周二的选举清楚地表明，无休止的战争、政治腐败和高昂的生活成本是美国公众最关心的三大问题。这三者紧密相关——新一届国会必须同时解决这三个问题。这需要一场真正的外交政策革命，不仅要应对特朗普政府外交政策的暴行和失败，还要面对过去民主党或民主党支持的外交政策如何导致了今天的危机。一些民主党领导人，无论是在国会内外，都可能倾向于限制变革的范围或步伐。
Tuesday’s election made clear that endless wars, political corruption, and the high cost of living are three of the American public’s top concerns. They are deeply interrelated—and the new Congress must address all three. That will require a true foreign policy revolution that grapples not just with the outrages and failures of the Trump administration’s foreign policy but also with the ways in which past Democratic or Democrat-supported foreign policies have contributed to today’s crisis. There will be a temptation among some Democratic leaders, in Congress and beyond, to limit the scope or pace of change.
但要找到走出当今危机的出路，并超越过去几十年困扰美国外交政策的失败，民主党人将需要有勇气面对一个残酷的真相：唐纳德·特朗普总统的滥用职权和单边发动战争，与其说是对华盛顿军国主义思维的决裂，不如说是这种思维一种特别激进、掠夺性的表达。
But to find a way out of today’s crisis and move beyond the failures that have afflicted American foreign policy for the past several decades, Democrats will need to have the courage to face a hard truth: that President Donald Trump’s abuses of power and unilateral warmaking are not so much a break from Washington’s militarist mindset as they are a particularly aggressive, predatory expression of it.
即将上任的民主党多数派将面临一个国家安全环境，其中对美国安全和繁荣最严峻的挑战来自内部。这就是为什么国会应立即叫停对伊朗的战争，但也必须认识到，只有将外交政策转变与对不断攀升的成本和政治腐败发起正面攻击相结合，才能让美国更加安全。政治极化；政府腐败和机能失调；少数反复无常的寡头对政治和经济生活的日益主导；以及一位鲁莽且单方面发动未经授权的军事干预、同时不懈寻求机会为自己、家人和亲信谋取私利的总统——所有这些对美国人民的安全和繁荣构成的直接危险，胜过任何外国敌人。
The incoming Democratic majority will face a national security environment in which the most severe challenges to U.S. safety and prosperity come from within. That’s why Congress should shut down the Iran war immediately but also recognize that it can make the United States more secure only if it pairs a foreign policy shift with a frontal assault on spiraling costs and political corruption. Political polarization; government corruption and dysfunction; increasing dominance of political and economic life by a small handful of mercurial oligarchs; and a president who recklessly and unilaterally launches unauthorized military interventions while relentlessly seeking opportunities to enrich himself, his family, and his cronies—all pose more immediate danger to the safety and prosperity of the American people than does any foreign enemy.
当民主党在1月接管国会控制权时，他们将拥有相当大的权力来挑战特朗普政府的腐败和渎职行为。对委员会和国会日程的控制将提供急需的监督机会。但尽管特朗普政府理应接受严厉调查，民主党必须志存高远——并利用这一机会为美国外交政策阐述一个真正引人注目的替代方案。
When Democrats take control of Congress in January, they will have considerable power to challenge the corruption and malfeasance of the Trump administration. Control of committees and of the congressional calendar will provide the opportunity for sorely needed oversight. But although the Trump administration deserves aggressive investigation, Democrats must aim higher—and use the opportunity to articulate a genuinely compelling alternative for American foreign policy.
严肃审视 首要且最紧迫的任务将是结束伊朗战争，这是一场鲁莽且不得人心的冲突，随着美国民众在钱包上感受到其影响，这场战争变得更加不得人心。国会必须回应选民中广泛存在的跨党派愤怒，针对特朗普的战争及其滥用战争权力，动用其拥有的所有工具，尤其是削减资金的权力。看到民主党继续反对政府为战争提出的任何补充预算请求，这是令人鼓舞的。
A HARD LOOK The first and most urgent task will be ending the Iran war, a reckless and unpopular conflict that has become even less popular as Americans have felt its effects on their wallets. Congress must respond to widespread bipartisan anger among voters at Trump’s war and abuse of war powers by using all the tools it has, especially its power to cut funding. It has been encouraging to see Democrats continuing to oppose any supplemental budget request by the administration for the war.
这是一个民主党过去曾绊倒的领域——当时他们害怕被指责不“支持军队”，如果他们反对为愚蠢、适得其反的战争提供资金。随着民主党坚决反对为战争提供任何额外资金，那些日子似乎已成过去。这是好事。
It is an area where Democrats have gotten tripped up in the past when they’ve been afraid of accusations that they don’t “support the troops” if they oppose funding for foolish, counterproductive wars. With Democrats having held firm against any additional funding for the war, those days appear to be gone. That is good.
