Why is America so alarmed by Brexit? Lest the reader be in doubt, remind yourself of this. Never before has a sitting US president visited a fellow democracy in a bid to sway an election. Nor, until now, have 13 former US secretaries of state and defence risked addressing a letter to a foreign electorate with the same motive. Ditto eight former Treasury secretaries and five former supreme commanders of Nato. Not only has the US establishment broken its non-interference rule over Brexit, it is stamping on its smithereens. If we did not know better, it might seem the UK was uniquely important to the future of the world.
美国为什么对英国退欧如此惊慌？为避免读者生疑，提醒你自己这一点。在此之前，从未有过在任美国总统为影响一场投票而出访兄弟民主国家，也从未有过13名美国前国务卿和国防部长以同样动机冒险给外国选民写信。这样做的还有8名前财政部长以及5名北约(Nato)前最高指挥官。美国的体制内人士不仅在英国退欧问题上打破了不干涉原则，还在上面踩上一脚。如果我们不懂的话，我们还以为英国真的对世界的未来具有独特的重要性。