天鹅套索

近日，美以之间的“口角”很有意思。

二 | 美国总统拜登称，以军若攻拉法，美国将暂停对以军援。    

    Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT
Recent media reports have questioned whether a natural gas plant built to power an Amazon data center project in Texas could become the largest climate polluter in the US. The controversy, whatever the eventual outcome, offers a reality check for America's artificial intelligence (AI) drive. 
It exposes a growing contradiction: The US is racing to expand its AI capabilities, yet its protectionist trade policies are making it harder and more costly to access some of the clean-energy technologies needed to sustain that expansion. This raises a broader question: Can an energy-intensive AI race afford the costs of renewable energy protectionism?
The US is entering a new era of rising electricity demand. Data centers, the backbone of the AI economy, are emerging as one of the fastest-growing sources of power consumption. Much of that demand is still being met by fossil fuels: The International Energy Agency reports that natural gas supplies more than 40 percent of the electricity used by data centers in the US, making it their largest source of power. 
So, it's not surprising that the expansion of data centers has raised concerns over their environmental impact and the pressure they could place on local power systems and electricity bills. A Gallup survey conducted in March found that seven in 10 Americans opposed the construction of AI data centers in their local area, including 48 percent who strongly opposed such projects.
The findings point to a broader challenge for the US: The race to develop AI is increasingly becoming a race to meet growing energy needs. Addressing this challenge will require more than advances in computing technology; it will also depend on an energy system capable of delivering large amounts of reliable, affordable and cleaner power. That, in turn, will require faster development and broader deployment of clean-energy technologies, from solar power to energy storage.
Yet in the clean-energy sector, the US has increasingly relied on protectionist trade measures that limit access to cost-competitive products from global markets. The country has placed greater emphasis on expanding domestic manufacturing capacity, but rebuilding entire clean-energy supply chains at home is a costly and time-consuming process. Even if expanded domestic production is achieved, it is likely to come at a higher cost, making the deployment of renewable technologies more expensive and potentially slower.
The solar industry offers a clear illustration of this policy direction. The US has continued to expand trade barriers in the sector. Reuters reported that the US government announced on Thursday a series of price floors and a 15 percent tariff on products made from polysilicon, a raw material used in solar panels.
The challenge lies in the limited scale of the US polysilicon industry. Reuters reported that the country has two polysilicon factories. Against this backdrop, relying on domestic polysilicon production while restricting access to imports runs counter to the goal of expanding solar power in the US. The country risks creating barriers that ultimately constrain its own access to the global supply chains needed for growth.
The pressing issue for the US is the speed at which new power demand is emerging. The expansion of data centers is creating electricity needs that cannot wait for domestic clean-energy capacity to develop gradually. Global supply chains can provide the scale and speed required in the near term. By narrowing access to these sources, the US risks turning clean-energy policy into a drag on the infrastructure needed for its AI race.
The US has placed AI high on its economic and technological agenda. The outcome of this race will matter greatly, as financial markets are also watching whether America can turn its AI efforts into commercial success.
This leaves the US with a difficult choice: Can it afford the cost of clean-energy protectionism while racing to build AI infrastructure? The answer may be no. Trade barriers that limit access to competitive renewable technologies could ultimately become a constraint on the AI expansion that Washington is seeking to accelerate.
The author is a reporter with the Global Times. [email protected]

。以色列总理内塔尼亚胡随即回应：即便用指甲，以色列也要打下去。

而以色列驻美国大使赫尔佐格明确指出，拜登言论“向哈马斯和以色列的地区敌人发出了错误信号”。以色列舆论界甚至向美国提出四个“必须”：美国必须重新评估目前的做法，并考虑其外交政策将带来更广泛的后果；美国必须澄清立场，使其战略目标与加沙冲突现状协调一致；美国必须向以色列提供军援，而且必须清晰、持续地发出与以色列团结一致的信号。有以色列媒体认为，美国继续军援可以向世人证明，与美国结盟不用担心美国内部政治风向变化，相互支持原则是同盟基础，对这一原则的任何偏离将带来无法预计的战场后果。

三 |

这样的措辞不像提要求，更像“教训”美国。而且，并不令人意外的是，美国听从了这一“教训”。有以色列媒体称，美国认为“有理由对以色列违反国际法的行为作出评估，但不会停止军援”。

如何看待这一似乎不可思议却又屡见不鲜的套路？一个基本共识是，美国存在强大的犹太院外集团，操控了美国参众两院。然而，至少还有两个原因。

第一，以色列知道，美国的批评只是做戏。

四 | 做给国际看——美国还是讲人道主义的，做给国内看——民主党还是考虑阿拉伯裔选民感情的。但主要是做给大选年国内选民看，一旦大选结束，执政者无论是谁，护以援以必将一如既往。一般来说，以色列不会对美国的批评言论过多关注，但如美国演戏过头，尤其站在道德高地指责以色列时，以色列也会适度提醒美国：咱谁也别装高尚。

五 | 这回美国指责以色列涉嫌杀戮过甚，以色列反问，二战时盟军德累斯顿大轰炸是怎么回事？以色列深知美国舍卒保车、出卖盟友的历史，所以会适时以此敲打美国。

第二，以色列敢于强硬对美，源于两国彼此成全，彼此依赖，形成了一个共生体。一方面，以色列凭借美国援助，占领大片阿拉伯领土；另一方面，正是以色列在军事上压倒阿拉伯对手，使美国得以将冷战对手苏联挤出中东，成就了美国的中东霸主地位。

今天的美以口角与1981年的一幕异曲同工，只是当年更为劲爆。1981年以色列议会通过戈兰高地法案，旨在永久占领在1967年夺取的这一叙利亚国土。美国为了显示公正，表示要“惩罚”一下以色列。所谓“惩罚”也就是暂停军售之类，但利库德集团首任主席、时任以色列总理贝京立即召见美国大使，当面宣读声明：“惩罚以色列，这话什么意思？难道我们是美国的仆从国？难道我们是香蕉共和国？难道我们只是14岁的少年，因行为不当而要挨巴掌？美国无权‘惩罚以色列’，我尤其要对这一措辞提出抗议。”他还意味深长地说，以色列只是向美国要求军事援助，并未要求美军为以色列流血。话没到，意思到了：正是以色列军人流血，成就了美国的中东地位。