Soft offshore balancing at the canal: China's strategic influence in Panama.
This article examines whether China's expanding presence constitutes control over the Panama Canal—an allegation made by United States President Donald Trump in 2025 and publicly denied by both Panama and China. The article's hypothesis is that China's activities in Panama constitute a soft offshore...
| Published in: | International Affairs Vol. 102; no. 4; pp. 1373 - 1393 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195222511&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195222511 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00205850 INA jtl: International Affairs issn: 00205850 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 102 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195222511 10.1093/ia/iiag057 ppf: 1373 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Soft offshore balancing at the canal: China's strategic influence in Panama. aug: au: Dykmann, Klaas affil: Department of Social Sciences and Business, Roskilde Universitet, Universitetsvej, 14.2, Roskilde 4000, Denmark su: China United States Panama Regionalism (International organization) Power (Social sciences) Balance of power Panama Canal (Panama) Canals Countries China-United States relations Great powers (International relations) sug: subj: Regionalism (International organization) Power (Social sciences) Balance of power China United States Panama Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction Panama Canal (Panama) Canals Countries China-United States relations Great powers (International relations) keyword: copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag057 soft offshore balancing copyrightHolder:The Royal Institute of International Affairs copyrightYear:2026 inLanguage:en publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiag057 soft offshore balancing ab: This article examines whether China's expanding presence constitutes control over the Panama Canal—an allegation made by United States President Donald Trump in 2025 and publicly denied by both Panama and China. The article's hypothesis is that China's activities in Panama constitute a soft offshore balancing strategy to constrain US regional dominance through non-military instruments. Despite recent scaling back in Panama, China's influence networks remain structurally embedded. The case of Panama illustrates how soft offshore balancing enables great powers to shape regional alignments through long-term, non-military strategies. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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