奧巴馬之行顯示他在歐洲備受歡迎

U.S. President Barack Obama is in Britain with his wife Michelle on a state visit aimed at strengthening the longtime "special relationship" between Britain and the United States. At a news conference in London, Obama and Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron said the relationship is special and essential.

美國總統奧巴馬正在英國進行國事訪問，此行目的是爲了加強美英兩國長期以來的特殊關係。在倫敦舉行的記者會上，奧巴馬和英國首相卡梅倫都表示，兩國的關係既特殊又關鍵。

During a joint news conference, Obama described the relationship as “stronger than it has ever been” and Cameron said the two men see “eye to eye” on a range of issues.

在聯合記者會上，奧巴馬形容兩國有“歷來最牢固”的關係。卡梅倫首相說，他和奧巴馬在許多議題上“看法完全一致”。

Analyst Xenia Dormandy, of the London-based research group Chatham House, said during the course of the past 15 years, the United States and Britain have, to some extent, taken one another for granted. She said they have not thought deeply enough about how to make the most out of their relationship.

設在倫敦的研究機構查塔姆研究所的分析員齊尼亞.多爾曼迪說，過去15年裏，美國和英國在某種程度上，把依賴對方視爲理所當然。她說，兩國還沒有深入思考應該如何把他們的關係作最好的發揮。

But, she said, Obama’s state visit has shown that both sides realize they need to be more strategic about how they think about that bond.

但是多爾曼迪說，奧巴馬的國事訪問顯示出，雙方意識到他們需要在如何看待雙方關係方面更具有策略性。

"I think what you are seeing today, yesterday, is a change," said Dormandy. "You are seeing both sides wake up to the fact that if they want to achieve any of the objectives that they mutually hold, they need to do it in close collaboration. They need to work effectively together and that means they need to think strategically about their problems together, rather than doing so independently."

她說：“我認爲，我們今天看到的，和過去比較，就是一種改變。我們看到英美雙方醒悟到一個現實，那就是，如果他們想要達成雙方共有的目標，他們就必須密切合作。 他們必須有效率的攜手合作，也就是，雙方需要戰略性的思考他們的問題，而不是各自埋頭苦幹。”

She said the United States is an economic and military powerhouse in a way that Britain is not. On the other hand, she said, Britain has some strong historical relationships with a number of countries that the United States does not. And Britain, she said, has so-called “soft power” that the United States might have been lacking in recent years.

分析員多爾曼迪說，美國是經濟和軍事強國，在某種程度上英國卻不是。另一方面，英國和一些國傢俱有牢固的歷史關係，但是美國沒有。多爾曼迪說，英國有所謂的軟實力，而美國近年來已經缺乏這種軟實力。

"So what they need to work out is, 'Where is it that the U.K. can bring some of the soft power, some of the legitimacy to the table and work in conjunction with maybe America's economic strength and in terms of the military?'"

她說，“美英需要努力思考英國擁有的一些軟實力和合法性在那裏？應該如何把這些力量同美國的經濟和軍事優勢結合在一起。”

That kind of collaboration is important, she said, when trying to address a range of issues, including the ongoing war in Afghanistan, political upheaval in Middle East and North Africa, and the global economy.

多爾曼迪認爲，美英兩國在試圖解決包括持續中的阿富汗戰爭，中東和北非的政治動亂，以及全球經濟等種種問題時，這種協作就很重要。London School of Economics International Relations Professor Michael Cox said the United States is increasingly working to build ties with emerging economies, namely in Asia. But he said that does not change the strong U.S. affinity with European countries.

倫敦經濟學院的國際關係教授邁克爾考克斯說，美國越來越致力於同新興經濟體，尤其是亞洲，建立關係。但是考克斯說，這並沒有改變美國和歐洲國家的牢固聯繫。

"It is not just a partner, it is also a long standing ally," he said. "We are members of NATO, in the majority. We are members of the European Union, with which the United States has very good relations. We are democracies. We actually look at the world, if not exactly in an identical manner to an American President, this one in particular, but we look at it in broadly similar terms."

他說：“這不只是夥伴，還是長期盟友的關係。我們是北約成員國，而且歐洲大部分國家是歐盟成員國，歐盟和美國關係非常好。我們是民主國家，事實上，我們對世界的看法，即使不完全與美國總統，特別是奧巴馬總統的看法完全一致，但是我們在很大範圍內，我們是用類似的角度來看的。”

Cox said the United States’ reputation in Europe was hit during the presidency of George Bush, and Obama’s election was received with a certain sense of euphoria on the continent.

考克斯教授說，喬治W布什總統任內，美國在歐洲的聲望大跌，奧巴馬當選總統則讓歐洲人感到快慰。

He said some have been disappointed, hoping Obama would, for example, take stronger action on climate change and exercise more “soft power.” Cox said the continued existence of Guantanamo Bay and the recent killing of Osama Bin Laden also were met with disappointment from some corners.

他說，有些人對奧巴馬感到失望，因爲他們希望奧巴馬在氣候變遷等方面採取更強硬的措施，並且運用更多的軟實力。考克斯說，關塔那摩灣監獄仍然存在，以及不久前擊斃本拉登，都讓某些人感到失望。

"I still feel there is a good degree of popular support for Obama amongst European and British publics," he said. "He would get very great receptions here, as he did in Ireland, and no doubt would do in France. As I said to other people in the United States, he might be more popular here in Europe than he is back in the United States, at least for some people."

但是他說：“我仍然覺得歐洲人和英國人相當支持奧巴馬。他在英國獲得非常光榮的接待，就像他訪問愛爾蘭時一樣。毫無疑問的，法國也會熱烈的歡迎他。就像我對其他美國人說的那樣，奧巴馬在歐洲，比他在美國更受歡迎，至少對某些人是這樣。”

This is Obama’s eighth trip to Europe as president.

這是奧巴馬擔任總統以來第8次訪問歐洲。