Highways Don't Guarantee Continental Unity

Transcontinental roads can be powerful symbolic promises of unity but often fail because ecological constraints, indigenous land rights, asymmetric state capacity and competing geopolitical aims block continuous corridors. The Pan‑American Highway's history shows infrastructure can produce partial integration — trade and travel at some scales — while leaving political and environmental fault lines unresolved. — This reframes infrastructure debates: policymakers should treat mega‑roads as political projects with sovereignty and ecological trade‑offs, not just engineering or economic fixes.