How to Buy Your Own Country
Feinberg Series Lecture with Steven Press
As President Trump continues to push for a “purchase” of Greenland and tech titans discuss setting up “model cities” from Argentina to California, the world map seems positioned for change—and the world order seems on the brink of collapse. People may well wonder, “Is this legal? Is there any precedent?” A glimpse at modern history can offer some instructive notes of perspective, analogy, and caution. In particular, the cases of the East India Company and Leopold II’s Congo Free State can shed much-needed light on current events.
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Steven Press is an associate professor of history and an affiliated member of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Center for African Studies, and the Stanford Center for Law and History. Press's first book, Rogue Empires: Contracts and Conmen in Europe's Scramble for Africa (Harvard University Press, 2017), received the American Historical Association's Pacific Coast Branch Book Award. His second book, Blood and Diamonds: Germany's Imperial Ambitions in Africa (Harvard University Press, 2021), received the German Studies Association's Barclay Book Prize and was named a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. Cornell University Press published his third book, Europe's Little Anarchy: The Rise and Fall of Neutral Moresnet, in 2026.
The 2026-27 Feinberg Series
Escape from Oligarchy: The History and Future of Rule by the Rich
The 2026–27 Feinberg Series explores the global history of oligarchy and the popular movements that have resisted it. It is presented by the UMass Amherst Department of History in partnership with numerous co-sponsors. The Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series is made possible thanks to the generosity of UMass Amherst history department alumnus Kenneth R. Feinberg ’67 and associates. Read more.
Departmental (co)sponsorship of various types of events does not constitute an endorsement of the views expressed by the presenters, either at the events in question or in other venues. Rather, sponsorship is an endorsement of the exploration of complex and sometimes difficult topics. The UMass History Department is committed to promoting the free and peaceful exchange of ideas, one of the most important functions of the university.