PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, General Caslen, for that introduction. General Trainor, General Clarke, faculty and staff at West Point, you have been outstanding stewards of this proud institution and outstanding mentors for the newest officers in the United States Army.

I’d like to acknowledge the Army’s leadership -- General McHugh -- Secretary McHugh, General Odierno, as well as Senator Jack Reed who is here and a proud graduate of West Point himself. To the class of 2014, I congratulate you on taking your place on the Long Gray Line.

Among you is the first all-female command team: Erin Mauldin and Austen Boroff. In Calla Glavin, you have a Rhodes Scholar, and Josh Herbeck proves that West Point accuracy extends beyond the three point line. (Laughter.)

To the entire class, let me reassure you in these final hours at West Point, as commander in chief, I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. (Laughter, applause.)

Let me just say that nobody ever did that for me when I was in school.

I know you join me in extending a word of thanks to your families. Joe DeMoss, whose son James is graduating, spoke for a whole lot of parents when he wrote me a letter about the sacrifices you’ve made. “Deep inside,” he wrote, “we want to explode with pride at what they are committing to do in the service of our country.” Like several graduates, James is a combat veteran, and I would ask all of us here today to stand and pay tribute not only to the veterans among us, but to the more than 2.5 million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their families. (Applause.)

It is a particularly useful time for America to reflect on those who’ve sacrificed so much for our freedom, a few days after Memorial Day. You are the first class to graduate since 9/11 who may not be sent into combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. (Cheers, applause.)

When I first spoke at West Point in 2009, we still had more than 100,000 troops in Iraq. We were preparing to surge in Afghanistan. Our counterterrorism efforts were focused on al-Qaida’s core leadership -- those who had carried out the 9/11 attacks. And our nation was just beginning a long climb out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Four and a half years later, as you graduate, the landscape has changed. We have removed our troops from Iraq. We are winding down our war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida’s leadership on the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been decimated, and Osama bin Laden is no more. (Cheers, applause.) And through it all, we’ve refocused our investments in what has always been a key source of American strength: a growing economy that can provide opportunity for everybody who’s willing to work hard and take responsibility here at home.

In fact, by most measures America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world. Those who argue otherwise -- who suggest that America is in decline or has seen its global leadership slip away -- are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics.

Think about it. Our military has no peer. The odds of a direct threat against us by any nation are low, and do not come close to the dangers we faced during the Cold War. Meanwhile, our economy remains the most dynamic on Earth, our businesses the most innovative. Each year, we grow more energy independent. From Europe to Asia, we are the hub of alliances unrivaled in the history of nations.

America continues to attract striving immigrants. The values of our founding inspire leaders in parliaments and new movements in public squares around the globe. And when a typhoon hits the Philippines, or schoolgirls are kidnapped in Nigeria, or masked men occupy a building in Ukraine, it is America that the world looks to for help. (Applause.) So the United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century past, and it will be true for the century to come.

But the world is changing with accelerating speed. This presents opportunity, but also new dangers. We know all too well, after 9/11, just how technology and globalization has put power once reserved for states in the hands of individuals, raising the capacity of terrorists to do harm.

Russia’s aggression towards former Soviet states unnerves capitals in Europe while China’s economic rise and military reach worries its neighbors.

From Brazil to India, rising middle classes compete with us, and governments seek a greater say in global forums. And even as developing nations embrace democracy and market economies, 24-hour news and social media makes it impossible to ignore the continuation of sectarian conflicts, failing states and popular uprisings that might have received only passing notice a generation ago.

It will be your generation’s task to respond to this new world. The question we face, the question each of you will face, is not whether America will lead but how we will lead, not just to secure our peace and prosperity but also extend peace and prosperity around the globe.

Now, this question isn’t new. At least since George Washington served as commander in chief, there have been those who warned against foreign entanglements that do not touch directly on our security or economic well-being.

Today, according to self-described realists, conflicts in Syria or Ukraine or the Central African Republic are not ours to solve. And not surprisingly, after costly wars and continuing challenges here at home, that view is shared by many Americans.

A different view, from interventionists from the left and right, says that we ignore these conflicts at our own peril, that America’s willingness to apply force around the world is the ultimate safeguard against chaos, and America’s failure to act in the face of Syrian brutality or Russian provocations not only violates our conscience, but invites escalating aggression in the future.

And each side can point to history to support its claims, but I believe neither view fully speaks to the demands of this moment. It is absolutely true that in the 21st century, American isolationism is not an option. We don’t have a choice to ignore what happens beyond our borders. If nuclear materials are not secure, that poses a danger to American citizens.

   美國總統奧巴馬：謝謝！非常感謝！謝謝！謝謝卡斯蘭將軍的介紹！特雷納將軍、克拉克將軍、西點軍校的教職工們，你們一直以來都是這所令人自豪的學府的優秀管理者，也是美國陸軍新晉軍官的杰出導師。

我要向陸軍領導層表示感謝，包括陸軍部長麥克休將軍以及參謀長奧迪耶諾將軍，同時也要感謝到場的杰克?里德參議員，他是西點軍校引以為榮的畢業生之一。2014級的畢業生們，祝賀你們承接了西點軍魂的使命。

   在你們當中，有美國首支女子指揮團隊，包括艾琳?墨登和奧斯丁?波洛夫?？ɡ?格萊文展現了一位羅茲學者的風采，而喬希?赫貝克則證明了西點的精準度遠在三分線之外。（笑聲）

