The Big Ditch: How the Panama Canal Changed the World
Presented by Jonny Dymond, BBC Washington DC correspondent
Producer: Dom Byrne
A Blakeway production for BBC Radio 4.
First broadcast: Wednesday 24 April and 1 May 2013, 11:00
160/44; 65 MB total; sound quality excellent
Episode 1 of 2
On passage from the Pacific to Atlantic side, Jonny Dymond explores how digging the so-called "Big Ditch" across the narrow isthmus at Panama changed the world.
In this first episode of two he evaluates how, a century ago when it was constructed, the canal marked the birth of a new global superpower, the United States of America. To what extent did the canal ensure its economic and military dominance?
Today, however, China's influence grows in Central America, a region traditionally America's backyard. What plans are afoot for Chinese-backed alternative routes across the isthmus to rival Panama's?
Tracing these developments, as well as other strands in this fascinating tale, Dymond investigates how the tiny nation of Panama, and the rather small waterway that bisects it, contains a rather large slice of world history.
The success story belongs to the States, but how did they pull off this extraordinary feat of engineering where many had failed? In the shady past lay the broken dreams and appalling costs of, first, the catastrophic French attempt that consumed the lives of tens of thousands of men and, centuries before, the failed projects of the Spanish Conquistadors and even the bankrupted Kingdom of Scotland.
Moving forward, as Panama improves the canal in an impressive $5bn expansion project, what will happen to the patterns of world trade? And what of China's plans and other trade routes?
Global economics and strategic geopolitics are all reflected in what happens on the canal.
Episode 2 of 2
In this second and final episode, Jonny Dymond continues his passage from the Pacific to Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, exploring the global impact of the so-called "Big Ditch".
A century after it was constructed, Dymond explores the present and future of the isthmus nation of Panama and the trade route it's custodian of - as well as the tricky relationship between the United States and Panama over the Canal Zone.
How has Panama fared since full control of running the canal was bestowed on it? More widely, was America's relinquishing the canal part of a wider trend that has seen US influence in the Latin America decline? Dymond discovers growing interest from China in the region - Chinese-backed plans for a new canal in Nicaragua and alternative trade routes in Colombia.
While the superpowers rub shoulders, Dymond discovers a world-renowned research centre on Barros Colorado Island, situated halfway along the canal. The Smithsonian Institution took over the island soon after it was created, when the canal was built and the interior of Panama flooded. Today, scientists from all over the world study there because of its unique history as a recently isolated ecological system. The wealth of data collected there can tell science much about important issues, such as climate change.
While the researchers quietly beaver on, the tides of global power continue. Has America found itself at a crossroads in Latin America? This "Big Ditch" marked the beginning of the American century - do the signs on the isthmus suggest that the superpower that was made here is on a gradual retreat?
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Thank you!
You are both welcome! ------------------------------------- Rick
Thanks!