The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest To Link the Americas

The Pan-American Highway is the longest road in the world, running the length of the Western Hemisphere from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in South America. It symbolizes, according to Rutkow (American Canopy), a shared dream of overland connectivity. The United States that emerges from this richly detailed history is torn between goodwill and self-interest, cooperation and control. The concept of Pan-Americanism was a paradox for the United States; while it elevated Latin American countries as geopolitical equals, it ensured the exclusion of Europe by allowing America to exercise its leadership. A second theme deals with road building and its connection to U.S. visions and accomplishments in international development. Rutkow observes that the Pan-American Highway held the interest of every U.S. president from Calvin Coolidge to Jimmy Carter, it's enduring appeal bespeaking a historical strain of popular sentiment favoring hemispheric connectivity. He laments that Trump's goal is not a road to link the Americas but rather a wall to divide.