: the stronger they are, the stronger will be both the EU and NATO.
法德联合发布的防务白皮书，对“战略性独立”大张其词，但这一切都只能是徒劳，因为，没有美国的帮助，欧盟成员国的军力运输、实地作战都会成问题，甚至连敌方情报都掌握不了，因此，想拥有“战略性独立”只能是奢谈。欧洲国家需要运输机、空中加油机、直升机、轰炸机、军事卫星、战地医院等等等等，不管这些军事装备是在北约名义之下，还是在欧盟名义之下，这都不是最重要的问题。最重要的问题在于，军事力量是有国别的，只要成员国军力变强，欧盟和北约军力就都会变强。
1.vainly ['venli] adv. 徒劳地；无益地；枉然地
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编译们 加入中国，。。。。。。。然后派人民解放军过去。。。。。。。。。。
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