2019年经济学人 书评--《一个不可能实现的梦想:里根,戈尔巴乔夫和一个没有原子弹的世界》(2)（在线收听）

Mr Serina’s account, first published in French three years ago, draws on declassified archives and interviews with witnesses to paint a vivid and valuable picture of the two-day meeting in the Icelandic capital, despite the occasional redundant flourish and some unfamiliarity with the technology he mentions. He is a leading French correspondent dealing with the United States, not the Soviet Union, which sometimes shows. Moreover he blithely assumes the anti-nuclear case is self-evident, and is prone to unthinking moral equivalence between the communist empire and the free world. Dialogue indeed helps clarify disagreements and build trust. All the same, Reagan’s views of a malevolent Kremlin were well-founded.

瑟利纳的报告三年前首次以法语出版，报告利用解密档案和目击者的采访，生动而有价值地描述了在冰岛首都为期两天的会议，尽管偶尔会出现描述繁冗以及对于提及的技术不够熟悉的情况。瑟利纳是一位法国记者，主要与美国而非苏联打交道。而且，他乐于认为反核理由不言自明，而且很倾向于在共产主义帝国和自由世界之间的不多思考的道德平衡。对话确实有助于澄清分歧，建立信任。尽管如此，里根对恶毒的克里姆林宫的看法是有根据的。

If, just if, the summit could have gone on one more day…that might have given the two leaders time to build their burgeoning rapport and overrule sceptics in their delegations. Mr Gorbachev, accompanied by his wife Raisa, was willing to give the talks another 24 hours. Lonesome and exhausted, Reagan was not. “How might the world have changed if Nancy had come along for the ride?” asks Mr Serina.

如果，仅仅是如果，峰会能再持续一天……那也许能给两位领导人时间来建立迅速发展的友好关系，并推翻他们代表团中的怀疑论者。在妻子赖莎的陪同下，戈尔巴乔夫愿意再进行24小时的会谈。里根并不孤独，也不疲惫。“如果南希也来凑热闹，世界会发生什么变化呢？”瑟利纳先生问道。

Probably not a lot, in truth. The two big superpowers would hardly scrap their nuclear arsenals without the Chinese, Indians, Israelis and others doing the same—and how would that be verified? Still, despite the false start in Reykjavik, the negotiations continued, with the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe and deep, verified cuts in the strategic arsenals on both sides. Happy days, by contemporary standards.

事实上，没有那么多如果。如果中国、印度、以色列和其他国家不这么做，这两个超级大国几乎不会销毁其核武库。然而，尽管雷克雅未克的谈判开局不利，但谈判仍在继续，双方都消除了欧洲的中程核武器，并对双方的战略武库进行了深入的、经过核实的削减。以当代的标准来看，这是值得欢呼的日子。