Along the new frontier, the contest will not be about claiming new territory. Except for a few disputed tracts, mostly on the seafloor and including the North Pole itself, the Arctic's borders are settled. Instead nations and corporations are now seeking a share of trillions of dollars' worth of minerals -- including gold, diamonds, and rare earth metals -- petroleum, natural gas, and fish, as well as access to potentially cost-saving new shipping lanes.
在这片土地上，人们不再为占领领土而竞争。除了少部分关于海底和北极点的竞争，北极的边界线是很分明的。除了各个国家和公司都在寻找的价值万金的矿藏--包括金子、钻石还有稀有金属--石油、天然气、鱼种，以及也许可以帮助节省大量开支的新的航线。
Retreating ice has been followed, in some places, by heavy investment. Russia and Norway have been the most active Arctic nations, spending billions over the past decade on natural gas and oil infrastructure, deep-water ports, and ships capable of navigating the Arctic Ocean's still-icy waters. Meanwhile China has sought its own footholds in the region, backing Russian gas projects and offering development loans to other Arctic nations. The Chinese also are building their own fleet of icebreakers, a clear bet on the future by a nation that lies more than 2,500 miles south of the pole.
在一些地区，消退的北极冰川让人们追加了大量投资。其中俄罗斯和挪威是表现得最积极的北极国家，在过去十年他们花了数十亿来建造天然气和石油探测设备、深海港口以及可以在北冰洋的冻水中行驶的船。其中中国也找到了自己的事做，他们支持俄罗斯的天然气工程，还给其他的北极国家提供开发贷款。中国人还有自己的破冰船舰队，这个位于北极以南2500英里的国家对未来下了一个清晰的赌注。
By contrast, most Western nations, including Canada and the United States, which together control nearly half the Arctic coastline, have virtually ignored the north. The U.S. has five functioning icebreakers (compared with Russia's 51) and no deep-water ports north of the Arctic Circle. That disequilibrium has, in turn, been dogged by a creeping tension, and the new frontier narrative has been accompanied by one of looming conflict, even the possibility of a new Cold War. These fears, finally felt in the U.S., were the real reason behind Pompeo's appearance at the Arctic Council.
相比之下，大部分西方国家，包括加拿大和美国，虽然控制了北冰洋将近一半的海岸线，他们却几乎无视了这里。美国在北极圈有5艘可用的破冰船（对比俄罗斯的51艘），在北极圈以北也没有深水港。这种差异造成了一种可怕的紧张感，最新传回来的消息也隐隐含着冲突，甚至预测了新一轮冷战的可能性。这些恐惧最终传到了美国人那里，这才是蓬佩奥出现在北极理事会的真正原因。
"The region has become an arena for power and for competition, and the eight Arctic states must adapt to this new future," he said. "We're entering a new age of strategic engagement … complete with new threats to the Arctic and its real estate, and to all of our interests in that region."
“这里已经变成权力的竞技场。8个北极国家应该尽快适应新的局面”，他说。“我们正在进入一个战略契约的新时代...终结对北极和在该地区的所有人的利益的威胁。”
The problem, of course, was that if Pompeo wanted to think of the Arctic as an arena, presumably where a race might be run, some nations already had a solid head start.
问题当然就在于蓬佩奥是否想把北极当作一个竞技场，因为可能马上就要开展一场竞赛，毕竟有的国家已经一开始就稳住了局势。
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