Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs Release of Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume XXII, Panama, 1973-1976

The Department of State released today Foreign Relations, 1969–1976, Volume XXII, Panama, 1973–1976.

This volume is part of a subseries of volumes of the Foreign Relations series that documents the most important issues in the foreign policy of the Nixon and Ford administrations. The volume documents the Panama Canal treaty negotiations from January 1973 until December of 1976, focusing on Ellsworth Bunker’s efforts to create a series of threshold agreements with the Panamanians based loosely on the Kissinger-Tack Principles of 1974. The volume also documents Congressional challenges to the negotiations with the Panamanians, as well as discussions between the Department of State and the Department of Defense regarding the breadth of Bunker’s negotiation instructions. The volume highlights the tension between the executive and legislative branches of government in the construction of foreign policy, the tension between different government agencies during the negotiation of a landmark treaty, the dialogue between the United States and a smaller but strategically valuable non-aligned state, as well as the Nixon and Ford administrations’ view of Latin America and its place in U.S. foreign policy.

This volume was compiled and edited by Alexander Poster. The volume and this press release are available on the Office of the Historian website at http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v22. Copies of the volume will be available for purchase from the U.S. Government Printing Office online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov (GPO S/N 044-000-02672-4; ISBN 978-0-16-093029-4), or by calling toll-free 1-866-512-1800 (D.C. area 202-512-1800). For further information, contact history@state.gov.