| This paper takes the Panama Canal as the statement basis, the interest-driven American global expansion as the entry point, gives a systematic analysis of American policy shift from strongly controlling to voluntarily giving up the Panama Canal, and thus discusses its influence on the historical evolution of the relationship between the United States and Panama.This paper can be divided into four chapters. It attempts to sort out and summarizes the changes of the hegemony of the canal on the background that the United States strongly maintains global hegemony interests, correspondingly exposing the power style and acts of the United States in this process of evolution. It also tries to offer the precious experience and we can learn from it in dealing with the relationship between China or other third countries and the United States to prevent the errors in future.Chapter 1 provides a statement on the over four-century history of Panama Canal from original design to final achievement as the most difficult project in the world history. In addition, it gives organic links between final completion of the canal in the 20th century and American rise and embarks on the road for the global expansion in the 19th century and early 20th century. This chapter intends to explain the following: The fact that the U.S. becomes the final winner over the canal hegemony is because the United States needs to seek overseas interests through this channel, which is the sole choice to meet the urgent need for overseas expansion.The second chapter describes the expansion process of the United States in East Asia and the control and use of the Panama Canal during this period. From the overall strategic perspective, as a new imperialist power, the United States fixes its eyes on China, whether it is the pre-World War II or after World War II-the times both bipolar pattern to carve up the world, it always concentrates most of attention on China Market. This strategic framework determines the fact that the United States will pursue a long-term typical colonialism foreign policy towards Panama, with all-round economic, political and diplomatic means to control this strategic location for the sake of ensuring the smooth flow of the canal. U.S.'s colonial control of Panama in strategy will not change, or the change is only the means of tactical flexibility. The fundamental purpose has always been the hegemony of the canal.Chapter three is about the interactive relationship between the adjustment of U.S. world strategy and the returning of Panama Canal at the end of 20th century. In the 1970s, the U.S., which had been in serious overdrafts in the global hegemony, was forced to change its national foreign strategy. In the circumstances that Panama takes reaching a settlement with China as its new East Asian strategy and controlling the Middle East's oil tanks as its core strategic objective, the strategic value of the Panama Canal fell down. At this time, the U.S. finally agreed to return the Canal to Panama. However, as the U.S. has long been a sovereign state of Panama, it has always assumed a posture of their masters on the issue of the transfer of the Canal, adhering to its provisions from the procedure for the completion of the transfer of the canal.Last chapter is the summary of the Canal's history and its outlook in the future. The history of U.S. controlling the Canal to giving up it reflected the gradual evolution process of U.S. global hegemony. During the process, Panama, which was founded under U.S. manipulation, was always the experimental field for U.S. to test its foreign relations strategies. Therefore, through observing the evolution of U.S. policies towards Panama, the third-world countries can learn lots of beneficial experience of contacting with U.S. At the end of the thesis, a problem needing solving in the future is brought forward: Panama has finally recovered the property that belonged to it; however, the weak Panama can't relax its vigilance. Because of the particularity of the Canal's geographical position, the U.S., as the unique hegemony in the world, is still targeting the Canal with its greedy eyes. In order to gain more wealth and this is the development problem that all third-world countries can't evade. The referendum bill of expanding the Canal is passed by Panama. However, longing for wealth of people in such a backward country does not represent tomorrow's joy. Canal expansion is bound to arouse the desire of U.S. to regain its control of the canal, because the U.S. has never completely abandoned its lust for the"golden waterway"which was dredged by it. In the moment of the uncertain future, will the U.S. still reach out its greedy claws to the Canal?... |
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