It was a sunny day in June, and George W. Bush was making a speech at the University of Warsaw. Inside, the politicians listened with interest; outside, crowds gathered to cheer; afterward, the press was full of praise.

六月一一個艷陽天，布希正在華沙大學發表演說。室內，政客聽得興味盎然；室外，群眾聚集歡呼；事後，媒體也充滿溢美之詞。

Hard to imagine, but true: That's what President Bush's first visit to Poland was like in the distant summer of 2001. On that same trip, Bush also went to Spain. During a joint news conference, the Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, thanked Bush for his administration's "kindness." Said Bush: "Spain is a friend of the United States, and [Prime Minister] Aznar is a friend of mine."

很難想像，但千真萬確：那是布希總統在遙遠的2001年夏天首次訪問波蘭的情景。在同一行程中，布希也到西班牙，在一次聯合記者會中，西班牙總理艾茲納感謝布希政府的「善意」。布希說：「西班牙是美國的友邦，艾茲納總理是我的朋友。」

Not all of that trip went so smoothly: There were protests at a U.S.-European summit and elsewhere. Nevertheless, these predictable displays of outrage were tempered by the first hints of something new: a pro-American, European alliance consisting of Tony Blair's Britain, Silvio Berlusconi's Italy, the center-right governments of Spain, Portugal and Denmark, and, of course, the ex-communist states of Central Europe.

此行並非一切順利；在美歐高峰會和其他場合仍出現抗議示威。但這些預料中的憤怒情緒，被首次可能出現的新東西所沖淡：一個挺美的歐洲聯盟，包括布萊爾的英國，貝魯斯柯尼的義大利，西班牙、葡萄牙和丹麥中間偏右的政府；當然，還有中歐前共黨國家。

These were all countries that had recently undergone market liberalization, countries prone to resent the Franco-German domination of continental politics. In 2003, when Donald Rumsfeld slightingly referred to Germany and France as "Old Europe," this vague alliance acquired a name, "New Europe." It meant pro-American, accepting of global capitalism and supportive of the war on terrorism. Not coincidentally, these were the countries that eventually made up the "coalition of the willing" in Iraq.

所有這些國家最近才進行市場自由化，它們傾向痛恨法德兩國宰制主導歐陸的政策。2003年，當倫斯斐有點不屑地提到德法兩國是「舊歐洲」時，「美國前國防部長」這個模糊的聯盟也被冠上新名稱「新歐洲」。它代表挺美，接受全球資本主義，支持反恐戰。無巧不成書，這些國家最後也形成在伊拉克的「志願者同盟」。

A mere four years later, New Europe no longer exists. Aznar, Berlusconi and Blair are out of office or about to be, partly victims of failure in Iraq. Central Europe's mood has changed profoundly, from pro-American to deeply skeptical. On June 8, Bush spent precisely three hours and 10 minutes on the ground in Poland, making no speeches, seeing no one besides the Polish president. And it won't be a very wide-ranging discussion. Mortally wounded by Iraq, damaged further by the American administration's lack of interest in its concerns -- change in the U.S. visa regime, military assistance -- New Europe will probably now be killed off completely by American plans to build a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

僅僅四年後，新歐洲已不復存在。艾茲納、貝魯斯柯尼和布萊爾不是已下台就是即將掛冠，部分正因它們是伊拉克挫敗的受害者。中歐人心已大幅改變，從支持美國變成深度懷疑。6月8日，布希在波蘭土地上只待了3小時又10分鐘整，沒有發表演說，除了波蘭總統，未見任何人，即使見面也不會進行廣泛討論。先遭伊拉克致命傷害，又被美國政府對其關切的事物，包括美國簽證制度及軍事援助漠不關心所傷，新歐洲現在可能因美國計畫在波蘭和捷克建一飛彈防禦網而被完全作掉。

Europeans don't understand why a piece of equipment designed to protect the United States from Iran needs to be placed on their territory, particularly given that Iran in fact threatens Israel, not the United States or Europe. Nor do they see why they should accept without question the installation of military hardware that opens them up to new risks. Russian president, Vladimir Putin, threatened to point his own nuclear missiles at Europe if the missile shield is built.

歐洲人無法理解，為什麼一套保護美國不受伊朗攻擊的軍備要放在他們的土地上，尤其伊朗事實上威脅以色列而不是美國或歐洲。他們也不明白，為什麼必須毫不質疑的接受部署軍事硬體，使他們可能面臨新的危機。俄羅斯總統普亭就揚言，一旦美國的飛彈防禦盾建立，俄方也會把其核子飛彈瞄準歐洲。

Putin's Cold War rhetoric is beginning to worry people all across the continent; he must be counting it a huge success. Yet it seems no one in the Pentagon ever imagined that there might be objections to the project, or that the locals might want some extra reassurance, or that a bit of judicious diplomacy might have smoothed the way in advance. According to some, the State Department didn't even know the missile shield was going ahead until the Pentagon had made the decision.

普亭的冷戰論調開始使全歐洲人擔心，他一定自認大獲全勝。但美國五角大廈似乎沒有人曾想過，這項防禦計畫可能出現反對聲浪，或當地人可能需要更多保證，或者一點明智的外交手腕，可以事先使一切進行順利。據了解，在國防部作成決策前，國務院根本不知道飛彈防禦盾正全力推動。

And all of this, every bit of it, was avoidable. Indeed, New Europe is expiring just as France and Germany have acquired leaders distinctly more pro-American than their predecessors. With a bit more attention and a bit less arrogance, the transatlantic alliance might now be reinvigorated instead of being angry and resentful. When we get around to assessing Bush's foreign policy, the damage done on the old continent may loom almost as large as the damage done in Iraq.

這一切，點點滴滴，原本可以避免。的確，新歐洲正在消失，但同時法德兩國已選出新領袖，顯然比他們的前任支持美國。只要多一點注意，少一點驕氣，跨大西洋結盟現在將可再活化，而不再只是憤怒仇恨。當我們回頭評估布希的外交政策，美國對老歐陸所造成的傷害可能不下於伊拉克。

《詞解》
liberalization 自由化
slightingly 不屑，輕視
coalition of the willing 志願者同盟
missile defense shield 飛彈防禦網
the Pentagon 五角大廈
judicious 明智的
transatlantic 跨大西洋
reinvigorated 再活化