Panama, Supply Chain Security, and the Rise of Globalization

In the mind of a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century European explorer, we can be confident that there was a keen awareness of the importance of not only discovering a new trade route but also of how secure any new route might be. History tells that Spanish and later other European adventurers traveled to the New World for “gold, glory, and God.” Each of those elements certainly played a role in the motives of individual conquistadors such as Cortez and Pizarro and the groups of ambitious entrepreneurs who funded and accompanied them on their wild journeys. While such an understanding has been taught to and recited by school children over the centuries, there is a more proximate and relevant lesson from the European subjugation of the Americas. We would be wise to also consider the vital role that the objective of supply chain security played in making it all happen.