Wanna buy a Greek island?

In 2010, when two right-wing German MPs suggested that Greece should sell off some of its islands to finance its debt, Greece’s government was not amused. "Suggestions like this are not appropriate at this time," responded the country’s deputy prime minister. Evidently, with the Greek government behind on its EU-imposed revenue-raising targets, current Prime Minister ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Oli Scarff/Getty Images

In 2010, when two right-wing German MPs suggested that Greece should sell off some of its islands to finance its debt, Greece's government was not amused. "Suggestions like this are not appropriate at this time," responded the country's deputy prime minister. Evidently, with the Greek government behind on its EU-imposed revenue-raising targets, current Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is coming around to the idea. 

In 2010, when two right-wing German MPs suggested that Greece should sell off some of its islands to finance its debt, Greece’s government was not amused. "Suggestions like this are not appropriate at this time," responded the country’s deputy prime minister. Evidently, with the Greek government behind on its EU-imposed revenue-raising targets, current Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is coming around to the idea. 

From Businessweek:

He told Le Monde newspaper in an interview published today that uninhabited Greek islands could be used to generate revenue, responding to a question on whether Greece would sell some of its islands.

“On condition that it doesn’t pose a national security problem, some of the isles could be used commercially,” Samaras said as quoted by the newspaper. “It would not be a case of getting rid of the isles, but of transforming unused terrain into capital that can generate revenue, for a fair price.”

To be clear, this would be a case of selling of public lands for private development, not transferring national sovereignty of the territory, as has also been less-seriously suggested. But it still seems like a pretty significant sign of desperation. 

This isn’t the only island sale making news this week. The New York Times reports on the Hawaiian island of Lanai’s recent sale from eccentric juice tycoon David Murdock to Oracle’s Larry Ellison:

Mr. Ellison now owns the gas station, the car rental agency and the supermarket. He owns the Lanai City Grille, the Hotel Lanai, the two Four Seasons resorts, two championship golf courses, about 500 cottages and luxury homes, a solar farm, and nearly every single one of the small shops and cafes that line Lanai City. He owns 88,000 acres of overgrown pineapple fields and arid, boulder-strewn hills, thick with red dust, as well as 50 miles of beaches. 

No one’s quite clear on Ellison’s intentions for the island, though Murdock has maintained the rights to pursue a controversial plan to build windmills that would generate electricity to be sold to nearby Oahu. One resident described the island as being under a “medieval lord-of-the-manor system of control.”

Could high-seas neomedievalism take root in the Aegean?

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

More from Foreign Policy

The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.
The USS Nimitz and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and South Korean Navy warships sail in formation during a joint naval exercise off the South Korean coast.

America Is a Heartbeat Away From a War It Could Lose

Global war is neither a theoretical contingency nor the fever dream of hawks and militarists.

A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.
A protester waves a Palestinian flag in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, during a demonstration calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. People sit and walk on the grass lawn in front of the protester and barricades.

The West’s Incoherent Critique of Israel’s Gaza Strategy

The reality of fighting Hamas in Gaza makes this war terrible one way or another.

Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.
Biden dressed in a dark blue suit walks with his head down past a row of alternating U.S. and Israeli flags.

Biden Owns the Israel-Palestine Conflict Now

In tying Washington to Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. president now shares responsibility for the broader conflict’s fate.

U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen in profile as he greets Chinese President Xi Jinping with a handshake. Xi, a 70-year-old man in a dark blue suit, smiles as he takes the hand of Biden, an 80-year-old man who also wears a dark blue suit.

Taiwan’s Room to Maneuver Shrinks as Biden and Xi Meet

As the latest crisis in the straits wraps up, Taipei is on the back foot.