Name: 俄羅斯為何永遠想主宰喬治亞？ (Why Russia Will Always Want to Dominate Georgia)
Uploaded: 2026-03-14T17:13:11.000Z
Duration: 34 min 24 s

情態副詞

As the devastating war in Ukraine continues grinding on without a clear end in sight, tensions are rapidly rising in another nation that borders Russia, who the Kremlin has previously invaded twice in only the past three decades.

隨著烏克蘭的毀滅性戰爭持續進行，卻看不到明確的結束點，另一個與俄羅斯接壤的國家，這個國家在過去三十年內曾兩度遭到克里姆林宮入侵，緊張局勢正迅速升溫。

情態助動詞 B1

In May of 2024, hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens took to the streets in their nation's capital, Tbilisi, to protest against their government's passing of a new and highly controversial law in the country.

在 2024 年 5 月，數十萬喬治亞公民走上首都特bilisi的街頭，抗議他們政府通過了一項國內極具爭議的新法律。

The ruling party that governs in Georgia, the Georgian Dream Party, officially refers to this new law as the Transparency of Foreign Influence Bill.

統治喬治亞的執政黨，喬治亞之夢黨，正式將這項新法律稱為外國影響力透明法案。

Once it enters in a law, the bill will require all NGOs and media companies operating in Georgia who receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register themselves as pursuing the interests of a foreign power in a public registry.

一旦成為法律，該法案將要求所有在喬治亞營運、且超過 20% 的資金來自國外的非政府組織和媒體公司，在公共登記處登記，表明他們正在追求外國勢力的利益。

The Georgian Dream Party argues that this bill is necessary to provide transparency on where NGOs and media companies in Georgia are receiving their funding from.

喬治亞之夢黨認為，這項法案對於提供喬治亞非政府組織和媒體公司資金來源的透明度是必要的。

But critics and opponents of the bill argue that it's almost identical to a similar law that was passed by Vladimir Putin's government in Russia back in 2012, which has enabled the Russian government ever since to suppress, crack down on, and

但該法案的批評者和反對者認為，這與弗拉基米爾·普丁政府在 2012 年於俄羅斯通過的一項類似法律幾乎完全相同，該法律自此以來一直讓俄羅斯政府能夠壓制、鎮壓和

shut down opposition media outlets and NGOs in the country, a pattern that could be replicated by the Georgian Dream Party to suppress the opposition in Georgia too.

關閉國內的異議媒體和非政府組織，這種模式可能會被喬治亞之夢黨複製，以壓制喬治亞的異議人士。

For this reason, opponents of the foreign influence bill have labeled it as the Russian law.

是以，外國影響力法案的反對者將其標籤為俄羅斯法律。

But it's not the only reason why they've been calling it that, because the bill's passing likely also carries with it tremendous geopolitical benefits for the Kremlin too, because it'll probably prevent Georgia from becoming accepted into the European Union and NATO as well.

但這並非他們這樣稱呼它的唯一原因，因為該法案的通過很可能也為克里姆林宮帶來巨大的地緣政治利益，因為這可能會阻止喬治亞被歐洲聯盟和北大西洋公約組織接納。

Both the EU and NATO have repeatedly stressed that Georgia's passing of the new Foreign Influence Bill will make them incompatible with their values, and

歐盟和北大西洋公約組織都一再強調，喬治亞通過新的外國影響力法案，將使其與他們的價值觀不符，

that it will jeopardize Georgia's membership prospects.

As a result, for decades, most Georgians have long aspired to become a member of both blocs of nations, with current polling showing that almost 80% of the Georgian population desires their country to join the European Union, and

是以，數十年來，大多數喬治亞人一直渴望成為這兩個國家集團的成員，目前的民意調查顯示，近 80% 的喬治亞人口希望他們的國家加入歐洲聯盟，

another poll showing that roughly 87% of Georgians see the ongoing war in Ukraine as a shared cause, having themselves been invaded by Russia twice in the past three decades that resulted in 20% of their own internationally recognized territory falling under Russian military occupation.

