ABSTRACT

Panama is a country that should be well known to every citizen of the United States because the United States was literally present at the creation. Although many US leaders and citizens once had an interest in the strategic importance of the Panama Canal and the associated large civilian and military presence in the Canal Zone. Panama's social and economic structures are largely the product of its unique development as a transit area. The perceived need in the United States for hegemonic control of this transit area led to the 1903 creation of an enclave in the heart of urban Panama. In the two decades since the US military invasion, there have also been major changes in government structure and policy associated with Panama's return to civilian rule, although the constitution adopted by the former military government remains in place.