达沃斯论坛为何回避争议 Muting the Global Dialogue in Davos

The invitation was sent. And then, two weeks later, revoked.

邀请已经发出，但两周后，邀请被撤销了。

The World Economic Forum, which on Wednesday begins its annuAl meeting in Davos, Switzerland, brings together political and business leaders to discuss the world’s most pressing problems. In years past, Vladimir V. Putin has attended. So has Bill Gates. This year, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will attend.

世界经济论坛(World Economic Forum)将于周三在瑞士达沃斯召开年会，政界和商界领袖汇聚一堂，讨论全球最紧迫的问题。过去数年里，弗拉基米尔·V·普京(Vladimir V. Putin)出席了会议。比尔·盖茨(Bill Gates)也出席了。今年，副总统小约瑟夫·R·拜登(Joseph R. Biden Jr.)将出席会议。

And so it wasn’t a complete surprise to see that the foreign minister of North Korea, Ri Su-Yong, had accepted an invitation to attend the summit meeting in the Swiss Alps.

因此，朝鲜外相李洙墉(Ri Su-yong)接到前往瑞士阿尔卑斯山参加今年峰会的邀请，也不是特别出人意料。

But in early January, after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, which was broadly condemned, the World Economic Forum revoked Mr. Ri’s invitation. North Korea said the forum had “unilaterally canceled the participation” of its delegation “based on unjust political motivation, which clearly runs counter to the nature and position of WEF as an international forum for discussion of economic issues.”

但在1月初，朝鲜进行了第四次核试验，遭到了广泛谴责，然后世界经济论坛就撤销了这份邀请。朝鲜表示，论坛“单方面取消”其代表团的参会资格是出于“不公正的政治动机，这显然违背了世界经济论坛作为一个讨论经济问题的国际论坛的性质和定位”。

The World Economic Forum, through one of its board members, Philipp , explained its decision. “We decided after the nuclear test that at the moment there would be no opportunity for an international, global dialogue in the spirit of the World Economic Forum,” he said.

世界经济论坛委派董事会成员菲利普·罗斯勒(Philipp )对该决定作出了解释。“在这次核试验之后，我们认为，目前没有本着世界经济论坛的精神，开展国际化、全球化对话的机会，”他说。

But why? If the World Economic Forum isn’t an opportunity to have an “international, global dialogue” about North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, especially with its foreign minister in attendance, then what’s the point? After all, the forum’s stated purpose is to “improve the state of the world.”

但为什么呢？如果世界经济论坛不是一个就朝鲜的核野心，开展“国际化、全球化对话”的机会，特别是在该国外相出席的情况下，那它还有什么意义呢？毕竟，这个论坛的既定宗旨就是“改善世界状况”。

Even though Davos has sometimes been criticized as a boondoggle for the business elite, it has often been the stage for meaningful debate and compromise among policy makers. In 1994, for instance, the Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, and the Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, entered the stage holding hands. Six years before, in 1988, Greece and Turkey signed a no-war agreement called the “Davos Declaration.” Its so-called multistakeholder approach — which was adopted in the recent climate change negotiations in Paris — can yield notable results.

尽管达沃斯有时被诟病为商业精英的清谈之所，但它也常常提供舞台，让政治决策者进行有意义的辩论和妥协。例如在1994年，巴勒斯坦领导人亚西尔·阿拉法特(Yasir Arafat)和以色列外长希蒙·佩雷斯(Shimon Peres)在这个舞台上握了手。在那六年之前的1988年，希腊和土耳其签署了称作《达沃斯宣言》(Davos Declaration)的不交战协议。该论坛让多方利益相关者参与的方式，有时会带来可观的成效——最近在巴黎举行的气候变化谈判就采用了这种模式。

At the same time, however, it seems like much of the conversations in Davos are a form of sanitized debate.

然而与此同时，达沃斯的很多对话都是一种“消过毒”的辩论。

“To attract all these famous politicians, billionaires and celebrities,” Bill Emmott, former editor of The Economist, once wrote, “they have made the event safe.”

“为了吸引各种著名的政治人物、富豪和名人，”《经济学人》(The Economist)前主编比尔·艾默特(Bill Emmott)曾经写道，“他们把这个会议开得很安全。”

“I don’t mean safe from terrorism, though I hope that is true,” he continued. “I mean safe from surprises and controversy. Things are arranged to avoid argument, confrontation, provocation.”

“我说的安全不是指不会受到恐怖袭击，虽然我也希望能保障那种安全，”他接着说。“我指的是没有意外，不发生争议的安全。他们做了安排，来防止争论、对抗和挑衅的发生。”

Two years ago, the Ukrainian prime minister, Mykola Azarov, who had flown to Davos and was scheduled to speak on a Friday afternoon, was disinvited from the conference after several protesters were shot in Kiev. He stayed in his hotel room, and criticized the snub in an interview with The Financial Times.