另一項民意調查顯示，約有 87% 的喬治亞人認為烏克蘭正在發生的戰爭是共同的事業，因為他們自己過去三十年來曾兩度遭到俄羅斯入侵，導致他們 20% 的國際公認領土落入俄羅斯軍事佔領之下。

It was only a few months ago, in December of 2023, when Georgia was finally offered its long awaited and much coveted candidacy status by the European Union, which if one day approved into a fully fledged member state, would establish a disconnected chunk of the European Union across the Black Sea over in Western Asia, wedged in between Russia and Turkey, which would also make Georgia the fifth EU member state to share a direct border with Russia after Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

就在幾個月前的 2023 年 12 月，喬治亞終於獲得歐洲聯盟授予其期待已久且夢寐以求的候選國地位，如果有一天被準許成為正式會員國，將在地緣政治上，在西亞的黑海地區建立一個與俄羅斯和土耳其接壤的歐洲聯盟獨立區塊，這也將使喬治亞成為繼波蘭、立陶宛、拉脫維亞、愛沙尼亞和芬蘭之後，第五個與俄羅斯有直接邊界的歐盟成員國。

But it was only four months after Georgia received its EU candidacy status that the ruling Georgia Dream Party decided to reintroduce their controversial foreign influence law again.

但就在喬治亞獲得歐盟候選國地位的四個月後，執政的喬治亞之夢黨決定再次重新提出他們備受爭議的外國影響力法案。

You see, the party had originally introduced the bill back in February of 2023, but

你知道，該黨最初是在 2023 年 2 月提出這項法案，但

after fierce protests erupted in the capital city against it, the the bill was quickly withdrawn.

在首都爆發激烈抗議後，該法案很快就被撤回了。

這一次，法案在 2024 年又回來了。

However, the Georgian government's response to the protesters has been significantly more heavy handed than they ever were before, involving water cannons, tear gas and even rubber bullets, as the Georgian Dream Party has made it explicitly clear that they are determined to pass the new law through regardless of how unpopular it might be and regardless of how much it jeopardizes their ability to actually join the EU and NATO.

然而，喬治亞政府對待抗議者的態度比以往任何時候都更加強硬，動用了水砲、催淚瓦斯甚至橡膠子彈，因為喬治亞之夢黨已經明確表示，無論這項新法案有多麼不受歡迎，也無論它對他們實際加入歐盟和北大西洋公約組織的能力有多大的損害，他們都決心要通過這項新法案。

There is therefore a major concern growing that the Georgian government is actively drifting the country back into the orbit of Russia again, a concern that hasn't been helped by many other of the government's actions recently, such as their arrest and imprisonment of the former pro Western Georgian president and Ukrainian citizen Mikhail Saakashvili Since 2021, their refusal to participate in any sanctions on Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, their resumption of direct air travel with Russia since 2023 and their dramatically increased trade volume with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine started with with Georgian exports to Russia rising by nearly 7% in 2022 and Georgian imports from Russia skyrocketing by 79% over the same time period.

是以，大家越來越擔心喬治亞政府正積極地將國家拉回俄羅斯的勢力範圍，而且政府近期許多其他舉動，像是逮捕並監禁了親西方的前喬治亞總統、烏克蘭公民米哈伊爾·薩卡什維利，也讓這種擔憂加劇。自 2021 年以來，他們拒絕參與任何對俄羅斯的制裁，自 2023 年恢復與俄羅斯的直飛班機，以及自烏克蘭戰爭爆發以來與俄羅斯貿易量大幅增加，其中喬治亞對俄羅斯的出口在 2022 年成長了近 7%，而喬治亞從俄羅斯的進口同期飆升了 79%。

This has led the Ukrainian government to frequently criticize the Georgian government of assisting the Russians in evading sanctions, and

這導致烏克蘭政府經常批評喬治亞政府協助俄羅斯規避制裁，

tensions between them have gotten so high recently that Kyiv recalled their ambassador to Tbilisi in June of 2022 and then shortly after Georgia resumed the direct flights with Russia in 2023, Kiev even expelled the Georgian ambassador from their country and announced sanctions on Georgian airways as a consequence.

