本週封面故事|美國的轉變聯盟：全球的清算

寫在前面

重點單詞、片語以及固定搭配：

ambiguous-模稜兩可的，模糊的

authentic-可靠的，可信的

inevitable-不可避免的

exaggeration-誇張

imperium-帝國

overtones-暗示或含義

deter-阻止或威懾

come to fear-開始擔心

face checks and balances-面臨制衡

fight alongside-與某人並肩作戰

dawning realisation-逐漸意識到

mutually beneficial-相互有益

take out frustration on-在某物上發洩憤怒

try to deter mutual harm-嘗試防止相互傷害

without provoking-不至於引發

Cover Story封面故事How we chose this week’s image我們如何選擇本週的圖片

This week we have one worldwide cover. That is only fitting because our theme is America and its allies and you can hardly get more global than that.

As Donald Trump strong-arms allies and seeks deals with adversaries, Western leaders have come to fear that America First means they come second, third or even last. To deal with this, they need a better plan than to offer flattery and concessions.

We have a bald eagle standing guard over an assortment of shredded allied flags, including the maple leaf from Mr Trump’s cherished 51st state. The 40-odd countries that have put their security in America’s hands since 1945 are suffering a crisis of confidence. At home, Mr Trump faces checks and balances. Abroad, much less so. Are the allies certain Mr Trump would fight alongside them if the worst happened? Unfortunately, the answer is: not certain enough.

This image might work—if we replaced the Union Jack with colours from European Union countries and Asia. But it depicts an alliance structure that has been utterly destroyed. Even in coverland, where hyperbole rules, that is an exaggeration.

We have zoomed in on the tell-tale evidence of some recent alliance-shredding. America’s allies have a dawning realisation that coercing them is an inevitable consequence of MAGA’s agenda. For decades Canada, Europe and parts of Asia have trusted America’s “superpower stack”—defence treaties, trade deals, nuclear weapons, the dollar banking system—because it is mutually beneficial. Tragically, Mr Trump sees it as a liability.

This depiction of a sharp-toothed imperium gets across the sense of shock at Mr Trump’s conduct. America’s aggressive turn is so extreme and unfamiliar that it is tempting to deny it is happening or to assume that the president must be bluffing.

But America dentata has some very unfortunate overtones. It also focuses entirely on the United States, whereas our editorial is about how the world should respond. We wanted something that pointed away from America.

That led us to these two ideas, of a bronco kicking the world out of the arena and a presidential fist taking out its frustration on a stress globe.

Only a month ago, images like these would have been unthinkable. However, foreign firms are being bullied to shift capital to America. Some White House advisers want reciprocal tariffs. Wall Street talks of schemes to depress the dollar. Elon Musk says America should quit NATO. And Asian allies worry that Mr Trump will soon turn on them.

We have flipped the wild horse so that the image reads from left to right. This is wonderfully fresh. Rodeo is chaotic and violent, as well as being an authentically American-first experience—a bit like being on the receiving end of one of Mr Trump’s threatened tariffs.

However, our colleagues versed in equitation told us that this cover breaks the laws of horsey physics. No way did this bronco kick this object in this direction.

That took us here. The violence is less explicit, but the bulging world nicely gets at the unintended consequences of Mr Trump’s aggression. A trade war designed to make America rich again is panicking financial markets. Even as Mr Trump successfully squeezes Ukraine for concessions, he has gravely weakened faith in NATO.

Our argument is that America’s allies should try to deter mutual harm by identifying unconventional retaliatory measures, without provoking a 1930s-style downward spiral. They could use their choke-points in trade. Hidden in the semiconductor-production chain are crucial suppliers to America’s tech giants. As an insurance policy, the allies will have to build up their own economic and military infrastructure in parallel to America’s superpower stack.

We did a little more work on this cover. The hand was too young: more J.D. Vance than an angry 78-year-old. Scotland bulged oddly large. And the headline, taken literally, suggested that our stress globe was the solution rather than the problem. When the world is going mad, precision matters.

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