Dr. Francisco Javier Bonilla is a historian of Latin America specializing in environmental history, infrastructure, and urban development. His research focuses on Panama and the wider Caribbean, examining how water, cities, and U.S. empire have shaped everyday life across the region. He received his PhD in History from Carnegie Mellon University and is currently turning his dissertation, Downstream from the Locks: The Technopolitics of Water in Panama’s Urban Borderlands, into a book. If the US wanted to seize the Panama Canal, it would be illegal due to its status of neutrality. Much like the USA, Panama has a burgeoning inequality that breaks along racial and social lines. Wealthy elites and corporations are purchasing media outlets. Due to pressure of the US and Corporate Media a vigorous discussion seldom occurs re: the future of the Canal and extra-judicial bombings off the coast of Venezuela, with little or no proof of guilt.

Dr. Joe Young is a Professor at the University of Kentucky and Director of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce in Lexington, KY. Previously, he held several positions at American University. The recent Israeli peace swap and cessation of hostilities is a welcome respite, but it is more difficult to get the logistical issues resolved. A 2-state solution is the only logical answer to bring peace. US and Europeans should be committed to Ukrainian sovereignty and security; and not kowtow to Russia. Blanket tariffs are taxes mostly on the consumer. Unemployment, Inflation and costs of living have risen dramatically. The US helped create the UN, Bretton Woods Institutions and a stable world order, which are under attack. China is moving rapidly to fill the US void in the WHO, the UN, and other institutions to be the world leader. A power vacuum will not remain long without being filled.

Irene S. Wu, Ph.D. is author of “Measuring Soft Power in International Relations.” She is a lecturer in the Communications, Culture, and Technology Program of Georgetown University and a former fellow at the Wilson Center for international Scholars. Her other books include Forging trust communities: how technology changes politics, and from iron fist to invisible hand: the uneven path of telecommunications reform in China. Soft power, as opposed to hard power, is essential to persuade another country without the use of violence. Examples would include USAID, economic aid, international trade, US Peace Corps, UN projects and People to People Programs. Elimination of the successful USAID program and withdrawal from WHO have been detrimental to the perception of the US and accomplishments of many of its foreign policies. China, who is assuming more of a leadership role, has developed one of the largest infrastructure programs called the Belt and Road project.