Modern Panama: from occupation to crossroads of the Americas

Abstract

Throughout the first century of its formal independence (in 1903), Panama was, to many minds, synonymous with the inter-oceanic canal that opened to traffic in 1914, its fate largely determined by geostrategically motivated US concerns about canal security. Michael Conniff and Gene Bigler—longtime observers of the Panamanian scene—ably demonstrate that contemporary Panama is much more than just a canal; the assumption of full sovereignty over the canal on 31 December 1999 has enabled Panamanians to turn it into an ‘engine of economic growth and national integration’ (p. XVI)—pro Panama beneficio, rather than pro mundi beneficio (p. 212). Indeed, the authors claim that, in its first six years, the new Panama Canal Authority contributed more to Panama's treasury than had the United States in 85 years (p. 203, fn. 3). Since 2000, moreover, Panamanians of different political stripes have adopted a host of measures to convert the country into the hub of the Americas, akin to Singapore in south-east Asia and Dubai in the Middle East.