Yet, for all the anticipation of having a multilateralist in the White House, the Asian establishment is more wary of an Obama presidency than one might guess. Some criticise President George W. Bush's Iraqi misadventure as imperial overreach and mock his administration's fiscal incontinence. But many countries have learnt to live with – even to like – the Bush administration.
不过，尽管期待着多边主义者入主白宫(White House)，但对于奥巴马出任总统，亚洲社会比人们想象的更为谨慎。有人批评乔治•布什(George W. Bush)在伊拉克的挫败是帝国弩末(imperial overreach)，并嘲笑布什政府在财政上没有节制。但许多国家已经学会忍受——甚至是喜欢——布什政府。
In New Delhi, Mr Bush was almost revered for clinching the US-India civil nuclear deal. In Beijing there was appreciation of his pragmatism as early rhetoric about China being a strategic competitor gave way to an alliance based on mutual interest. In Tokyo, Junichiro Koizumi, prime minister for five and a half years of the Bush presidency, gained much political mileage (plus, admittedly, a little derision) by portraying himself as the US president's buddy-in-chief.
在新德里，因为敲定美印民用核协议，布什近乎受到崇敬。在北京，随着中国是战略竞争对手的早期言辞让位于基于共同利益的联盟，他的实用主义受到赞赏。在东京，由于将自己描绘成美国总统的主要伙伴，小泉纯一郎(Junichiro Koizumi)获得了许多政治加分（不可否认，还有一点嘲笑）——在布什担任美国总统期间，小泉任日本首相达5年半之久。
For Asia's generally conservative elite, a Democrat in the White House, particularly one promising change – that is, messing with the status quo – brings the potential bother of having to recalibrate their US relationship. Historically, Asian leaders have felt less comfortable with Democrats than Republicans. Mao Zedong once told Richard Nixon, the Republican who broke the ideological standoff with China: “I like to deal with rightists. They say what they really think.”
对于亚洲总体保守的精英人士来说，民主党人入主白宫，尤其是一个承诺变革——即打乱现状——的民主党人，可能会迫使他们必须调整与美国的关系。历史上，亚洲领导人感到与民主党人相处不如与共和党人相处自在。毛泽东曾告诉打破中美意识形态僵局的共和党人理查德•尼克松(Richard Nixon)：“我喜欢与右派打交道。他们说的就是他们所想的。”