The debacle in Panama is a reminder that the U.S., to its everlasting credit but also to its occasional grief, was never cut out for imperialism. Even the vestige of such an adventure at the beginning of the 20th century is enough to complicate American domestic politics and foreign policy alike at the end of the century. Teddy Roosevelt not only dug the big ditch but helped carve out the little nation around it by supporting secessionists in a malaria-ridden province of Colombia. But no good deed in the pursuit of empire goes unpunished. The legacy that T.R. left his successors...
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