兩國之間的緊張關係近期已經升高到，基輔在 2022 年 6 月召回了駐提比裡西的大使，而在 2023 年喬治亞恢復與俄羅斯的直飛班機後不久，基輔甚至驅逐了喬治亞駐烏克蘭大使，並是以宣佈對喬治亞航空公司實施制裁。

And then later In September of 2023, the speaker of the Georgian parliament even asserted that Ukraine was plotting a coup in Georgia to overthrow the Georgian Dream Party and push the country into the war with Russia.

接著在 2023 年 9 月，喬治亞議長甚至聲稱烏克蘭正密謀在喬治亞發動政變，以推翻「喬治亞之夢黨」，並將該國捲入與俄羅斯的戰爭。

Since then, the Georgian government has repeatedly accused both the United States and Ukraine of attempting to push Georgia into joining the war against Russia to reclaim their occupied territories and to open up a second front for the Kremlin to have to deal with.

從那時起，喬治亞政府一再指控美國和烏克蘭試圖將喬治亞推入對俄羅斯的戰爭，以收復其被佔領的領土，並為克里姆林宮開闢第二條戰線。

And they've even gone so far as to openly accuse the US of plotting a coup in the country and fomenting the current high levels of unrest going on against them.

他們甚至公開指控美國在這個國家密謀政變，並煽動目前正在發生的、針對他們的嚴重動亂。

And all of this is increasingly coming to the delight of Russia, who has openly praised the ruling Georgian Dream Party and its new foreign influence bill.

這一切都越來越讓俄羅斯感到高興，俄羅斯公開讚揚了執政的「喬治亞之夢黨」及其新的外國影響力法案。

While they still occupy 20% of Georgia's internationally recognized territory, Russia has also long maintained its own policy of keeping Georgia out of the EU and NATO as much as possible, just like they've done in Ukraine.

儘管俄羅斯仍佔領著喬治亞 20% 的國際公認領土，但俄羅斯長期以來也奉行盡可能阻止喬治亞加入歐盟和北大西洋公約組織的政策，就像他們在烏克蘭所做的一樣。

Because like Ukraine, Georgia occupies an extremely important piece on the board of global geopolitics, especially from the perspective of Moscow.

因為和烏克蘭一樣，喬治亞在地緣政治棋盤上佔據著極為重要的位置，尤其是從莫斯科的角度來看。

It is a space that both the west and Russia want to control and keep within their own respective camps for a plethora of important reasons and in order to understand why, it helps to begin with sheer geography.

這是西方和俄羅斯都想控制並將其納入各自陣營的區域，原因眾多且重要，而要理解為何如此，就得從地理位置開始談起。

Georgia is often considered to be a transcontinental country because it exists at the hard to define crossroads between Eastern Europe and Western Asia.

喬治亞常被視為跨洲國家，因為它位於東歐和西亞之間難以明確界定的交界處。

The country's claimed territory straddles most of the greater Caucasus Mountain range, historically a valuable geographic frontier region separating the vast flat Eurasian steppe in southern Russia from the great empires that emerged in Western Asia, like the Turks and the Persians.

該國聲稱的領土橫跨大部分大高加索山脈，這裡自古以來就是分隔俄羅斯南部廣闊平坦的歐亞草原與土耳其、波斯等西亞興起的大帝國的寶貴地理邊界。

The region of the Caucasus has long been a battleground area for influence in the center between all three of these greater neighboring empires around it.

高加索地區長期以來一直是這三大鄰近大帝國之間影響力爭奪的戰場。

And so for centuries, the Russians have maintained a strong policy of controlling at least the greater Caucasus Mountains in order to control all of the access points from Western Asia into southern Russia, where it's basically just flat, easily traversable land all the way from there to Ukraine and Volgograd, which if captured, would isolate Russia from the Black and Caspian Seas.

