Five years ago, the Chinese housing market crashed(崩溃，暴跌), leaving thousands of apartment buildings unfinished across the country. A generation of Chinese citizens who had bet all their savings on(把全部积蓄押注在) indefinite expansion suddenly found themselves homeless. Over time, however, some intrepid(勇敢的，无畏的) people moved into the ruins of these edifices, setting up tents on the concrete floors, using bed sheets as walls, cooking on makeshift(临时的，权宜的) stoves. The Chinese call these abandoned structures lanwei lou, a phrase that literally means “rotten-tail buildings,” signifying a project gone awry, a plan in suspension. The inhabitants of rotten-tail buildings repurpose the old and improvise to find a way of surviving an economic storm.
五年前，中国房地产市场崩盘，全国数千栋公寓楼烂尾。一代中国公民把毕生积蓄押注在无限扩张上，却突然发现自己无家可归。然而，随着时间的推移，一些勇敢的人搬进了这些建筑的废墟，在水泥地上搭起帐篷，用床单当墙壁，用简易炉灶做饭。中国人称这些废弃建筑为“烂尾楼”，字面意思是“腐烂尾巴的建筑”，象征着项目失败、计划搁置。烂尾楼的居民改造旧物，即兴发挥，寻找在经济风暴中生存的办法。
The state of the Chinese housing market is a good metaphor(隐喻，比喻) for the U.S.-led rules-based international order(基于规则的国际秩序). After decades of expansion, it, too, is being abandoned. Never fully accepted by China and Russia and resented by newly assertive middle powers, its main financial backers—the American people—have lost interest in underwriting its further development.(由于中俄从未完全接受，新兴中等强国也心怀不满，其主要财政支持者美国人民已失去兴趣。) And as in the case of China’s failed housing projects, no alternative provider is stepping in to take over.
中国房地产市场的状况是美国主导的基于规则的国际秩序的一个很好的隐喻。经过数十年的扩张，它也在被抛弃。中国和俄罗斯从未完全接受它，新近自信的中等强国也怨恨它，它的主要财政支持者——美国人民——已经失去为其进一步发展提供资金的兴趣。就像中国失败的地产项目一样，没有替代者介入接管。
A rotten-tail world is emerging, one in which states will have to adapt cunningly(巧妙地，狡猾地), improvise new uses for elements of the old order that remain valuable, and adjust swiftly to the dramatic decay of others. But too many leaders still act as if the old order can somehow be salvaged(抢救，打捞) or even perfected. The UN General Assembly still meets every year, despite being increasingly sidelined from diplomatic efforts. The World Trade Organization carries on(继续进行) adjudicating(裁决，审判) trade disputes, despite a surge in protectionism. UN climate change conferences convene(召集，开会) to chart an increasingly hopeless path to net-zero emissions(净零排放). International working groups still meet to discuss grand plans for a two-state solution(两国方案，解决巴以冲突的设想), even as the Middle East burns.
一个烂尾楼式的世界正在出现，在这个世界里，各国必须巧妙地适应，为旧秩序中仍有价值的元素即兴创造新用途，并迅速适应其他元素的急剧衰败。但太多领导人仍然表现得好像旧秩序可以以某种方式被挽救甚至完善。联合国大会仍然每年举行，尽管在外交努力中越来越被边缘化。世界贸易组织继续裁决贸易争端，尽管保护主义抬头。联合国气候变化会议召开，规划一条越来越无望的净零排放之路。国际工作组仍然开会讨论两国方案的宏伟计划，即使中东正在燃烧。
REALITY CHECK
现实检验
A WORLD IN PIECES
破碎的世界
OUT OF CONTROL
失控
THE BIG SQUEEZE
大挤压
GET REAL
面对现实
