The proposition tested by the Arab uprisings was never really whether democracy’s moment had come in the Middle East. It was whether Arab dictators could continue to oppress, torture and kill their citizens to keep power.
阿拉伯世界起义所考验的命题,从来不是民主的时机是否已经来到中东,而是阿拉伯的独裁者能否继续为了掌权而压迫、折磨和杀戮本国公民。
These used to be the standard tactics for the region’s despots. But the case can be made that Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, Muammer Gaddafi of Libya, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and now, perhaps, Bashar al-Assad in Syria all sealed their fate when they turned their forces against their own citizens.
压迫、折磨和杀戮曾是该地区专制者的标准策略。但是,当突尼斯的扎因·阿比丁·本·阿里(Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali)、利比亚的穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲(Muammer Gaddafi)、埃及的胡斯尼·穆巴拉克(Hosni Mubarak)以及现在可能还有叙利亚的巴沙尔·阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)让军队把枪口对准国内人民时,他们全部决定了自己的命运。
Of course, progress has hardly been uniform and may be reversible. But the upheavals have at least created the opportunity to advance a new regional principle: that a leader who threatens his own people risks losing the legitimacy to govern.
当然,进展并非一刀齐,甚至还可能发生逆转。但这些剧变至少为倡导一项新的区域原则创造了机会:领导者如果威胁本国人民,就有可能失去统治的合法性。
【叙利亚的真正考验】相关文章:
★ 患难见真情
★ 美国外交的困局
★ 一只口渴的狗
★ 制造业崇拜的愚蠢
最新
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15
2020-09-15