是以，數百年來，俄羅斯一直奉行嚴格政策，至少要控制大高加索山脈，以掌握從西亞進入俄羅斯南部所有可能的通道，那裡基本上是平坦且易於通行的土地，一路延伸到烏克蘭和伏爾加格勒，一旦被佔領，將使俄羅斯與黑海和裡海隔絕。

Geographically speaking, there are really only 4 viable overland transportation routes to take to travel through or around the greater Caucasus Mountains.

從地理上看，要穿越或繞過大高加索山脈，實際上只有四條可行的陸路運輸路線。

Today there are the two narrow coastal approaches to the west and east of the mountains between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, while the only two routes in between that run through or over the mountains are the Georgian military road here that follows the traditional mountain pass route used by invaders and merchants for centuries, and

今天，在高加索山脈的西側和東側，有兩條狹窄的沿海通道，介於黑海和裡海之間；而山脈中僅有的兩條穿越或越過山脈的路線是，一條是沿著數百年來入侵者和商人使用的傳統山隘路線的喬治亞軍用道路，以及

the nearby Roki Tunnel, a tunnel pass going through the mountains that was only built during the Soviet era and completed in 1984.

附近的羅基隧道，這是一條穿越山脈的隧道通道，僅在蘇聯時期建造，於1984年完工。

If all four of these routes can be effectively controlled by Russia, then they can essentially control all land based travel between Western Asia and Russia.

如果俄羅斯能有效控制這四條路線，那麼他們基本上就能控制西亞和俄羅斯之間所有的陸路交通。

And so they can block any hostile land army from advancing from this direction into the exposed steppe of southern Russia that is significantly more challenging to defend.

這樣他們就能阻止任何敵對陸軍從這個方向進攻俄羅斯南部暴露的草原地區，那裡更難防禦。

Historically, this was Russia's primary concern with controlling the area around the Greater Caucasus Mountains, which included Georgia.

從歷史上看，這一直是俄羅斯控制大高加索山脈周邊地區（包括喬治亞）的首要考量。

Georgia was steadily annexed by the Russians in the early 19th century in a piecemeal fashion, and

19世紀初期，俄羅斯逐步地、一點一滴地吞併了喬治亞，

then remained within the Russian Empire until the country collapsed during the first world war in 1917.

然後喬治亞就一直處於俄羅斯帝國的統治下，直到第一次世界大戰於1917年爆發，帝國崩潰。

Georgia then managed to briefly emerge as an independent republic before it was swallowed back up again by the red army in 1921 and incorporated into the new Soviet Union.

接著喬治亞短暫地成為一個獨立共和國，但在1921年又被紅軍再次吞併，併入了新成立的蘇聯。

Georgia was then, as it still is today, an ethnically and linguistically diverse place.

當時的喬治亞，就像現在一樣，是一個民族和語言都非常多元的地方。

Because of its mountainous geography, the Georgians were by far the largest single group and always made up a majority.

由於地理環境多山，喬治亞人是其中最大的一個族群，一直都佔多數。

But there were large minorities of Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Russians, Greeks, in two important lesser known groups known as the Ossetians and the Abkhazians.

不過，也有為數不少的亞塞拜然人、亞美尼亞人、俄羅斯人、希臘人，以及兩個重要但較少人知道的族群：奧塞提亞人和阿布哈茲人。

The Ossetians are a disconnected Iranian ethnic group more closely related to Kurds and Persians than any of their neighbors who straddle the border between Russia and Georgia, while the Abkhazians are a small Caucasian ethnic group most closely related to the Circassians to the north.

奧塞提亞人是一個分離的伊朗語族群，比他們任何一個鄰近族群都更接近庫德人和波斯人，他們橫跨俄羅斯和喬治亞的邊界；而阿布哈茲人則是一個小型高加索族群，最接近北方的切爾克斯人。

In Russia, after the Soviet Union came to control the region, they established the Georgian Soviet Republic as a full Union republic of the country.