但民主党人需要做得更多。他们应该准备好反对所有军事资金，包括阻止对《国防授权法案》的投票，《国防授权法案》是每年为国防部设定广泛范围和预算的法案，以结束在伊朗的敌对行动。事实上，他们不仅应该愿意扣留五角大楼的资金，还应该愿意扣留整个政府的资金，并威胁再次发生政府停摆，除非该法案禁止为特朗普的战争提供任何资金。
But Democrats need to go further. They should be prepared to oppose all funding for the military, including blocking votes on the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual bill setting out the broad scope and budget for the Defense Department, in order to put an end to hostilities in Iran. In fact, not only should they be willing to withhold funding from the Pentagon, but they should also be willing to withhold funding for the entire government, and threaten another government shutdown if the bill does not prohibit any funding for Trump’s war.
12月11日是继续决议案使政府获得资金并继续运作的最后期限。如果说有什么理由让民主党人威胁要扣留他们的选票，那就是阻止一场明显非法且具有全球破坏性的战争，而美国选民现在已经以压倒性的优势对此表示反对。
December 11 is the deadline for a continuing resolution to keep the government funded and operating. If ever there was a reason for Democrats to threaten to withhold their votes, stopping a blatantly illegal and globally destructive war that American voters have now resoundingly rebuked is it.
民主党人还必须愿意认真审视特朗普使用军事暴力与两党政府过去使用武力以及这种暴力所获得的跨党派支持之间的连续性。伊朗战争的基础是拜登政府对以色列在加沙的种族灭绝不遗余力地支持（甚至一些前政府官员也承认这一点），也是美国多年来拒绝对以色列政府施加任何后果，尽管有明确证据表明其持续侵犯人权和国际法。
Democrats must also be willing to take a hard look at the continuity between Trump’s use of military violence and past uses of force by administrations of both parties, and the bipartisan support for that violence. The groundwork for the Iran war was laid by the Biden administration’s unstinting support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza (as even some former administration officials have acknowledged), but also by years of U.S. refusal to impose any consequences on the Israeli government despite clear evidence of ongoing violations of human rights and international law.
特朗普对被指控的“毒品恐怖分子”在加勒比海的毒品船只的打击，代表了美国长期以来将毒品问题视为一场“战争”的逻辑演变，以及随意使用“恐怖分子”标签来证明包括未经正当程序处决在内的任何措施的合理性。寻求追究这些滥用行为的责任将需要承认共和党和民主党过去的同谋。
Trump’s strikes on alleged “narcoterrorist” drug boats in the Caribbean represent the logical evolution of long-standing treatment of the United States’ drug problem as a “war,” and of casually applying the label of “terrorist” to justify any and all measures, including execution without due process. Seeking accountability for these abuses will require acknowledging the past complicity of both Republicans and Democrats.
民主党人还必须解决腐败问题，这是连接国家国内和外交政策危机的关键节点。这样做，他们将是顺水推舟。民意调查一贯显示，政治腐败是美国人关注的重点。根据《卫报》近期进行的一项哈里斯民意调查，“近十分之九的美国人表示，政府腐败——即当选官员将自身或捐赠者的经济利益置于公众利益之上——是一个问题。”
Democrats must also take on corruption, a key node connecting the country’s domestic and foreign policy crises. In doing so, they will be walking through an open door. Polls consistently show that political corruption is high on Americans’ list of concerns. According to a recent Harris poll conducted for The Guardian, “Nearly nine out of 10 Americans said that government corruption, as defined as elected officials putting their own or their donors’ financial interests ahead of the public’s, is a problem.”
十月中旬的一项CNBC全美经济调查发现，选民对政府腐败的担忧超过了其他任何问题，包括食品杂货和汽油价格高企。九月，盖洛普报道称，“美国人对美国政府腐败的看法达到了20年来的最高水平，89%的美国成年人认为腐败普遍存在。”第一项也是最紧迫的任务将是结束伊朗战争。
A mid-October CNBC All-America Economic Survey found that voters are more concerned about government corruption than any other issue, including high grocery and gas prices. In September, Gallup reported that “Americans’ perceptions of government corruption in the U.S. are at their highest level in 20 years, with 89% of U.S. adults saying it is widespread.”The first and most urgent task will be ending the Iran war.
说特朗普政府为强力反腐运动提供了丰富的打击目标，这简直是重罪级别的轻描淡写。揭露特朗普收受的外国馈赠及其家人的利益冲突，授予特朗普寡头捐赠者和新科技伙伴的合同，以及出售赦免权，同时恢复执行《企业透明法案》、《外国腐败行为法案》及相关工作组的执法，都应包含在计划之内。民主党人应深入调查特朗普极其腐败的“加沙和平委员会”，马里兰州民主党人、即将担任众议院司法委员会主席的美国众议员杰米·拉斯金（Jamie Raskin）恰当地称其为“全球秘密基金”。
To say that the Trump administration provides a target-rich environment for a strong anticorruption push is to commit felony understatement. Exposing foreign gifts to Trump and conflicts of interest by family members, contracts awarded to Trump’s oligarch donors and new tech buddies, and the selling of pardons, as well as restoring enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and related task forces, should all be part of the plan. Democrats should drill down into Trump’s wildly corrupt “Board of Peace” for Gaza, which U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat set to chair the House Judiciary Committee, rightly referred to as a “global slush fund.”
