First, it illustrates the stop-and-go dynamic undergirding American politics, which can swing – within just five years – from a disturbing expansionism to an equally worrying withdrawal from the world. A jihadist Mali admittedly does not directly threaten the US, or at least less so than it does Europe.
对欧洲来说，这是个值得担忧的情况。原因有二。首先，这表明走一步看一步正在成为美国政治的主流，短短五年间，美国从令人担忧的扩张主义倒向了同样令人担忧的全球大撤退。诚然，圣战主义的马里不会直接威胁到美国，至少不会像威胁欧洲那样威胁美国。但有了2001年9月11日的教训，这样的简单分析真的明智吗？