and put them in this terrific place.

置于非同寻常的地理位置上
This is not a recipe for good relations in the future

这可不是保持两国友好关系的好方法
--this is where the cliché seems to me to be useful;

在我看来这些陈词滥调很有用
people talk about a powder keg

就像人们所说的火药桶
which only needs a spark to set it off into a great explosion.

只需一点火星便可爆发
People use this about the outbreak of many wars.

这个叫法描述过很多战争爆发前的局势
Sometimes it is an apt thing, and sometimes it is not.

这种说法有时候挺恰当有时候不
This time it is, as we shall see;

在这次事件上很恰当正如我们所见
it didn't take very much to produce an explosion

引爆雅典与斯巴达之战
between Athens and Sparta after these events.

并不需要太大力气
The spark was provided by a quarrel

而火星则来自于
that took place between two Spartan allies in the Peloponnesus,

伯罗奔尼撒联盟内部两个城邦的冲突