Pay any price? Pull the other one

不惜一切代价？去影响其他国家

Both the public and the experts are retreating from foreign involvement
现在美国公众和专家们都（主张）减少对外干预。

The survey, “America’s Place in the World”, is conducted every four years by the Pew Research Centre and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). It poses its questions not only to 2,000 members of the public but also to 642 members of the CFR, thus tracking both public opinion and the views of foreign-policy experts.

“美国的世界地位”调查由皮尤调查中心和外交关系委员会共同开展，每四年举行一次。该项调查向2000名大众和642外交关系委员会成员做了问题调研，因此调查结果不仅反映了公众的意见也涵盖外交专家们的意见。

Its headline finding this time is that, for the first time in over 40 years of such polls, a plurality of the general public (49%) say the United States should “mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own.” Only 30% agreed with that statement in December 2002.  
这次调查最大发现，在民意调查的结果中，公众大多数人认为美国应“在国际事务中管好自己的事情，让其他国家自己尽其所能的发展”，只有30%的人同意（之前）2002年调查中相关的声明。这是40年来该项调查中首次出现这种调查结果。

How things have changed since early September 2001, when al-Qaeda struck New York and Washington, DC. Polls taken just before the attack showed a strong appetite to deliver the American blessings of democracy and freedom to less fortunate lands. No longer. Whereas 44% of CFR members thought that promoting democracy abroad should be an American priority in September 2001, only 10% think so today. Only 21% consider defending human rights a priority, down from 43%; only 35% think America should strive to improve living standards in developing countries.

从2001年9月早些时候至今，调查结果怎么改变呢？当时基地组织还没有袭击纽约和华盛顿特区。在9/11袭击之前进行的这项调查表明美国人对于向“不幸运国家”传递美国的民主自由有着强烈的欲望。而今非昔比。在2001年9月当时有44%的外交关系委员会成员认为向他国宣扬民主是美国的一项重要策略。而今只有10%人这样认为。认为捍卫民权是一项重要策略的人从当时43%跌落至今天的21%。而今只有35%的人认为美国应该争取提高发展中国家的生活标准。

Among several differences between the views of the experts and those of the general public, it is perceptions of China and of Afghanistan that stand out. Only 21% of CFR members, fewer than in 2001 (38%), see China’s rise as a major threat to the United States. The general public is warier: 53% say that China is a major threat. And America’s recession has apparently magnified China’s economy in the eyes of Americans: 44% of the public now think that China is the world’s leading economic power, and only 27% name the United States (in fact, America’s economy is at least twice the size of China’s).  

在专家们和公众发生分歧的几个观点中，对于中国和阿富汗的看法引人注目。只有21%外交委员会专家们认为中国崛起对美国有巨大的威胁，少于2001年的38%。而公众在这一点上颇为谨慎：53%人称中国是一个巨大威胁。而美国经济衰弱表面上也夸大了美国人眼中的中国经济。在世界经济领强国这一点上，现在有44%的大众认为中国是，而只有27%的人认为美国是。（事实上，美国经济力至少是中国的2倍）。