Panama makes the UN big time.

At last the smoke has gone up. After 48 rounds of voting, Panama has been elected to a two-year term on the UN Security Council, beginning in January. Very handy if the council members ever need any laundry.

Panama does not have an army so it will not be able to take an active role in enforcing any Security Council resolutions but then neither do most of the rest, so nobody will notice. It does, however, have an impressive canal on which you can take a time-lapse cruise at YouTube. There is also some fun stuff on Google Video.