Once one nation decided to act in this manner, others would follow, claiming enlarged territorial waters of their own, and extracting what they could from the commerce that flows through them. [qh]
一旦一个国家决定以这种方式行事,其他国家就会效仿,要求扩大自己的领海,并从流经它们领海的贸易中榨取尽可能多的东西
The great container ships and tankers of today would disappear, replaced by smaller, faster cargo vessels capable of moving rare and valuable goods past pirates and corrupt officials.[qh]
今天,大型的集装箱船舶和油轮将消失,取而代之的是更小型、更快的货船,这些货船能够避开海盗和腐败官员,运送稀有贵重货物
The cruise-ship business, which drives many tourist economies, would falter in the face of potential hijackings. [qh]
大型游轮生意(带动许多旅游经济)在可能面临的劫持事件中走向衰落
A single such incident might create a cascade of failure throughout the entire industry.[qh]
一起这样的事件可能会在整个行业造成一连串的衰退
Once-busy sea lanes would lose their traffic. [qh]
曾经繁忙的海上航道将失去船舶流通
For lack of activity and maintenance, passages such as the Panama and Suez Canals might silt up. [qh]
由于缺乏活动和维护,巴拿马运河和苏伊士运河等航道可能会淤塞
Natural choke points such as the straits of Gibraltar, Hormuz, Malacca, and Sunda could return to their historic roles as havens for predators. [qh]
直布罗陀海峡、霍尔木兹海峡、马六甲海峡和巽他海峡等天然咽喉要道可能会恢复它们作为掠夺性国家港口的历史角色
The free seas that now surround us, as essential as the air we breathe, would be no more.[qh]
我们周围的可自由航行的海洋,与我们呼吸的空气一样重要的海洋,将不复存在
If oceanic trade declines, markets would turn inward, perhaps setting off a second Great Depression. [qh]
如果海洋贸易衰退,市场将转向国内,可能引发第二次大萧条
Nations would be reduced to living off their own natural resources, or those they could buy—or take—from their immediate neighbors. [qh]
各国将沦落到只能依靠自己的自然资源生活,或者从临近国购买、获取自然资源生活
The world’s oceans, for 70 years assumed to be a global commons, would become a no-man’s-land. [qh]
70年来一直被认为是全球公地的世界海洋,将成为一片无人区
This is the state of affairs that, without a moment’s thought, we have invited.[qh]
这是我们不假思索招致的局面
Everywhere I look, I observe sea power manifesting itself—unacknowledged—in American life.[qh]
目之所及,我都能看到航海权力体现在美国人的生活中,虽然他们予以否认
When I drive past a Walmart, a BJ’s Wholesale Club, a Lowe’s, or a Home Depot, in my mind I see the container ships moving products from where they can be produced at a low price in bulk form to markets where they can be sold at a higher price to consumers. [qh]
当我开车经过沃尔玛、BJ 批发俱乐部、劳氏或家得宝时,我的脑海中浮现出集装箱船舶将产品从可以低价批量生产的地方运送到可以以更高价格出售给消费者的市场
Our economy and security rely on the sea—a fact so fundamental that it should be at the center of our approach to the world.[qh]
我们的经济和安全依赖海洋——这是个如此重要的事实,海洋应该成为我们处理世界事务的中心
It is time for the United States to think and act, once again, like a seapower state. [qh]
现在是美国再次像一个海权国家那样思考和行动的时候了
As the naval historian Andrew Lambert has explained, a seapower state understands that its wealth and its might principally derive from seaborne trade, and it uses instruments of sea power to promote and protect its interests.[qh]
正如海军历史学家安德鲁·兰伯特所解释的那样,一个海权国家明白,财富和威力主要来自海上贸易,要利用海权工具来提高和保护自身利益