欧洲梦在希腊破碎 Europe’s dream is dying in Greece

The shuttered banks of Greece represent a profound failure for the EU. The current crisis is not just a reflection of the failings of the modern Greek state, it is also about the failure of a European dream of unity, peace and prosperity.

希腊最近关闭了银行，这标志着欧盟的重大失败。当前危机不仅反映了现代希腊国家的缺陷，也反映了追求团结、和平与繁荣的欧洲梦的破碎。

Over the past 30 years Europe has embraced its own version of the “end of history”. It became known as the European Union[TWEAK WORDING? SOMETHING LIKE: “IT CHOSE THE NAME EUROPEAN UNION”?]. The idea was that European nations could consign the tragedies of war, fascism and occupation to the past. By joining the EU, they could jointly embrace a better future based on democracy, the rule of law and the repudiation of nationalism.

过去30年，欧洲迎来了自己版本的“历史的终结”。它成了广为人知的欧盟(EU)。人们认为，欧洲国家能够将战争、法西斯主义和占领等等悲剧留给历史。通过加入欧盟，欧洲国家可以共同拥抱基于民主、法治以及摒弃民族主义的更美好未来。

As Lord Patten, a former EU commissioner, once boasted, the success of the union ensured that Europeans now spent their time “arguing about fish quotas or budgets, rather than murdering one another”.

欧盟委员会(European Commission)前委员彭定康勋爵(Lord Patten)曾说，欧盟的成功保证了欧洲人如今把时间花在“争论捕鱼配额或预算，而不是相互残杀”。

When the Greek colonels were overthrown in 1974, Greece became the pioneer of a new model for Europe — in which the restoration of democracy at a national level was secured by a simultaneous application to join the European Economic Community (as it then was).

1974年，希腊军政府被推翻后，希腊成为欧洲一种新模式的先驱——在国家层面恢复民主，与此同时，希腊也提交了加入欧洲经济共同体（EEC，欧盟的前身）的申请。

Greece became the 10th member of the European club in 1981. Its early membership of an EU that now numbers 28 countries is a rebuke to those who now claim it has always been a peripheral member.

希腊1981年成为这个欧洲俱乐部的第10个成员。希腊在欧盟中（如今包括28个国家）的早期成员国资格可以用来反驳那些声称它一直是外围成员国的人。

The model first established in Greece — democratic consolidation, secured by European integration — was rolled out across the continent over the next three decades. Spain and Portugal, which had also cast off authoritarian regimes in the 1970s, joined the EEC in 1986. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, almost all the countries of the former Soviet bloc followed the Greek model of linking democratic change at home to a successful application to join the EU.

这种首先在希腊建立的模式——欧洲一体化保障下的民主巩固——在后来30年间被推广到整个欧洲大陆。同样在上世纪70年代摆脱威权体制的西班牙和葡萄牙，于1986年加入了欧共体。柏林墙被推倒后，几乎所有前苏联国家都效仿了希腊模式——将国内民主变革与成功申请加入欧盟结合起来。

For the EU itself, Greek-style enlargement became its most powerful tool for spreading stability and democracy across the continent. As one Polish politician put it to me shortly before his country joined the EU: “Imagine there is a big river running through Europe. On one side is Moscow. On the other side is Brussels. We know which side of the river we need to be on.”

对欧盟自身来说，希腊式的扩大成为其在整个欧洲大陆推动稳定和民主的最强大工具。波兰即将加入欧盟之前，该国一位政治家对我说：“想象一下，有一条大河贯穿欧洲。一边是莫斯科，另一边是布鲁塞尔。我们知道自己需要到河的哪一边。”

That powerful idea — that the EU

那种强大的观念——欧盟代表好的政府和稳固的民主——一直在现代欧洲流传。这就是为什么乌克兰示威者2014年推翻维克托•亚努科维奇(Viktor Yanukovich)的腐败政府时挥舞着欧盟旗帜的原因。

represented good government and secure democracy — has continued to resonate in modern Europe. It is why Ukrainian demonstrators were waving the EU flag when they overthrew the corrupt government of Viktor Yanukovich in 2014.

