No, the other one – of ‘Doctrine’ fame. In short it allowed the good ole boys to stop other kids playing in their own backyards too close to the land of the free. And in the ’80s Sheriff Reagan and Col. Oliver North sent some help to the Contras in Nicaragua, funded by the sale of arms to Iran. And all on the hush-hush too.
The two canals
So I wonder if there’ll be some behind-the-scenes jiggery-pokery again in Nicaragua now that the pesky Chinese plan to compete with the US-controlled Panama canal by digging a new, much better one? Will the US of A bribe the poor Nicaraguans to reject the project? Has the Pres already told the Chinese to butt out? And will we ever know?
Boadicea's Chariot 
I thought we rather grudgingly gave up canal diplomacy in the mid fifties, oops! my mistake, that was the Brits.
They will probably have to call in the US Army to finish it, the French did.
Quite so LW!
Can’t see it happening, reckon the Chinks have bitten off more than they can chew with this one.
Suggest you look at the route, longer hillier etc etc than the Panama canal, that took decades of failure.
With their industry no longer being quite so successful I expect they will run out of money and puff.
Plus the fact that Nicaragua has all sorts of, shall we call them, ‘volcanic issues’ literally.
Plus terrible weather there, mud slides burying towns a common occurrence, the list of problems go on and on.
Can’t see it happening.
Hope they waste a lot of money trying rather than spending it on militarisation.
Don’t think the Americans should bother to get their knickers in a twist.
The Panama Canal is run by the government of Panama, but the port facilities on either side are run by Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, a Hong Kong-based company with ties to the Chinese government. In effect, the Chinese already effectively control commerce through the Panama Canal. The USA has not controlled it since 1979.
To an extent the Chinese plan does make sense. The Panama Canal is too narrow to accommodate many new cargo ships and cannot be expanded without shutting it down. Going through Nicaragua, while presenting challenges of its own — as CO has rightly explained — is something that could well be considered.
I stand corrected. But I don’t think the good ole boys will take it lying down. 😦
Probably not if it ever gets off the ground or more likely IN the ground!
Somehow, Janus, I doubt the Chinese could give a farthing for the good ole boys’ opinions. They have a special contempt for ‘Merica. They’re pragmatic and will work with them in order to benefit their own economy, but they will not hesitate to get the upper hand whenever they have a half-chance.
I note with a degree of entertainment a sweet little 6.5 earthquake right at the Western outlet of the putative Nicaraguan canal, the fourth this week!
Lots of luck to the chinks!!