两年前，乌克兰总理米克拉·阿扎罗夫(Mykola Azarov)已经飞抵达沃斯，原本定于在一个周五的下午发表讲话，但几名抗议者在基辅遭到枪击后，主办方撤回了对他的邀请。他待在酒店房间里接受英国《金融时报》(The Financial Times)采访时，批评了这种怠慢的态度。

“The forum had a unique opportunity to listen to the head of government of Ukraine, to get a wider point of view — it’s hard to tell who lost more in this affair,” Mr. Azarov said in the interview.

阿扎罗夫接受采访时说，“该论坛本来有一个独一无二的机会，来倾听乌克兰政府首脑的意见，了解更广泛的观点。很难说在这件事上谁的损失更大。”

For several years at Davos, the topic of WikiLeaks dominated the conversation among policy experts and business leaders. Was Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, ever asked to address the forum? No. Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked millions of documents about electronic surveillance by the United States government, has taken part in several events by video from Russia, where he is exiled. But he has never been invited, either.

多年来，维基解密(WikiLeaks)一直是政策专家及商业领袖在达沃斯论坛上讨论的主要话题。维基解密的创始人朱利安·阿桑奇(Julian Assange)曾受邀到该论坛发言吗？没有。美国国家安全局(National Security Agency)前承包商雇员爱德华·J·斯诺登(Edward J. Snowden)在泄露了数百万份有关美国电子监控计划的文件后流亡俄罗斯。他在俄罗斯通过视频参加了几次活动。但他也从未受到邀请。

Of course, the forum has to be vigilant in creating its guest list and programming, as it does not want to become a weeklong stage for world leaders to blast each other or promote dangerous ideas.

当然，该论坛在邀请嘉宾、安排日程时需要保持警惕，因为它不想让这一周的时间成为世界领导人互相抨击或宣扬危险思想的舞台。

But some critics have long said that the conference is too carefully curated.

但一些批评人士早就表示，该论坛的组织工作过于谨慎。

“The World Economic Forum is an intensely orchestrated event with nothing left to chance,” Frank Vogl wrote in the Global Policy Forum in 2001. “Every topic for discussion is carefully considered and researched, every participant is thoroughly prescreened and every moment of every day is micromanaged. The Forum is programmed to tick like the best Swiss watch.”

“世界经济论坛是一场缜密安排的活动，一切都不能有差池，”弗兰克·福格尔(Frank Vogl)于2001年在《全球政策论坛》(Global Policy Forum)上写道。“每个讨论话题都经过了仔细考虑和研究，每个参与者都经过预先筛选，每一天的每一个时刻都受到了细致入微的管理。该论坛就像最好的瑞士表一样精准运转。”

Certain subjects have been avoided. Until last year, for example, discussions that focused on the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were not on the agenda, in part, because certain delegations from the Middle East and Eastern Europe objected to the topic.

某些话题会被避开。比如，直到去年，有关男女同性恋、双性恋或跨性别人群的权利的讨论，都没有进入过议事日程。部分是因为一些来自中东及东欧的代表团反对讨论这种话题。

As for North Korea, the situation was perhaps untenable. The country’s participation at Davos would have made it difficult for someone like Mr. Biden and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain to attend without being criticized.

至于朝鲜，情况或许会变得很棘手。如果朝鲜参加论坛，拜登、英国首相戴维·卡梅伦(David Cameron)等嘉宾很难不遭到批评。

Choe Myong-nam, deputy ambassador at North Korea’s diplomatic mission in Geneva, said, “the decision by WEF is based on political motivation because the organizer has suddenly decided to cancel, taking sides with the belligerent United States and its allies that are pursuing hostile policies against” the country. “We are 100 percent sure there is pressure and even blackmail.”

朝鲜驻日内瓦外交使团副大使崔明南(Choe Myong-nam)表示，“世界经济论坛是基于政治动机做出这一决定的，因为组织者突然决定取消邀请，选择支持好战的美国和那些对朝鲜奉行敌对政策的盟友。”他说，“我们百分之百确定，有人在施压，甚至是要挟。”

North Korea, of course, is just one challenge in a world that has become increasingly complex and dangerous. In today’s environment, with escalating terrorist attacks and heightened economic and political instability, it is perhaps unfair to look to Davos as some sort of panacea for the world’s problems. A conference of disparate voices works only if all parties attend. But in an increasingly divisive world, it may be harder to get them all in the same room.

当然，朝鲜只是这个愈发复杂和危险的世界面对的挑战之一。在当今的环境中，恐怖袭击不断升级，经济及政治动荡不断加剧，把达沃斯的世界经济论坛看作解决世界问题的灵丹妙药或许是不公平的。要想举行一场存在不同声音的会议，首先要各方都参与才行。但在这个分歧加剧的世界，把他们请进同一间屋子，或许更难了。