By Joshua Keating
As president of Mongolia, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, is the heir to what was once an empire covering almost a quarter of the Earth's landmass. In other words, he's got some thoughts on the topic of global hegemony:
作为蒙古总统，额勒贝格道尔吉（Tsakhia Elbegdorj）是曾经覆盖了近四分之一全球陆地的帝国的后裔。也就是说，他对全球和谐这个话题很有想法：
“It is tough, but Mongolia was the biggest power in the world, and we had the same responsibility,” said Elbegdorj, who is to meet with President Obama at the White House on Thursday to pitch his country as a stable, pro-American democracy deserving of more attention.
“目前时局很艰难，但曾经是全球第一强权的蒙古也曾有过同样的责任。”周四即将在白宫会见奥巴马总统的额勒贝格道尔吉将他的国家描述成一个稳定的亲美民主国家，并要求得到更多的关注。
Sandwiched between a rising, authoritarian China and an often pugnacious and, in these parts, still very powerful Russia, Mongolia is the only nation in the vast expanse of territory conquered by Genghis Khan in the 13th century that holds regular elections and lets power pass peacefully between rival parties.
被夹在蒸蒸日上但单一政权的中国以及时常好斗，而且某些方面依然非常强大的俄国的中间，当今蒙古是13世纪成吉思汗征服的广阔领土中唯一一个定期举行选举，并让权力在对立政党间和平转换的国家。
The United States, like Mongolia in its heyday, “has a responsibility to help those who are trying to follow in its steps,” Elbegdorj said in an interview in a felt-lined tent outside his official residence in the Mongolian capital.
在蒙古首都官邸前的蒙古包里接受采访时，额勒贝格道尔吉表示，美国就像是全盛时期的蒙古一样“有责任帮助那些想要追随其脚步的人们。”
Genghis Khan’s warriors killed lots of people, to be sure, but according to the president, a Soviet-trained former military journalist who helped lead Mongolia’s democratic revolution in 1990, it was done in a good cause.
成吉思汗手下的战士们杀人无数，但在这位曾在苏联接受训练的前军事记者，后在1990年协助领导了蒙古独立运动的总统看来，这么做的本意是好的。
“Do you think we just went to places and killed?” Elbegdorj said. “No.”
“你觉得我们只想去一个地方然后就开始杀人吗？”额勒贝格道尔吉说，“当然不是。”
Mongolia, he said, used its muscle to keep trade along the Silk Road flowing and to enforce a written law. And “when there was a killer, or in today’s expression, a terrorist nation,” he said, “we were God’s will to make them peaceful. .?.?. When there was a poor nation, we helped them.”
蒙古，他说，是在用其武力保证丝绸之路的贸易畅通，以及强制实行一个落实于书面的法律。“有杀人者的地方，或者按照今天的话说恐怖主义的国家，我们是在执行神的指示带给他们和平……而对那些贫穷的国度，我们则帮助了他们。”
Today, too, Elbegdorj said, “sometimes you have to pay attention to your friends.”
今天也是一样，额勒贝格道尔吉说，“有时候你必须对朋友给予关注。”
But there are cautionary lessons as well:
但也有一些警示可供参考：
Serdaram Damdin, a professor of Mongolian history in Ulaanbaatar, said the United States, too, needs to avoid pulling back and becoming paralyzed by domestic quarrels. Otherwise, he said, Pax Americana will go the way of Genghis Khan’s Pax Mongolica, which, consumed by infighting after centuries of supremacy, shriveled to insignificance.
乌兰巴托的历史学教授Serdaram Damdin说，美国也需要避免停止扩展，被国内的纷争所拖垮。否则美国领导下的全球和平将跟成吉思汗的蒙古大同一样，在领导世界百年之后陷于内乱，逐渐萎缩到无足轻重。
“Genghis Khan waged war to bring peace. America is doing the same thing now,” Damdin said. “If there is no involvement by America, the world would be back where it was in the Middle Ages.”
“成吉思汗发动战争以带来和平。当下的美国也在这么做。”Damdin说，“如果没有美国的参与，整个世界将倒退到中世纪。”
原文链接：
外国政策杂志博客
