Luo Ji, like the entire assembly, had been listening to the secretary general’s speech with rapt attention, and he held his breath for the announcement of the list of names. He wanted to find out what sort of person would be tasked with this unimaginable mission. His own fate was completely forgotten for the time being, because nothing that could happen to him would amount to more than a speck when measured against this historic moment.

羅輯被秘書(shū)長(zhǎng)的講話深深吸引了，同所有與會(huì)者一樣，他屏住呼吸等待著名單的公布，想知道將是什么人承擔(dān)這不可思議的使命，一時(shí)間，他把自己的命運(yùn)完全拋在腦后，因?yàn)榕c這歷史性的時(shí)刻相比，自己不管發(fā)生什么都是微不足道的。

“The First Wallfacer: Frederick Tyler.”

When the secretary general uttered his name, Tyler stood up from his seat in the first row and walked with deliberate steps up to the rostrum, where he looked down at the assembly without expression. There was no applause as everyone sat in silence and stared at the First Wallfacer. Tyler’s tall, thin body and square-framed glasses were well known across the world. The recently retired US secretary of defense, he had exerted a deep influence on his country’s national strategy. His ideological focus was expressed in a book titled The Truth of Technology, in which he argued that small countries are the ultimate beneficiaries of technology, and that the unstinting efforts toward technological development on the part of larger countries was in fact paving the way for world dominance by the smaller ones. This was because technological progress rendered the population and resource advantages of larger countries unimportant, but provided small countries with leverage to move the world. One consequence of nuclear technology was that it allowed a country of just a few million people to pose a substantial threat to one with a hundred million, something that at one time had been practically impossible. One of his key points was that the advantages of a large country were only truly advantageous in low-technology eras and would ultimately be weakened by the swift pace of technological progress, which would meanwhile enhance the strategic weight of small countries. Some might experience a sudden rise, gaining world dominance like Spain and Portugal once did. There was no question that Tyler’s thinking provided a theoretic foundation for the United States’ global war on terror. But he was not just a strategist. He was also a man of action, and on multiple occasions had won popular acclaim for demonstrating courage and foresight in the face of major threats. Hence, as far as both the depth of his thinking and his leadership were concerned, Tyler made a worthy Wallfacer.

第一位面壁者：弗里德里克泰勒。秘書(shū)長(zhǎng)的話音剛落，泰勒從第一排座位上站了起來(lái)，步伐從容地走上主席臺(tái)，目無(wú)表情地面對(duì)會(huì)場(chǎng)，沒(méi)有掌聲，所有人只是在一片寂靜中把目光聚焦到第一位面壁者身上。泰勒身材瘦長(zhǎng)，戴著寬框眼鏡，這個(gè)形象早已為全世界熟悉。他是剛剛卸任的美國(guó)國(guó)防部長(zhǎng)，是一個(gè)對(duì)美國(guó)國(guó)家戰(zhàn)略產(chǎn)生深刻影響的人。他的思想集中體現(xiàn)在一本名叫《技術(shù)的真相》的著作中，泰勒認(rèn)為，技術(shù)的最終受益者將是小國(guó)家。大國(guó)不遺余力發(fā)展技術(shù)，實(shí)際上是為小國(guó)通向世界霸權(quán)鋪下基石。因?yàn)殡S著技術(shù)的發(fā)展，大國(guó)所擁有的人口和資源優(yōu)勢(shì)將不再重要，而技術(shù)對(duì)小國(guó)而言是一個(gè)可能撬動(dòng)地球的杠桿。核技術(shù)的后果之一就是使一個(gè)人口只有幾百萬(wàn)的小國(guó)有可能對(duì)一個(gè)人口過(guò)億的大國(guó)產(chǎn)生實(shí)質(zhì)性威脅，而在核技術(shù)出現(xiàn)之前，這幾乎是不可能的。泰勒的一個(gè)重要論點(diǎn)是：大國(guó)的優(yōu)勢(shì)，其實(shí)只有在低技術(shù)時(shí)代才是真正的優(yōu)勢(shì)，技術(shù)的飛速發(fā)展最終將削弱大國(guó)的優(yōu)勢(shì)，同時(shí)提升小國(guó)的戰(zhàn)略分量，有可能使得某些小周突然崛起，像當(dāng)年的西班牙和葡萄牙那樣取得世界霸權(quán)。