在俄羅斯方面，蘇聯控制該地區後，建立了喬治亞蘇維埃社會主義共和國，成為該國一個正式的加盟共和國。

But within this republic they also created the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast and the Abkhaz Autonomous Republic as well, which each maintained a high degree of autonomy separate from the rest of Georgia.

但在這個共和國內，他們也設立了南奧塞提亞自治州和阿布哈茲自治共和國，這兩個地區都保有高度自治權，獨立於喬治亞其他地區。

This is how things largely remained within Georgia for decades, until the Soviet Union began collapsing in 1989 and Georgian, Ossetian and Abkhaz nationalism all began increasing in the ensuing power vacuum.

喬治亞的局勢大致如此持續了好幾十年，直到1989年蘇聯開始瓦解，隨之而來的權力真空促使喬治亞、奧塞提亞和阿布哈茲的民族主義都開始高漲。

At the time, the majority of Abkhaz and Ossetians wished to remain within the Soviet Union in order to remain closer to their Ossetian and Circassian kin in Russia.

當時，大部分的阿布哈茲人和奧塞提亞人希望留在蘇聯境內，以便與俄羅斯的奧塞提亞和切爾克斯親屬保持聯繫。

While the Georgians generally desired outright independence, Moscow began strategically supporting the South Ossetian and Abkhaz nationalist and separatist movements in order to apply leverage against the Greater Georgian Independence movement.

喬治亞人普遍渴望完全獨立，但莫斯科開始策略性地支持南奧塞提亞和阿布哈茲的民族主義和分離主義運動，以制衡喬治亞獨立運動。

And then, as tensions continued building the local Georgian Soviet government unilaterally revoked the autonomy of south Ossetia in 1990 without receiving approval from Moscow.

接著，隨著緊張局勢持續升溫，當地喬治亞蘇維埃政府於1990年單方面撤銷了南奧塞提亞的自治權，未獲莫斯科準許。

The fighting erupted between the South Ossetians and the Abkhaz and the Georgian government.

戰火在南奧塞提亞人、阿布哈茲人和喬治亞政府之間爆發。

And after Georgia declared their independence from the Soviet Union in early 1991, the fighting in Abkhazia and South Ossetia transformed into separatist rebellions that the Russian government began actively supporting with arms and volunteers.

在喬治亞於1991年初宣佈脫離蘇聯獨立後，阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞的戰鬥演變成分離主義叛亂，俄羅斯政府開始積極提供武器和志願者支援。

By 1993, the Russian Support to the Abkhaz and South Ossetian separatists had proved decisive, with separatist forces managing to secure control over the majority of the former autonomous regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia during and after the war.

到了1993年，俄羅斯對阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞分離主義者的支援 proved decisive，分離主義部隊在戰爭期間及之後成功控制了阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞前自治地區的大部分區域。

In Abkhazia in particular, the Abkhaz side perpetrated a mass ethnic cleansing campaign of the region's Georgian population.

特別是在阿布哈茲，阿布哈茲方面對該地區的喬治亞人口進行了大規模的族裔清洗。

More than 200,000 ethnic Georgians were forcefully expelled at gunpoint from Abkhazia into the rest of Georgia, while more than 5,000 others were massacred by Abkhaz paramilitaries, which severely altered Abkhazia's demographics.

超過二十萬名族裔喬治亞人被武力驅逐出阿布哈茲，進入喬治亞其他地區，而超過五千人被阿布哈茲準軍事部隊屠殺，這嚴重改變了阿布哈茲的人口結構。

Georgians plummeted from 45.7% of Abkhazia's population in 1989 to fewer than 18% by 2011, while the Abkhaz population rose from only 18% to about 51% of the total population over the same time period.

