Progressivism and Foreign Policy

A satire of Theodore Roosevelt's decision to "take" the Panama Canal from Colombia. Roosevelt's aggressiveness in this instance, however, was uncharacteristic of his more subtle diplomacy when dealing with the activities of the major world powers.

American historians have debated the meaning of "progressivism" to such an extent that some whether the term has any historical utility at all. In foreign affairs, however, progressivism did tend to produce a more active US international role, whether intellectually, in terms of championing new ways to avoid war (as in the Root document), or in bringing to the fore issues of imperialism (as in the Roosevelt and Lodge documents).

And gradually, a new consensus emerged, one that sought to apply the lessons of progressivism to inter-American relations as part of a broader search for alternatives to intervention.