Since it was completed in 1869, the Suez Canal has been one of the world’s most important bodies of water; a portal between East and West that has been controlled by multiple countries, threatened to ignite war, and become a bedrock of the global economy.Since it was completed in 1869, the Suez Canal has been one of the world’s most important bodies of water; a portal between East and West that has been controlled by multiple countries, threatened to ignite war, and become a bedrock of the global economy.