喬治亞人在阿布哈茲人口中的比例從1989年的45.7%下降到2011年的不到18%，而阿布哈茲人在同一時期從僅佔18%上升到約佔總人口的51%。

Despite this, however, Georgia initially aligned itself closer to Russia by joining the Moscow led defense alliance known as the Commonwealth of Independent States at the end of 1993 before withdrawing only half a decade later in 1999 along with Azerbaijan and then after Vladimir Putin came to power as Russia's president in 2000, Russia began pursuing a more forward policy towards the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

儘管如此，喬治亞最初透過加入莫斯科領導的獨立國家聯合體（CIS）國防聯盟，與俄羅斯走得更近，但在僅僅五年後的1999年與亞塞拜然一同退出；而在普丁於2000年成為俄羅斯總統後，俄羅斯開始對阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞的分離地區採取更積極的政策。

With Georgia out of the CSTF know, he led Russia into imposing a visa regime on Georgia at the end of 2000 and starting in 2002 he led Russia into rolling out a massive passport program to the residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia without the Georgian government's approval, granting roughly 90% of each of their population's Russian passports and increasing Russian territorial claims to the regions in the process.

既然喬治亞退出了CSTF，俄羅斯在2000年底對喬治亞實施了簽證制度，並從2002年開始，在未經喬治亞政府準許的情況下，向南奧塞提亞和阿布哈茲的居民推出了大規模護照計畫，授予了當地約90%的人口俄羅斯護照，同時也在此過程中增加了俄羅斯對這些地區的主權聲索。

Anger and resentment towards Georgia's conciliatory foreign policy to Russia along with lingering political corruption and poverty mounted and eventually culminated with the Rose revolution revolution of 2003, which overthrew the previous corrupt government led by Eduard Shevardnadse and catapulted the extremely pro Western Mikhail Saakashvili into power as the country's next president instead, which radically altered Georgia's geopolitical alignment.

喬治亞對俄羅斯採取綏靖外交政策所引發的憤怒和不滿，加上持續存在的政治腐敗和貧困，最終在2003年的玫瑰革命中達到頂點，推翻了愛德華·謝瓦爾德納澤領導的前腐敗政府，並將極度親西方的米哈伊爾·薩卡什維利推上總統寶座，這徹底改變了喬治亞的地緣政治格局。

The previous Georgian government had announced their intention to join NATO the year before the revolution in 2002 as Russia began giving passports to the residents in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

在俄羅斯開始向南奧塞提亞和阿布哈茲居民發放護照的2002年，前喬治亞政府就已經宣佈了他們加入北大西洋公約組織的意向。

But the Cashvili was passionately adamant about Georgia's future in both NATO and the European Union, and

但薩卡什維利熱切地堅持喬治亞在北大西洋公約組織和歐洲聯盟中的未來，

he vowed that his top foreign policy priority was returning full Georgian control over the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia once again.

他誓言，他最重要的外交政策優先事項就是讓喬治亞重新完全掌控分離地區阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞。

And so, to help align Georgia more with the west and increase their odds of becoming accepted into NATO in the eu, Saakashvili led the country into sending large numbers of Georgian soldiers to support the US war efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

是以，為了讓喬治亞更貼近西方，並增加他們加入北大西洋公約組織和歐洲聯盟的機會，薩卡什維利領導國家向伊拉克和阿富汗派遣了大量喬治亞阿兵哥，以支援美國的戰爭行動。

By 2008, Georgia had 2,300 of their soldiers deployed to Iraq, the third highest number of all the states in the international coalition, behind only the United States and the United Kingdom themselves.

到2008年，喬治亞有2,300名阿兵哥部署在伊拉克，是國際聯軍中第三多的國家，僅次於美國和英國。

While in Afghanistan, Georgia became the largest non NATO and by far the largest per capita troop contributor, with more than 1,500 soldiers deployed there by 2012.

在阿富汗，喬治亞成為了最大的非北大西洋公約組織成員國，也是人均兵力貢獻最多的國家，到2012年已有超過1,500名阿兵哥部署在那裡。

In total, between 2004 and 2021, more than 20,000 Georgian service members served in Afghanistan, while 32 Georgian servicemen were killed in action and another 435 wounded in the country.

