Historical memory is not always quite as bad as this. But international politics and diplomacy are riddled with examples of bad and ill-considered precedents being used to justify foreign policy decisions, invariably leading to catastrophe.
虽然对历史的记忆并不总是像上面这个小故事那样颠倒黑白。不过国际政治和外交场上却充斥着许多错误和被误解的历史案例，人们用这些例子来评价自己的外交政策决策，而这种行为也总能为此后的巨大灾难埋下伏笔。