特朗普的外交特使史蒂夫·维特科夫（Steve Witkoff）和贾里德·库什纳（Jared Kushner）明显的利益冲突也需要接受调查。
The obvious conflicts of interests of Trump’s diplomatic envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner also demand investigation.
好消息是，有效的反腐败不一定需要新的立法；它仅仅需要现有立法得到执行。2025年8月发表在《外交事务》上的一篇文章，由我和我的同事凯西·米歇尔（Casey Michel）和特雷弗·萨顿（Trevor Sutton）合著，为民主党将反腐败置于其外交政策平台中心提出了更广泛的论据。（凯西·米歇尔最近的一篇文章为新国会提出了更详细的议程。）
The good news is that effective anticorruption does not necessarily require new legislation; it merely requires that existing legislation be enforced. An August 2025 essay in Foreign Affairs, co-authored with my colleagues Casey Michel and Trevor Sutton, laid out a more expansive case for Democrats putting anticorruption at the center of their foreign policy platform. (A recent essay by Casey Michel lays out a more detailed agenda for the new Congress.) Ultimately, the most important step toward tackling corruption will be reforming the campaign finance system.
最终，解决腐败问题最重要的一步将是改革竞选财务制度。在美国，其竞选财务制度允许基本上是合法化的贿赂，这在发达民主国家中是一个特例。立法者公开谈论竞选捐助者期望从其政治捐款中获得“投资回报”。这令人愤慨。近年来，外国势力越来越多地开始资助美国立法者，利用竞选财务法律中的巨大漏洞以及联邦选举委员会的执法不力。
The United States is an outlier among developed democracies in that its system of campaign finance allows for what is essentially legalized bribery. Legislators speak openly about campaign contributors expecting “returns on investment” for their political donations. This is an outrage. In recent years, foreign actors have increasingly begun bankrolling American legislators, taking advantage of massive loopholes in campaign finance laws and the Federal Election Commission’s lack of enforcement.
应对这一问题将非同小事。至少，国会必须着手立法应对最高法院2010年的“联合公民”（Citizens United）裁决，该裁决实际上为美国企业无限额的竞选资金开了绿灯。它还必须改革联邦选举委员会，为该机构提供急需的资源来调查竞选财务犯罪，并恢复允许国会任命委员的做法，因为该委员会已沦为行政部门的一个附属机构。
Confronting this will be no small task. At a minimum, Congress must move to legislate a response to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which effectively greenlighted bottomless campaign funding from American corporations. It must also reform the Federal Election Commission, providing the body with much-needed resources to investigate campaign finance crimes and restoring the practice of allowing congressional appointments to the commission, which has become little more than an appendage of the executive branch.
迈向新外交政策所有上述步骤都必须与当前美国选民最关心的问题——高昂的生活成本——联系起来。民主党人在几个政策领域存在分歧，尤其是在外交政策方面。他们的联盟是多元化的。但就紧急且积极地解决美国人的物质需求而言，存在共识。这种方法将应对特朗普鲁莽使用关税（同时认识到新自由主义对关税的禁忌已成为过去）、伊朗战争导致汽油价格上涨、恢复全球最低税的必要性、人工智能带来的失业威胁，以及科技寡头对美国人经济和政治生活的日益增长的影响力，包括在外交政策方面，正如埃隆·马斯克限制乌克兰星链连接所表明的那样。该方法应包括一系列策略，包括听证会、监督调查和立法提案。
TOWARD A NEW FOREIGN POLICY All of the above steps must be connected to the top concern among American voters at this moment—the high cost of living. Democrats have disagreements in several policy areas, particularly in foreign policy. Their coalition is diverse. But there is consensus around addressing Americans’ material needs urgently and aggressively. Such an approach would confront Trump’s reckless use of tariffs (while recognizing that the neoliberal taboo on tariffs is a thing of the past), rising gas prices because of the Iran war, the need to restore the global minimum tax, the threat of job losses to AI, and the increased power of tech oligarchs over Americans’ economic and political lives, including on foreign policy, as Elon Musk’s restriction of Ukraine’s Starlink connection demonstrated. The approach should involve a mix of tactics, including hearings, oversight investigations, and legislative proposals.
其中许多努力在未来两年内可能不会产生新法律。但它们可能成为国会和2029年民主党政府赢得胜利议程的支柱。最重要的是，它们将代表朝着形成新的美国政治共识迈出的一步，在此基础上可以建立一项新的、持久的外交政策。您正在阅读《外交事务》的免费文章，以获取无限访问权限。
Many of these efforts may not produce new laws in the next two years. But they could become the backbone of a winning agenda for Congress and for a Democratic administration in 2029. Most important, they would represent a step toward the forging of a new American political consensus on which a new and durable foreign policy can be built. You are reading a free article to Foreign Affairs to get unlimited access.
免费阅读新文章和百年档案，每年六期印刷版和在线版，以及音频文章，解锁《外交事务》应用程序的移动阅读功能，已订阅？
Paywall-free reading of new articles and over a century of archives Six issues a year in print and online, plus audio articles Unlock access to the Foreign Affairs app for reading on the go Already a subscriber?