國家地理:融化的北極正使一場新的冷戰(zhàn)升溫(6)

Along the new frontier, the contest will not be about claiming new territory. Except for a few disputed tracts, mostly on the seafloor and including the North Pole itself, the Arctic's borders are settled. Instead nations and corporations are now seeking a share of trillions of dollars' worth of minerals -- including gold, diamonds, and rare earth metals -- petroleum, natural gas, and fish, as well as access to potentially cost-saving new shipping lanes.

在這片土地上，人們不再為占領(lǐng)領(lǐng)土而競爭。除了少部分關(guān)于海底和北極點(diǎn)的競爭，北極的邊界線是很分明的。除了各個(gè)國家和公司都在尋找的價(jià)值萬金的礦藏--包括金子、鉆石還有稀有金屬--石油、天然氣、魚種，以及也許可以幫助節(jié)省大量開支的新的航線。

Retreating ice has been followed, in some places, by heavy investment. Russia and Norway have been the most active Arctic nations, spending billions over the past decade on natural gas and oil infrastructure, deep-water ports, and ships capable of navigating the Arctic Ocean's still-icy waters. Meanwhile China has sought its own footholds in the region, backing Russian gas projects and offering development loans to other Arctic nations. The Chinese also are building their own fleet of icebreakers, a clear bet on the future by a nation that lies more than 2,500 miles south of the pole.

在一些地區(qū)，消退的北極冰川讓人們追加了大量投資。其中俄羅斯和挪威是表現(xiàn)得最積極的北極國家，在過去十年他們花了數(shù)十億來建造天然氣和石油探測設(shè)備、深海港口以及可以在北冰洋的凍水中行駛的船。其中中國也找到了自己的事做，他們支持俄羅斯的天然氣工程，還給其他的北極國家提供開發(fā)貸款。中國人還有自己的破冰船艦隊(duì)，這個(gè)位于北極以南2500英里的國家對未來下了一個(gè)清晰的賭注。

By contrast, most Western nations, including Canada and the United States, which together control nearly half the Arctic coastline, have virtually ignored the north. The U.S. has five functioning icebreakers (compared with Russia's 51) and no deep-water ports north of the Arctic Circle. That disequilibrium has, in turn, been dogged by a creeping tension, and the new frontier narrative has been accompanied by one of looming conflict, even the possibility of a new Cold War. These fears, finally felt in the U.S., were the real reason behind Pompeo's appearance at the Arctic Council.

相比之下，大部分西方國家，包括加拿大和美國，雖然控制了北冰洋將近一半的海岸線，他們卻幾乎無視了這里。美國在北極圈有5艘可用的破冰船（對比俄羅斯的51艘），在北極圈以北也沒有深水港。這種差異造成了一種可怕的緊張感，最新傳回來的消息也隱隱含著沖突，甚至預(yù)測了新一輪冷戰(zhàn)的可能性。這些恐懼最終傳到了美國人那里，這才是蓬佩奧出現(xiàn)在北極理事會(huì)的真正原因。

"The region has become an arena for power and for competition, and the eight Arctic states must adapt to this new future," he said. "We're entering a new age of strategic engagement … complete with new threats to the Arctic and its real estate, and to all of our interests in that region."

“這里已經(jīng)變成權(quán)力的競技場。8個(gè)北極國家應(yīng)該盡快適應(yīng)新的局面”，他說?！拔覀冋谶M(jìn)入一個(gè)戰(zhàn)略契約的新時(shí)代...終結(jié)對北極和在該地區(qū)的所有人的利益的威脅?！?/p>

The problem, of course, was that if Pompeo wanted to think of the Arctic as an arena, presumably where a race might be run, some nations already had a solid head start.

問題當(dāng)然就在于蓬佩奧是否想把北極當(dāng)作一個(gè)競技場，因?yàn)榭赡荞R上就要開展一場競賽，畢竟有的國家已經(jīng)一開始就穩(wěn)住了局勢。