(本文选自《经济学人》20201219期)
背景介绍：
2010年的12月17日，突尼斯小贩布瓦齐齐的自焚成为点燃“阿拉伯之春”运动的导火索。在西方媒体、政客摇旗呐喊下，多个中东北非国家随即出现政权更迭。如今，十年过去了，这些经历革命的国家如今实现了民主吗？
Ten years after the Arab spring
Why democracy failed in the Middle East
“What kind of repression do you imagine it takes for a young man to do this?” So asked Leila Bouazizi after her brother, Muhammad, set himself on fire ten years ago.
“你能想象一个年轻人只有被逼到什么地步才会做出这样的傻事吗？”十年前，莱拉·布瓦齐齐在她的哥哥穆罕默德自焚后这样问道。
Local officials in Tunisia had
confiscated
his fruit cart,
ostensibly
because he did not have a permit but really because they wanted to extort money from him. It was the final indignity for the young man. “How do you expect me to make a living?” he shouted before
dousing
himself with petrol in front of the governor’s office.
突尼斯的地方官员没收了穆罕默德的水果车，表面上是因为他没有许可证，但实际上是这些官员想向他勒索钱财。这是压垮这个年轻人的最后一根稻草。他来到州长办公室门前大声喊道：“你要我如何谋生？”随后他将汽油浇在了自己身上。
His actions would
resonate
across the region, where millions of others had reached breaking-point, too. Their rage against
oppressive
leaders and corrupt states came bursting forth as the Arab spring. Uprisings toppled the dictators of four countries—Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. For a moment it seemed as if democracy had arrived in the Arab world at last.
他的举动将在整个中东地区引起人们的共鸣，那里还有成千上万人处于崩溃的边缘。他们对专制领导人和腐败国家的愤怒随着“阿拉伯之春”的到来而爆发。埃及、利比亚、突尼斯和也门的民众发动起义推翻了四个独裁政权。在那一瞬间，阿拉伯世界似乎终于迎来了民主。
A decade later, though, no celebrations are planned. Only one of those democratic experiments yielded a durable result—fittingly, in Bouazizi’s Tunisia. Egypt’s failed
miserably
, ending in a military coup.
然而，十年后的今天却没有人为“阿拉伯之春”而庆祝。这些民主实验仅在一个国家产生了持久的结果——正是布瓦齐齐的祖国突尼斯。埃及的失败以军事政变告终。
Libya, Yemen and, worst of all, Syria descended into bloody civil wars that drew in foreign powers. The Arab spring turned to bitter winter so quickly that many people now despair of the region.
利比亚、也门以及最惨的叙利亚都陷入了血腥的内战，还引来了外国势力。阿拉伯之春很快就陷入了寒冬，如今许多人已对中东地区感到绝望。
Much has changed there since, but not for the better. The Arab world’s
despots
are far from secure. With oil prices low, even petro-potentates can no longer afford to buy their subjects off with fat subsidies and cushy government jobs. Many leaders have grown more
paranoid
and oppressive.
自阿拉伯之春以来，中东地区发生了很多变化，但都没有向好的方向发展。阿拉伯世界的独裁者们远谈不上安心。随着油价走低，即使是石油大国也无法再用丰厚的补贴和轻松的政府工作来收买他们的臣民。许多领导人变得更加偏执和专制。
Muhammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia locks up his own relatives. Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has stifled the press and crushed civil society. One lesson
autocrats
learned from the Arab spring is that any flicker of dissent must be snuffed out fast, lest it spread.
沙特阿拉伯的穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼把自己的亲属关进了大牢。埃及的阿卜杜勒-法塔赫·塞西压制媒体，摧毁了公民社会。独裁者们从阿拉伯之春中得到的一个教训是，看到任何异见的苗头都必须迅速将其扑灭，以免星火燎原。
In such parched soil, it is unsurprising that democracy failed to take root. But there are ways, in the long run, to fertilise it. Promoting education is vital. Democracies should welcome more Arab students.
在中东这片贫瘠的土地上，民主无法生根并不令人意外。但从长远来看，还是有办法让这片土地变得肥沃的。其中至关重要的一点就是大力教育发展。民主国家应该为更多阿拉伯学生敞开大门。
They should also speak up for Arab journalists, human-rights campaigners and NGOs. A culture of pluralism takes time to grow. But the status quo is unstable and unsustainable, as a frustrated fruit-seller tragically demonstrated.
同时，他们应该为阿拉伯记者、人权活动家和非政府组织大声疾呼。多元文化需要时间来成长。但正如一个水果小贩的悲惨经历所证明的那样，中东的现状是不稳定且不可持续的。
(红色标注词为重难点词汇)
本文翻译：Vinnie
校核：Vinnie
编辑：Vinnie
“阿拉伯之春”运动已经过去了十年，那些经历革命的国家有的政权频频更替，有的陷入常年内战，还有的经济发展缓慢、安全形势难以恢复正常。从“阿拉伯之春”到“阿拉伯之冬”，这些被革命风暴席卷过的阿拉伯国家尚需时日来找到一条适合本国发展的路。
confiscate
[ˈkɑːnfɪskeɪt] vt. 没收；
充公；
查抄
ostensibly
[ɑːˈstensəbli] adv. 表面上；外表
douse
[daʊs] v. 浇灭；使浸入水中；急降
resonate
[ˈrezəneɪt] v. 共鸣；共振