泰勒的思想，無(wú)疑為美國(guó)的全球反恐戰(zhàn)略提供了理論基礎(chǔ)。泰勒不僅是一個(gè)戰(zhàn)略理論家，同時(shí)也是一個(gè)行動(dòng)的巨人，他在處理多次重大危機(jī)時(shí)所表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的果敢和遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn)，贏得了廣泛的贊譽(yù)。所以，無(wú)論在思想的深度還是領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的能力上，泰勒作為面壁者是當(dāng)之無(wú)愧的。

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rapt：adj.全神貫注的;專(zhuān)心致志的

hold one's breath： 屏住呼吸

task：

n.任務(wù)

vt.交給某人(任務(wù));派給某人(工作)

for the time bing： 目前;暫時(shí)

amount to： 等同;接近;總計(jì)

speck： n.斑點(diǎn);小點(diǎn);污點(diǎn)

utter：

vt.說(shuō);出聲;講

adj.徹底的;完全的;十足的

deliberate：

adj.故意的;蓄意的;存心的;不慌不忙的;小心翼翼的;從容不迫的

v.仔細(xì)考慮;深思熟慮;反復(fù)思考

rostrum： n.主席臺(tái);講壇;指揮臺(tái);領(lǐng)獎(jiǎng)臺(tái)

applause： n.掌聲;鼓掌;喝彩

exert： vt.發(fā)揮;施加;行使;運(yùn)用;努力;竭力

strategy： n.策略;計(jì)策;行動(dòng)計(jì)劃;策劃;規(guī)劃;部署;統(tǒng)籌安排;戰(zhàn)略;戰(zhàn)略部署

ideological： adj.思想體系的;意識(shí)形態(tài)的;觀念形態(tài)的

ultimate：

adj.最后的;最終的;終極的;極端的;最好(或壞、偉大、重要等)的;根本的;基本的;基礎(chǔ)性的

n.最好(或先進(jìn)、偉大等)的事物;極品;精華

beneficiary： n.受益人;受益者;受惠人;遺產(chǎn)繼承人

unstinting： adj.毫不吝嗇的;慷慨的;無(wú)限的;大方的

stint：

v.吝嗇;吝惜;節(jié)省

n.從事某項(xiàng)工作(或活動(dòng))的時(shí)間

on the part of： 就……而言

pave the way for： 為……鋪路

dominance： n.支配地位;支配;控制

dominate：v.支配;控制;左右;影響;在…中擁有最重要的位置

render：

vt.提供;使成為;使變得;使處于某狀態(tài);給予;回報(bào);遞交;呈獻(xiàn);提交

v.提供;給予;提交;翻譯;表達(dá);（用不同的語(yǔ)言）表達(dá);粉刷;將（脂肪）熬成油

n.粉刷;(墻壁的)初涂;抹灰;精制油

leverage：

n.影響力;杠桿作用;杠桿效力

v.舉債經(jīng)營(yíng);借貸收購(gòu)

substantial：

adj.大量的;價(jià)值巨大的;重大的;大而堅(jiān)固的;結(jié)實(shí)的;牢固的

n.本質(zhì);重要材料

pose a substantial threat to 對(duì)……造成巨大威脅

pose a threat to 對(duì)……構(gòu)成威脅;造成威脅;構(gòu)成威脅;成為...的威脅

at one time： 一度;曾經(jīng)

advantageous： adj.有利的;有好處的

enhance： vt.增強(qiáng);提高;增進(jìn)

terror： n.恐怖;恐懼;驚恐;驚駭;可怕的人;恐怖的事

multiple：

n.倍數(shù)

adj.數(shù)量多的;多種多樣的

acclaim：

vt.宣稱(chēng);稱(chēng)譽(yù)某人 / 事物(為…);給予高度評(píng)價(jià)

n.(尤指對(duì)藝術(shù)成就的)稱(chēng)譽(yù)，高度評(píng)價(jià)

demonstrate： v.證明;證實(shí);論證;說(shuō)明;表達(dá);表露;表現(xiàn);顯露;示范;演示;集會(huì)示威

foresight： n.遠(yuǎn)見(jiàn);先見(jiàn)之明;深謀遠(yuǎn)慮

hence： adv.因此;由此

as far as … be concerned：就……而言