The Future of the Panama Canal

Thursday, Feb. 13 // 10–11:00 am (ET)

The Panama Canal, one of the world’s greatest engineering feats, remains a vital shortcut for global shipping more than a century after its construction. It is the lifeblood of the Panamanian economy, generating $5 billion in the last fiscal year. It is also a vital commercial artery for the United States, its top user.

Today, however, the Panama Canal faces challenges to its long-term viability. Climate change has led to prolonged droughts that in recent months resulted in restrictions to the number and size of ships permitted to cross the isthmus. The best solution, a new reservoir, would require $1.6 billion and six years to construct. In the meantime, the new US authorities have raised concerns about rising tolls and the control by a Chinese company of two ports in Panama. These challenges, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent trip to the Miraflores locks, have brought growing global attention to the Panama Canal.

Join the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program for an in-person conversation with the former administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, Alberto Alemán Zubieta, and former US Ambassador to Panama John Feeley. We will discuss the future of this global trade hub amid complex operational and geostrategic hurdles.

STILL TO Come THIS WEEK

Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II

Monday, Feb. 10 // 4–5:30 pm (ET)

In Book and Dagger, Elyse Graham draws on personal histories, letters, and declassified OSS files to tell the story of a small but connected group of humanities scholars turned spies. Among them are Joseph Curtiss, a literature professor who hunted down German spies and turned them into double agents; Sherman Kent, a smart-mouthed history professor who rose to become the head of analysis for all of Europe and Africa; and Adele Kibre, an archivist who was sent to Stockholm to secretly acquire documents for the OSS. These unforgettable characters would ultimately help lay the foundations of modern intelligence and transform American higher education when they returned after the war.

US-Mexico Farm Labor Policy Recommendation Launch

Wednesday, Feb. 12 // 10:00 am–12:15 pm (ET)

This public event will bring together government and private sector stakeholders, as well as labor, migration, and trade experts to exchange perspectives on the outlook for regional cooperation and policy actions to advance North American food security, competitiveness, and leadership.

Northern Opportunities: A Conversation With Canada's Territorial Premiers

Thursday, Feb. 13 // 9:30–10:30 am (ET)

Join us for a panel discussion with Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai, Northwest Territories Premier R.J. Simpson, and Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok on vectors of alignment and prospects for collaboration between Canada and the United States in the critically important Arctic region.

Film Screening and Discussion: “Dear Mr. P… A Love Letter to James Lloydovich Patterson”

Thursday, Feb. 13 // 2–3:30 pm (ET)

In 1936, three-year-old James Lloydovich Patterson was the most popular child film star in Soviet Russia. Now at 91, Patterson lives a quiet life in a Washington, DC retirement home. Dear Mr. P documents Patterson’s extraordinary story as the son of a Black American father and Russian mother who rocketed into fame for his childhood role in the Soviet classic film Circus. He would go on to become a sailor in the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and a published author before moving to the United States following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Join the Kennan Institute for a free screening of Dear Mr. P followed by a discussion with Amy Ballard, the film’s producer and Mr. Patterson’s guardian, and scholar Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon.