【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

“帝国主义”是研究美国历史时被忽视的一大特点

Imperialism is an unduly neglected feature of American history

  Pointillist Power

点彩派画师的权力分布

【经济学人】 March, 2019

    翻译：青澄青果

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

THE UNITED STATES was born out of rebellion against imperial power. Yet it then amassed more of an empire than is commonly realised, including by Americans. Indeed the country's history, according to Daniel Immerwahr's lively new book, is a history of empire.

美利坚合众国诞生于反抗帝国权力的斗争中。然而，它聚集的大片帝国疆土早已超出人们（包括美国人民自己）通常的认知范围。实际上，正如丹尼尔.伊默瓦尔所著新书的生动描述，美国的历史就是一部帝国发展史。

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

Grasping that history means looking beyond today's "logo map" of America, as Mr Immerwahr, a historian at Northwestern University,calls the country's core. His focus is on the wider lands that have come under its control:the Great United States.

要懂得美国历史，需要放眼眺望今天美国“标志版图”之外的区域--西北大学的伊默瓦尔教授用这个名称代指美国本土。他把眼光放在美国所控制的更广阔的区域，并称之为”大美利坚“。

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

This history is a drama in three acts. The first describes the amassing of "logo" America through westward expansion and the displacement of Native Americans. The story of the land-hungry country's manifest destiny is well known but well told by Mr Immerwahr.

这部历史剧分三部曲。 第一部讲述了美国如何通过西扩和驱逐印第安原住民聚集了大片领土形成了其本土部分。这段土地劫掠的故事昭然若揭、路人皆知，不过伊默瓦尔却讲得生动有趣。

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

Next, in act two,comes the annexing of other territories. In the 19th century a craze for guano for use as fertilizer leads to the occupation of dozens of uninhabited islands in the Caribbean and Pacific. Alaska is purchased. Military victories bring in the norther part of Mexico and then Spain's overseas empire, including the Philippines, Puerto Rico, thousands of islands and 8.5 m people, though at great cost.

接下来的第二部剧情是关于本土以外领土的获得过程。十九世纪，随着流行使用海鸟粪为肥料的风潮，美国占领了加勒比海和太平洋上十多个无人居住的岛屿。美国又购买了阿拉斯加。对西班牙的军事胜利使得美国接着占领了墨西哥北部和西班牙的海外殖民地，包括菲律宾、波多黎各和几千个岛屿以及850万人口，当然它为此也付出了沉重的代价。

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

And then, in act three, something remarkable happens: America gives up territory. Why the retreat? Projecting power no longer requires going to the trouble of holding large amounts of land, often against the will of the local population. Instead, globalization replaces colonization. Thanks to aviation, logistical mastery and other world-shrinking innovations, America can substitute technology for territory.

接着第三部曲发生了引人注目的变化：美国开始放弃海外领土了。干嘛要撤呢? 第一是因为美国已经预估到无需掌握大片领土就可以实现控制权，控制领土反而常常带来与当地居民的敌对。第二，全球化趋势已经取代了殖民地化。当然也归功于航空业及物流业的发展，还有其他新的发明，使得全球交往越来越便利，美国才得以以技术上的控制取代了领土的控制。

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡

Not that holding territory is wholly irrelevant, even now. The superpower has roughly 800 overseas bases; in Mr Immerwahr's vivid formulation, its empire is now a "pointillist" one. The United States did not abandon empire, but "reshuffled its imperial portfolio, divesting itself of large colonies and investing in military bases, tiny specks of semi-sovereignty strewn around the globe".

即使现在美国已经认为占领领土与权力控制无关，这个超级大国却仍然拥有800个海外军事基地。在伊默瓦尔的生动阐述中，他用“点彩派画师”来称呼这个帝国。美国并没有放弃成为一个帝国，相反，它通过对于手中资源的重新洗牌，摈弃了原来拥有的殖民地，而代之以投资建立军事基地，这些具有准领土地位的小据点星罗棋布、遍布全球。

【朝花夕拾】----【经济学人】每日打卡