總計，在2004年至2021年間，超過20,000名喬治亞軍人曾在阿富汗服役，其中32名喬治亞軍人在當地陣亡，另有435人受傷。

Georgia's outsized contributions to Iraq and Afghanistan were of course, deliberately crafted by Saakashvili's government to try and sway American and Western support for Georgia's admission to NATO and the European Union in order to help Georgia eventually reassert its own control over their separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia again.

喬治亞政府刻意大幅增加在伊拉克和阿富汗的貢獻，正是為了爭取美國和西方對喬治亞加入北大西洋公約組織和歐洲聯盟的支持，以期幫助喬治亞最終重新掌控他們分離地區阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞。

But it wasn't just Georgia's military support in Iraq and Afghanistan that was making the country more attractive to the west either.

不過，喬治亞不僅僅是靠在伊拉克和阿富汗的軍事支援來讓國家對西方更具吸引力。

It was also the increasingly valuable space that they occupied.

他們所佔據的戰略位置也越來越重要。

You see the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 opened up for the first time the massive oil and gas fields of the Caspian Sea basin to the western world.

你們知道，蘇聯在1991年的崩潰，首次向西方世界敞開了裡海盆地龐大的石油和天然氣田。

Approximately 3% of the world's oil reserves and about 7% of the world's natural gas reserves are found here around the Caspian.

世界上大約3%的石油儲量和約7%的天然氣儲量都在裡海周邊發現。

And while it used to all be dominated by the Soviets and blocked off from the west, the Soviet collapse placed the keys of the Caspian Sea's oil and gas resources into the hands of newly independent states like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan.

過去，這一切都由蘇聯主導，並與西方隔絕，但蘇聯的崩潰卻讓裡海石油和天然氣資源的鑰匙，落入了亞塞拜然、哈薩克等新獨立國家的手中。

Just about every major Western energy company you can think of began moving into the region across the 1990s to break themselves into the brand new market.

幾乎所有你能想到的主要西方能源公司，都在1990年代湧入該地區，進入這個全新的市場。

But they quickly found that it was going to be geographically difficult to transport the region's energy resources from the landlocked Caspian Sea to markets far away in Europe.

但他們很快發現，要將該地區的能源資源從內陸的裡海運往遙遠的歐洲市場，在地理上非常困難。

Initially, every oil and gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea ran through Russia first, a legacy of Russia's dominance over these countries during the Soviet era.

起初，裡海的每一條石油和天然氣管道都必須先經過俄羅斯，這是俄羅斯在蘇聯時期統治這些國家的遺留問題。

The Western energy companies wanted to construct their own oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian region that led back to Europe.

西方能源公司想要從裡海地區建造自己的石油和天然氣管道，通往歐洲。

But they wanted to avoid routing any of those pipelines through Iran to the south or through Russia to the north.

但他們想避開將任何管道南邊經過伊朗，或北邊經過俄羅斯。

The pipelines could either go from the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey towards Europe, or they could go from the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey towards Europe instead.

這些管道可以從裡海經過亞塞拜然、喬治亞和土耳其通往歐洲，或者從裡海經過亞塞拜然、亞美尼亞和土耳其通往歐洲。

But at the time, Azerbaijan and Armenia had a very serious territorial dispute going on over the status of Nagorno Karabakh, and

但當時，亞塞拜然和亞美尼亞之間，因為納戈爾諾-卡拉巴克地區的地位問題，有著非常嚴重的領土爭議，

the two were effectively locked in a frozen war with one another.

兩國實際上處於一種凍結的戰爭狀態。

Azerbaijan refused to consider allowing this new export route to travel through their arch geopolitical rival.

亞塞拜然拒絕考慮讓這條新的出口路線經過他們的地緣政治宿敵。

And so, to avoid Armenia, the Western energy companies, along with Azerbaijan in Turkey, decided to route their new Caspian oil export pipeline north through Georgia instead.

