The good news for Ban Ki-moon is that he has become Secretary General of the United Nations at a time when the prospects for conflict between or among the world’s great powers – the United States, China, Japan, Russia, Europe, and India – are remote. The bad news is that the prospects for just about every other sort of conflict are high and the international agenda is both crowded and demanding.
对于潘基文来说，他在现在这个时间成为联合国秘书长的好消息是，世界上的大国，即美国、中国、日本、俄罗斯、欧洲和印度之间不太可能发生冲突。而坏消息是，其他各种冲突发生的可能性非常之高，国际性议程纷乱无章而且急迫。