尽管离卸任还有几个月，但在解决中东和平问题上，奥巴马却很有可能成为又一个花费八年时间却徒劳无功、最终同样失败的美国总统。

On last Wednesday, Obama is going to kick off what could be his last visit to Saudi Arabia as president, and convene a summit with leaders of Gulf Arab nations in Riyadh.

上周三，奥巴马开始了他作为总统的最后一次沙特之行，并与海湾地区阿拉伯国家的领导人在利雅得举行了一场峰会。

Many observe the trip as the US leader's last-ditch effort to fix Washington's impaired partnership with the House of Saud, yet they expect that the outgoing president would return without making much of a difference.

许多评论员将这次访问视作这位美国领导人试图修复美国和沙特王室伙伴关系的最后努力，但他们认为奥巴马的这次访问很有可能将无功而返。

后奥巴马时代,世界将面临一个更加混乱的中东

While losing faith in the Americans, Riyadh also fears that Tehran, which is now partially freed from the shackles of economic sanctions, would change the power balance in the region.

在对美国人失去信心的同时，沙特也担心在部分摆脱经济制裁的情况下，伊朗可能会改变中东地区的势力平衡。

It then ventured militarily in Yemen to prevent the Shiite Houthi group from taking over the whole country, executed a top Shiite cleric over terror-charges, and is trying to build up a regional anti-terror alliance parallel to the one led-by the United States.

因此，沙特军方进驻也门，以试图阻止什叶派胡塞武装组织接管整个也门。沙特还以恐怖主义罪名为由，处死了也门的一名什叶派宗教领袖，并试图建立一个以美国为首的地区性反恐怖主义联盟。

Though the Saudis are discontent, the Iranians are not pleased either. In the face of a Saudi-Iran catch-22, the Obama administration wants to show that it is not appeasing the Islamic Republic, and has slapped new sanctions on Iran's missile program. For that, Tehran has responded by launching more test shots and military drills.

尽管沙特表现出不满，但伊朗人似乎也不高兴。面对沙特-伊朗进退维谷的局面，奥巴马政府为了表明自己不是在安抚伊朗，决定对伊朗的导弹计划采取新一轮的制裁。而对此，伊朗方面则以更多的测试发射和军事演习作为回应。

Looking forward, Saudi Arabia's burgeoning anxiety to defend its preeminence could risk confrontations with a recovering Iran, either directly or in the form of proxy wars. And that is just one facet of how the Obama administration turns the Middle East into a more dangerous place by mishandling the problems there.

展望未来，沙特对于维持自己在伊斯兰世界的领导地位感到越来越焦虑，因为它将很有可能在未来和一个日渐强盛的伊朗相对抗，或以直接战争、或以代理战争的形式。而那仅仅只是奥巴马政府因不当处理中东问题，从而将中东推向更危险境地的一个方面。

In the early days of his presidency, Obama was both ambitious and cost-conscious as he trod the waters in the Middle East.

在上任初期淌中东这趟浑水的时候，奥巴马显得既踌躇满志，又小心谨慎。

On the one hand, the president pictured a "new beginning" with the Muslim world in his Cairo University speech and promised to deliver peace to the region, while on the other he was not willing to recalibrate his input to serve the strategies out of political calculations.

一方面，奥巴马在开罗大学演讲时，描绘了伊斯兰世界的一个“新篇章”，并承诺自己将实现该地区的和平。但在另一方面，奥巴马又不愿意以不计政治报酬的方式投入到该地区的事务中去。

From the start, Obama's Middle East strategy is doomed to fail because he is more of an opportunist than an idealist. Whenever it comes to the decision that takes real political courage to face the cold-hard facts, he has uniformly flinched.

从一开始，奥巴马的中东政策就注定会失败，因为他更像一个投机主义者，而不是一个理想主义者。每当需要他拿出真正的政治勇气来对这些冷酷的事实做决定的时候，他都退缩不前。

When President Obama steps down on Jan. 20 next year, he is sure to leave behind him a Mideast legacy that is shadowed by these unfathomed fundamental questions that are engulfing the region right now, and are ready to fester.

当奥巴马于明年1月20号卸任的时候，他肯定会留下一个难堪的中东政治遗留问题，这些悬而未决的关键性问题将会成为笼罩整个中东地区政治阴影，并进一步危害中东地区的和平与稳定。

And whoever is to succeed him, it is hoped that he or she could be a little more responsible in making and executing a Mideast policy, and focus on what matters most instead of pure American self-interests. Otherwise, the US meddling could only get the region deeper mired in conflicts.

不管奥巴马的继任者是谁，我们都希望他或者她能够在制定和执行中东政策的时候更负责一点，应该致力于中东地区最迫切需要解决的问题，而不是只寻求如何实现美国自身的利益。否则，美国的干涉只会让中东卷入到更深的冲突泥潭当中去。