是以，為了避開亞美尼亞，西方能源公司與亞塞拜然和土耳其一起，決定將他們新的裡海石油出口管道改為向北經過喬治亞。

Completed in 2005, the new Baku, Tbilisi, Seyhan oil pipeline enabled Azerbaijan to export their oil supplies through Georgia and Turkey towards the Turkish port of Ceyhan, where oil tankers carry the oil the rest of the way across the Mediterranean to markets all across Europe.

這條新的巴庫-提比裡西-塞伊漢輸油管道於2005年完工，讓亞塞拜然能夠透過喬治亞和土耳其出口他們的石油供應，運往土耳其的塞伊漢港，在那裡油輪將石油運往地中海，抵達歐洲各地的市場。

The new route enabled Europe to lessen their dependence on oil imports coming in from the Middle east and Russia.

新的路線讓歐洲能夠減少對來自中東和俄羅斯石油進口的依賴。

And that gave Georgia's location, controlling the center of the route, a newfound strategic value to the Europeans.

而這也讓喬治亞位在路線中心點的地理位置，對歐洲人來說，有了全新的戰略價值。

And then everything began finally coming to a head in 2008.

然後，到了2008年，一切終於開始白熱化。

In February of that year, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia.

那年二月，科索沃單方面宣佈脫離塞爾維亞獨立。

After being fully controlled by separatist forces for nearly the past decade, Kosovo's independence was almost immediately recognized by virtually every single Western country.

在將近十年的時間裡，科索沃一直被分離主義勢力完全掌控，而科索沃的獨立幾乎立刻就獲得了幾乎所有西方國家的承認。

then, seizing on the precedent they believed had set, Abkhazia and South Ossetia each submitted a formal request to Russia to officially recognize their own independence from Georgia.

然後，抓住他們認為已經確立的先例，阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞各自向俄羅斯提交了正式請求，希望俄羅斯承認他們脫離喬治亞的獨立。

And then the month after that, In April of 2008, came the NATO summit in Bucharest, during which NATO's leaders publicly made promises that Georgia would one day soon be officially offered an invitation to join the alliance.

接著，就在那之後一個月，也就是2008年4月，北約在布加勒斯特召開了峰會，期間北約領導人公開承諾，喬治亞將很快正式獲得加入北約的邀請。

But this prospect of Georgia entering into NATO horrified the Russians and was interpreted by Moscow as a firm red line that shouldn't be crossed.

但喬治亞加入北約的前景讓俄羅斯感到恐懼，莫斯科將此解讀為一道不該跨越的紅線。

If Georgia flipped from being within Russia's CSTO military alliance to NATO, then Georgia would likely be supported by NATO into helping the Saakashvili government regain control over all of the separatist controlled parts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which would then place NATO forces largely in control over three of the four primary entrances into the steppes of southern Russia.

如果喬治亞從俄羅斯的集體安全條約組織軍事聯盟轉向北約，那麼北約很可能會支持薩卡什維利政府重新掌控阿布哈茲和南奧塞提亞所有由分離主義分子控制的地區，這將使北約部隊很大程度上控制著進入俄羅斯南部草原的四個主要入口中的三個。

When Factoring in Turkey, NATO's border with Russia would be extended continuously all the way to the Greater Caucasus Mountains themselves, while the eastern rim of the Black Sea would be extended under NATO maritime control to position NATO maritime and air assets precipitously close by to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which is the second most significant naval base for the Russian Black Sea fleet after Sevastopol in Crimea.

當把土耳其也考慮進來時，北約與俄羅斯的邊界將會一直延伸到大高加索山脈本身，而黑海的東緣將在北約的海上控制下延伸，將北約的海空資產部署到離俄羅斯新羅西斯克港極近的位置，這是俄羅斯黑海艦隊僅次於克里米亞塞瓦斯托波爾的第二大重要海軍基地。

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俄羅斯為何永遠想主宰喬治亞？ (Why Russia Will Always Want to Dominate Georgia)

eventually

recognize

evolve

brilliant