On November 19 1919, the US Senate repudiated the Versailles Treaty. With that decision, the US withdrew its might from maintaining what had been agreed in the aftermath of the first world war, leaving this task to the British and French, who lacked both the will and the means to do so. The second world war followed. After that conflict, the US played a far more productive role. Today, the world is still in many ways the one the US made. But for how much longer will that be the case? And what might follow it? The outcome of the next presidential election might answer these questions, not just decisively, but, alas, very badly.
1919年11月19日，美国参议院否决了《凡尔赛条约》(Versailles Treaty)。通过这样的决定，美国撤回了自己的力量，不再维护第一次世界大战之后形成的共识，而是将这一任务留给了英国和法国，但后两者都缺乏这样做的意愿和手段。随后发生了第二次世界大战。二战之后，美国扮演了更有建树的角色。如今，世界在很多方面仍是由美国创造的那个世界。但这还会持续多久？之后又会怎样？下一届美国总统选举的结果可能会回答这些问题，答案不仅是决定性的，而且会非常糟糕。