Join the new world

原文連結：The Economist ~ A house divide😛 Serbia on the ropes
原作者：Iain Keers



Dear friends,
親愛的朋友們，


Today I come to you with information about the recent internal struggle in Serbia, but also with a message of hope for the future. The challenges faced in Serbia now represent the culmination of years of conflict, which has moved back and forth between several shifting political alliances since the beginning of 2011, but now at last we see the potential for the Serbs to resolve those conflicts and unite Serbia under one common policy for the future.
今天我為你帶來了有關塞爾維亞內部衝突的資訊及樂觀的未來。塞爾維亞現在面臨的衝突是數年以來的新高，自從2011年初以來塞爾維亞在數個政治聯盟間更迭，但現在我們可望看到塞爾維亞解決此一衝突並在同一個政策下團結一心。


As background, I will say first of all that it’s impossible and illogical to think of Serbia as a country in the same way the UK is a country or eChina is a country. Serbia is vast, bigger than any other country by a huge margin, and what’s more many of it’s players are over 1 year old and “very active”. No other country can possibly compare to their size, and as a result of this size it’s easier to think of Serbia as an Empire rather than a Kingdom, and the Serbian CP as “King of Kings”, ruling over dozens of smaller princes and kings who rule MUs and Parties which contain as many players as many countries and deal more damage.
補充點背景資訊，我會說塞爾維亞絕不是想像中像英國或e中國那般的國家。塞爾維亞是個幅員廣大、充滿遊戲資歷大於一年且非常活躍的國家。沒有一個國家的領土能比得上塞爾維亞，也因此將塞爾維亞視為帝國而非王國將會簡單些，而塞爾維亞總統則是「王中之王」，統領著眾多軍團、政黨的王子、國王們，他們的人數可媲美許多國家，輸出的傷害則更多。


For a long time there have been many factions in Serbia with UeS and SZR forming the two most obvious “rally points” for other parties. The ideological differences between the two are obscure for outsiders and like most political parties in eRep are more based on past grudges and senior members than any sort of genuine political agenda. From an alliance perspective, pre-2013 UeS governments tended to be somewhat introspective and ally-focused, and SZR ones more extroverted and aggressive in acquiring and protecting resources. To complicate matters, through 2012 we saw a great exodus of players from Serbia to other parts of the world as many grew angry with the constant warfare at home. For this reason the leadership of many parties including UeS shifted, and a new “third bloc” appeared from other allied parties and groups.
塞爾維亞長期以來都有著黨派衝突，UeS及SZR各自成為兩派各黨們最主要的領袖。兩派間的意識形態之爭對外人而言是難以理解的，而且就像eRep中多數的政黨一般，他們是建立在過去的仇恨之上，而資深成員則凌駕於任何議程之上。從聯盟的角度來看，UeS政府從2013年之前嘗試著某種程度的自我反省並關注盟友，而SZR則比較偏向積極、侵略來獲取資源並守護之。進一步來說，2012年我們看到了在內部充斥著許多仇恨及永無止盡的衝突，許多玩家移出塞爾維亞進入其他國家。因此許多政黨的領導權發生的轉變，其中也包括UeS，而一個由其他政黨團體所組成的第三勢力則於此時出現。


In addition the huge majority that SZR once had was gradually eroded by the fact that two of it’s old allies and top five parties left the coalition to form a de facto fourth group, though it never properly challenged the main three. This served to further weaken the SZR alliance meaning that this election was possibly the hardest one fought in months.
此外，曾是絕對多數的SZR也因為它兩個名列五大政黨的盟友離去並自組第四個團體而變得衰弱，儘管這個第四團體從未威脅到三巨頭的地位。這讓SZR聯盟進一步的衰弱，這意味著這次的選舉將會是數月以來最艱困的一仗。


Nevertheless, SZR has maintained solid support from it’s core allies whilst for the most part UeS and the third bloc has fought over the remaining support in an attempt to make a viable opposition. Up until now this has mostly failed. This month HannibalLA, the eAmerican PTO chief, was elected President of Serbia by a mere handful of votes against a well known opposition candidate who gained many votes because of his personal reputation regardless of party backing. For many this seemed a victory for SZR, and in fact many prominent SZR members cheered his victory on election day in shouts and articles.
然而，SZR仍舊擁有忠誠盟友的協助，而UeS及第三集團則忙於搶奪剩下的支持票，以試圖獲得機會。到現在這可以說是完全失敗了。這個月e美國的PTO領袖HannibalLA以數票之差擊敗了知名的敵對候選人獲選為塞爾維亞總統，此敵對候選人憑藉著自聲名聲而非政黨支持得到了眾多選票。對多數人而言這是SZR的勝利，而實際上也的確有許多SZR的重要成員在選舉日當天於shout及文章中慶祝此一勝利。





