西方民众担心爆发世界大战 美民众最悲观

“2016年已如此艰难，2017年我们会好过点吗？”美国的提问代表了世界在这个新年到来之际的焦虑。英国脱欧公投和特朗普当选美国总统，使得2016年被称为“共识瓦解的一年”，也让人难免担心2017年会不会有更多只黑天鹅降临，带给世界更多动荡和不安。调查显示，主要西方国家的民众多数都担心第三次世界大战即将爆发。

World War Three is just around the corner and the planet is teetering on the brink of all-out conflict – according to people in major Western nations, at least.

第三次世界大战即将爆发，世界即将面临全面冲突——至少主要西方国家的民众是这样想的。

A new poll shows the public are somewhat gloomy about the future, fearing a “worldwide conflict” is looming.

一项最新调查显示，公众对未来有些悲观，担心 “全球冲突”即将来临。

With superpowers backing different sides in the bloody conflict in Syria, Isis continuing to fight in the Middle East, a spate of terrorist attacks across the globe and Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump both talking a tough game, the YouGov survey of 9,000 people across nine countries found popular opinion thinks world peace has rarely been further away.

由于世界超级大国在叙利亚的血腥冲突中支持不同派别，“伊斯兰国”继续在中东作战，全球各地发生了一系列恐怖袭击，普京和特朗普态度都很强硬，舆观调查公司对9个国家的9000人展开调查发现，公众认为世界和平从未像目前这样脆弱。

People in the US were most likely to predict a world war, while French, German and British people were also pessimistic.

美国人最倾向于认为将爆发世界大战，法国人、德国人和英国人也很悲观。

Some 64 percent of Americans think the world is close to a major war, compared to just 15 who think world peace is likely.

大约64%的美国人认为世界即将爆发大战，只有15%的人认为有可能实现世界和平。

Britons are only slightly more hopeful: 19 percent believe peace is possible but 61 percent say war is a distinct possibility.

英国人也只略微乐观一点：有19%的被调查者认为有可能实现和平，但61%的人认为明显有可能发生战争。

In contrast, people in Nordic countries including Sweden, Finland and Norway were much less inclined to believe the world is on the brink of war. Denmark had the population most cheerful about the prospects of peace: 39 percent of Danes predicted world peace compared to 45 percent forecasting the opposite.

相比之下，北欧国家 Anthony Wells, YouGov’s director of political and social research, said: “Fear seems the highest in the US and France, but for different reasons.

舆观调查公司政治社会调查部主任安东尼-威尔斯说：“美国人和法国人最感到恐惧，但原因不同。”

"American fears perhaps reflect some people’s uncertainly about the impending Trump Presidency.

“美国人的恐惧可能表明有些人对特朗普的任期感到有不确定性。”

“For France, I suspect fears are linked more to the threat of terrorism."

“就法国来说，我觉得恐惧更与恐怖主义威胁有关。”

The same survey revealed people in Europe and America tended to see Russia as a major military threat, with British people the most fearful of Moscow even though other countries polled, such as Finland and Germany, are much closer geographically to the former Soviet Union.

调查还显示，欧洲人和美国人往往把俄罗斯视为主要军事威胁；尽管受调查的芬兰和德国等国家在地理上更靠近俄罗斯，但英国人最惧怕俄罗斯。”

Some 71 percent of Britons feel threatened by Russia, compared to 59 percent of Americans – the lowest of all the countries polled.

约有71%的英国人感觉受到俄罗斯的威胁，这一比例在美国人中为59%，是受调查国家中最低的。

In every nation except Finland, those surveyed thought a terrorist attack in their country was more likely than unlikely in the next year.

除了芬兰，其他受访国家的民众都认为未来一年中本国受到恐怖袭击的可能性大于50%。

French people were most concerned about terrorism, with 81 percent believing an attack would happen compared to just 11 percent predicting there would be none.

法国人最担心恐怖主义，受访者中有81%认为会发生恐怖袭击，只有11%的人认为不会。

An attack was also predicted by a large majority of people in Britain, Germany and the US. In Finland, however, only 26 percent of people forecast a terrorist strike with 63 percent saying such an event was unlikely.

英国、德国、美国受访民众中的大多数也认为会发生恐怖袭击。然而芬兰受访者中仅有26%认为未来将发生恐怖袭击，63%的受访者认为不会发生。