MADRID – Among the numerous challenges the West faces, one is consistently overlooked: its addiction to meaningless rhetoric. From US President Barack Obama’s oxymoronic first-term mantra “leading from behind” to the recent German variant “leading from the center,” empty phrases have become the currency of Western governments’ foreign policies.
马德里—在西方所面临的诸多挑战中，有一个挑战一直没有被注意到：西方的言辞总是拐弯抹角。从美国总统奥巴马第一个任期的矛盾体魔咒“从背后领导”，到最近德国对此的变体“从中央领导”，空洞的说辞已成为西方政府外交政策的通例。