However in a bizarre twist of fate Hannibal announced that he was dissatisfied with their service, said they were not up to scratch and fired the whole government including Strider_83 and Desert Hamster, two of the most powerful members of SZR, dissolving the army at the same time. He has also removed the national treasury, saying it will be returned when Serbia elects competent new players as leaders. Obviously this took a lot of guts, but also represents an unexpected turning within SZR itself. Hannibal went on to say that although much of his problem with his government stems from his dislike of “power politics” and personalities overstepping their bounds, he saw this mass cleansing of his staff as an opportunity for renewal. He has stated that even if he has to destroy Serbia to remake it anew it’s worth it for an end to the same old fighting.
然而在奇怪的命運齒輪運轉之下，Hannibal宣布他不滿意其內閣，宣稱他們連搔癢都不夠，因此開除了全部的閣員，包括Strider_83和Desert Hamster，他們兩人是SZR內的有力份子，於此同時他也解散了軍隊。他也把國庫給移走，宣稱當塞爾維亞選出一個有能力的人之時將會歸還。很明顯的這看來很有種，但也代表了SZR內部無預警的轉變。雖然Hannibal宣稱他這任期內的許多問題是源自於不喜歡「權力政治」，而且他們的人格超出了他的忍耐極限，因此他將這次清理門戶視為重生的機會。他也宣稱就算他必須摧毀塞爾維亞才能使之重生，若能夠終結這永無止盡的紛爭的話這也是值得的。


To me this is a breath of fresh air. I will be perfectly honest, I have fought with Strider before many times. I didn’t appreciate his tactics of using veiled threats to convince smaller TWO and ACT members to go along with him. I didn’t like the way he seemed to have two standards, one for himself and one for others. I think if people saw the way he treats “allies” they might not vote for him so much. But nevertheless I was angry more at the poisonous relationships this was creating rather than the acts themselves. It got to the point where the sour relations in Serbia were spreading to the alliance itself and poisoning it against itself.
這對我來說如沐春風。老實說我之前和Strider並肩奮戰許多次。我不欣賞他利用隱晦的威脅手段來使TWO及ACT成員站在他那邊。我不喜歡他的兩套標準，一套對己一套對他人。我想如果人們知道他是如何威脅「盟友」的話他就不會得到那麼多票。然而我更不喜歡這背後的動機而不是表現出來的行為本身。現在這有毒的關係正從塞爾維亞蔓延到聯盟本身並毒害聯盟。


I do not say this lightly: A strong Serbia is a strong TWO. Without leadership and unity from the Serbs, the alliance flounders. Despite military strength we are diplomatically divided, and bullying and factional disputes have no place in an alliance. A united Serbia has the potential to smooth all of the problems besetting the alliance and reset it ready for another year. A divided Serbia is in time the death toll of the alliance, as it was and as it will be again.
我不會輕易的說：塞爾維亞越強TWO就越強。如果沒有領導能力及塞爾維亞人的團結，這個聯盟將會非常的掙扎。儘管現在的我們武裝火力被外交手段給分散了，而且恃強凌弱及多元討論不存在於這個聯盟之內。但團結的塞爾維亞能夠圓滑的處理那些糾纏不清的紛爭並使之整裝上路迎接新的一年。一個分裂的塞爾維亞代表著一個聯盟的死亡，就如同過去一般。


This dispute has brought Serbia the opportunity of a clean slate. It’s an opportunity to wipe away all the old fighting, the old problems, the old hate. A time for new players to step up and lead as Hannibal said, and the old players with old hates to step down. It’s a bitter lesson learned that sometimes remaining in leadership can be detrimental to the future of your country, especially if you’re a divisive figure like myself. Many in Serbia and in SZR will see this as an embarrassment and a betrayal. Instead they should see it as an opportunity.
這次的爭論正好使得塞爾維亞有機會能夠清理門戶。這是個結束過往紛爭、仇恨的好機會。一個讓新人有舞台表現，就如同Hannibal所說，以及讓老玩家及舊恨逝去的時刻。這是堂苦澀的教訓，有時候舊時代的權威人物是你們國家新時代未來的毒藥，特別是當你們的國家和我們一樣之時。許多塞爾維亞人及SZR成員會將之視為羞恥及背叛。但他們應當將之視為機會。


Iain




Ps. The views contained in this blah blah are entirely my own and not representative of any government or nation.
註：這篇文章中的觀點全是我個人的看法而不代表政府或國家。

PPs. If you have strong views about this and can sum them up in 100 words or less, send it in a PM and I'll read it when I get a chance.
註：如果你有好的觀點並且在100字內敘述，請寄PM給我，我會在有空時拜讀。

All my articles are open source, you don't need to ask my permission to republish them in whatever language or format you like, so long as you quote text in full and send me a link.