   全體學員們，請安心度過你們在西點的最后時光，我以最高統帥的名義在此赦免所有因犯輕罪而關禁閉的學員。（笑聲、掌聲）

   容我說一句，我當學生的時候，可從未有人這么做過。

   我知道，你們和我一樣都要向自己的家人表示感謝。喬?狄摩斯是本屆畢業生詹姆斯的父親，他給我來信講訴你們所作出的犧牲，也道出了許多父母的心聲。他寫道：“在我們的內心深處，我們為他們立志報效國家而感到無比自豪?！焙投辔划厴I生一樣，詹姆斯也是位戰場老兵。我請今天在座的各位起立，向我們當中的老兵，也向250多萬曾在伊拉克和阿富汗服役的美國人及其家屬致敬。（掌聲）

   這是繼數天前陣亡將士紀念日后的又一個極有意義的時刻，讓美國人民得以回想那些為我們的自由作出巨大犧牲的英雄。你們將是自911恐怖襲擊以來，第一屆不會被派到伊拉克或阿富汗參戰的畢業生。（歡呼聲、掌聲）

   2009年，我首次在西點發表演講時，我們仍有10萬多名士兵駐扎在伊拉克，也正準備增兵阿富汗。而我們的反恐重心則是基地組織的核心頭目——正是他們發動了911恐怖襲擊。此外，我們的國家正開始一段擺脫大蕭條以來最嚴重經濟危機的漫長歷程。

   四年半以后，就在你們畢業之際，情況已發生了轉變。我們已從伊拉克撤軍，正逐步結束阿富汗的戰爭。潛伏在巴基斯坦和阿富汗邊境地區的基地組織頭目已被斬草除根，而奧薩馬?本?拉登也早已命喪黃泉。（歡呼聲、掌聲）在經歷了這一切之后，我們又將關注重心調整到美國實力的重要源頭上來，這個源頭就是不斷發展的經濟，為每一個愿意努力工作并愿意承擔起家國責任的人提供機會。

事實上，與世界上其他國家相比，美國在很多方面都處于強勢地位。有些人持不同觀點，他們認為美國正在衰弱或正失去世界的領導地位，這些人不是對歷史存在誤讀，就是陷入了黨派政治的泥潭。

你們想一想，我們的軍隊天下無敵，任何國家對我們構成直接威脅的幾率極小，而且與我們在冷戰時期所面臨的危險相差甚遠。同時，我們的經濟活力仍居世界第一，企業的創新性也名列前茅。我們的能源獨立性都在逐年增強。從歐洲到亞洲，我們是各國有史以來無人能敵的聯盟軸心。

美國將繼續吸納奮發圖強的外國移民。我們的建國理念激勵著各國議會的領導人，也激勵著世界各地在公共廣場上發起的新運動。當臺風襲擊菲律賓的時候，當尼日利亞女學生遭到綁架的時候，當蒙面歹徒攻占烏克蘭政府大樓的時候，全世界都翹首以待美國的援助之手。（掌聲）因此，美國始終是一個無可取代的國家，上個世紀如此，下個世紀亦是如此。

但是，如今的世界瞬息萬變。這為我們帶來了機遇，也帶來了新的危險。911恐怖襲擊事件讓我們清楚地認識到，科技和全球化發展是如何讓原本由國家掌控的權力落入個人之手，令恐怖分子為非作歹的。

不久前，俄羅斯派兵入侵前蘇聯加盟共和國——烏克蘭，這一軍事動作牽動歐洲各國神經，與此同時，中國經濟崛起及其軍事走向則引發鄰國擔憂。

從巴西到印度，新興中產階級在與我們展開競爭，此外，各國謀求在國際事務中爭取更多話語權。盡管發展中國家擁護民主、認同市場經濟，但全天候新聞以及社交媒體報道使得人們無法對接連發生在這些國家的派系沖突、國家衰敗與民眾暴動等事件視而不見。然而，這些對于上一代人而言，只能引來他們的“側目”罷了。

如何能在新形勢下有所作為的重擔就要落在你們這一代的肩上了。擺在我們面前的問題，不是美國是否處在領導地位，而是她將如何引領各國；不只是美國能否實現繁榮發展，而是她如何能在全球范圍內“播撒”和平與繁榮的“種子”，而這也是你們將來要面對的問題。

這個問題并非新鮮。至少，自喬治?華盛頓就任總司令——即美國爆發獨立戰爭以來，就存在一些警告的聲音，表示反對美國卷入與本國國家安全或經濟福祉無直接關聯的外部紛爭之中。

現在，那些自詡為現實主義者的人認為，美國無需理會發生在敘利亞、烏克蘭，以及中非共和國的沖突。的確，在經受了戰爭以及來自國內的多重挑戰之后，這種觀點為許多美國人所認同，這并不意外。

然而，干涉主義者對此持不同觀點。他們認為，無視這些沖突最終會危及我們自身，美國在全球充當“世界警察”角色的意愿能夠最徹底地保衛世界安全，使其免于陷入混亂。而若美國對敘利亞的暴亂或俄羅斯的挑釁撒手不管、無所作為的話，那么這不僅違背我們的良心，也會使得這些行徑在未來愈演愈烈。

盡管雙方的觀點從歷史角度看都成立，但我認為他們并沒有充分反映當前形勢下的需求。顯然，對21世紀的美國而言，孤立主義行不通。我們無法對發生在世界其他地區的事情漠然視之。例如，如果核燃料不安全，那么它就會威及美國人民的生命。