当前的危险是，过去在民主转型与欧洲一体化相联结方面扮演开拓者角色的希腊，如今亦可能成为一个新的危险进程——欧盟解体——的象征。当前的危机很容易导致希腊退出欧元区，并最终退出欧盟。这将破坏欧盟的根本命题，即加入这一欧洲俱乐部是对未来繁荣和稳定的最佳保障。

The danger now is that, just as Greece was once a trailblazer in linking a democratic transition to the European project, so it may become an emblem of a new and dangerous process: the disintegration of the EU. The current crisis could easily lead to the country leaving the euro and eventually the union itself. That would undermine the fundamental EU proposition: that joining the European club is the best guarantee of future prosperity and stability.

即使一个愤怒和贫困的希腊最终留在欧盟，欧盟和繁荣之间的联系也会被切断。人们逐渐明白一个可怕的事实：欧盟不仅未能兑现其关于繁荣和团结的承诺，通过把希腊和其他欧盟成员国捆绑在一个失败的关于欧元的经济实验之中，欧盟反而在主动摧毁财富、稳定和欧洲的团结。

Even if an angry and impoverished Greece ultimately remains inside the tent, the link between the EU and

希腊的地理位置具有高度战略意义，就更加突显了这种危险。希腊的南面是混乱的正在上演流血冲突的利比亚，北面是动荡的巴尔干地区，而东面则是愤怒和复兴的俄罗斯。

prosperity will have been ruptured. For the horrible truth is dawning that it

对于欧盟似乎打算放任希腊走向失败，了解这一切的巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)政府越来越不敢置信。在华盛顿的一些人看来，欧洲人似乎忘记了在冷战期间学到的关于希腊重要性的战略教训。

is not just that the EU has failed to deliver on its promises of prosperity

然而，这种看法对欧洲人来说是不公平的。面对华盛顿方面的指责，欧洲人的回应是，欧盟之所以能够运作，只是因为这是一个法律和相互义务的共同体。如果你允许像希腊这样的单个国家藐视这些法律和义务——比如在债务上违约——那么这个俱乐部无论如何都会开始分崩离析。相较之下，如果你把希腊踢出去，还有一线机会把损害限制在一个国家之内。

and unity. By locking Greece and other EU countries into a failed economic experiment — the euro — it is now actively destroying wealth, stability and European solidarity.

这场危机对民主也有深远的影响，民主正是30年前吸引希腊进入欧盟的原始凝聚力。希腊总理亚历克西斯•齐普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)现在认为，欧盟不仅没有确保希腊的民主，反而变成了希腊的敌人，践踏了希腊人民的意愿。

The dangers of that process are all the more pronounced because Greece is in a highly strategic location. To the south lies the chaos and bloodshed of Libya; to the north lies the instability of the Balkans; to the east, an angry and resurgent Russia.

当然，事实上这是一场不同民主授权的冲突，是希腊选民的意愿与其他欧盟成员国选民（及纳税人）的意愿之间的较量，前者希望摆脱紧缩，而后者则希望看到他们的贷款得到偿还，不愿意让一个没有改革的希腊继续受益于欧盟的资金。

Knowing all this, the administration of Barack Obama is increasingly incredulous about the EU’s apparent willingness to let Greece fail. To some in Washington, it seems as if the Europeans have forgotten all the strategic lessons learnt during the cold war about the country’s importance.

在下周日的全民公投上，这两种民主意愿或许将痛苦地调和。如果希腊人投票决定接受欧盟债权人的要求——他们的政府刚刚拒绝了这些要求——希腊或许将继续留在欧元区和欧盟之内。但那将是一个受到胁迫、愤愤不平的国家做出的决定。希腊还将是欧盟的一员，但它的欧洲梦将破碎。