Michael Albertus regularly writes for public audiences, gives radio, television, and podcast interviews, and consults with governments, NGOs, and international institutions.
Recent Podcast Interviews
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Recent Opinion Pieces and Essays
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On Unstable Ground
April 11, 2025 A "great reshuffle" of the land is underway. It will force us to reconsider traditional ideas of property and ownership. Read the full article here |
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Trump Wants Greenland – and More Land. That May Not Be Good for America
March 27, 2025 The Trump administration is expected to make landfall on Greenland on Friday, when Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha are scheduled to visit a U.S. military base on the northwestern coast of the Arctic island, along with White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. But don’t expect Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede to roll out the red carpet. Read the full article here |
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Russia's Dangerous Facts on Ukraine's Ground
March 25, 2025 The weaponry used in the Russia-Ukraine war has been modern, but land remains the conflict’s most valuable strategic asset. And for Russia, the main value in land is not economic but political. Far from merely occupying Ukrainian territory, the Kremlin is quietly but efficiently converting military occupation into permanent ownership and global influence through land and agricultural policy. Read the full article here |
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Homeownership Has Always Impacted American Democracy
March 25, 2025 Land and property ownership have colored American politics since the very beginning of our democracy in New England in the 1600s. Broad land ownership challenged the economic and social divisions that prevailed in Europe. It helped foster political equality among white men settlers, because most of them met the property qualification to vote. Land would become a cornerstone of the effort by America’s Founders to distribute power across society, which they saw as integral to protecting liberty and democracy. Today, however, democracy is facing challenges in part because the pathways to real estate ownership are increasingly out of reach. Read the full article here |
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The Coming Age of Territorial Expansion
March 4, 2025 Since the mid-twentieth century, the power dynamics and system of alliances that made up the postwar global order provided a strong check on campaigns to conquer and acquire territory—an otherwise enduring feature of human history. But rather than marking a definitive break from the aggression of the past, this era of relative restraint now seems to have been merely a brief deviation from the historical pattern. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to U.S. President Donald Trump’s avowed interest in acquiring Greenland, international land grabs are back on the table. Read the full article here |
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The Coming Great Global Land Reshuffle
January 27, 2025 As the world’s climate changes, scientists observe that the southern Californian rainy season is starting later and ending earlier, lining up the peak of the dry season closely with the period of Santa Ana winds. The raging fires that consumed parts of Los Angeles earlier this month show the tragic result. At the same time, global warming is melting ice and opening up the Arctic. The US, Russia and China are all eyeing new northern shipping routes that pass alongside Greenland. The geostrategic considerations and future mining opportunities are driving US President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring the territory. These two disparate trends show the push and pull of a coming global land reshuffle. As the world’s population grows, the planet warms and resources dwindle, land is poised to change hands and uses at an increasing rate. Read the full article here |
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The Lessons of South Africa's Stolen Land
January 17, 2025 Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa remains a troubled country with glaring racial disparities in income, employment, and access to everything from adequate housing to drinking water and electricity. But the challenges that continue to face the country belie strenuous efforts at restitution and racial reconciliation—efforts that, in South Africa, have often focused on land. The country’s ongoing reallocation of land has become a symbol of the government’s commitment to justice and reparation—and of that commitment’s inevitable incompleteness and ambiguity. Read the full article here |
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How Land Reshuffling Made the American West's Racial Divide
January 15, 2025 oday the city of Palm Springs is the Las Vegas of California. It is a playground for the rich and famous nestled right at the heart of the Coachella Valley. All the Valley’s casinos, Hollywood-style entertainment, and day spas offer a glitzy distraction from the area’s troubled history. Before Palm Springs became smothered in blond hair and bright lights, it was the home of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. That transformation, and the Tribe’s ongoing effort to recapture its heritage, is one of many examples of settler colonialism around the globe. Read the full article here |
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The Housing Crisis is Really a Land Crisis
January 13, 2025 Americans agree that something needs to be done to fix the housing crisis. The median sales price for homes in the United States has increased more than 30 percent just since the pandemic. Millions of people are now priced out of the market. A central but overlooked feature of the housing crisis is that it is really a land crisis. Fixing the land problem—from land shortages to excessive land use regulations and high prices—in turn requires local policy reform. Read the full article here |
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The US Government is Sitting on a Possible Solution to the Housing Crisis
January 8, 2025 Among the more urgent tasks facing Donald Trump now that he’s heading back to the White House is answering calls to address the country’s housing availability and affordability crisis...The Trump campaign offered several policies to address the problem, but the centerpiece was the idea to open up federally controlled public lands for housing construction. It’s a particularly attractive idea because it can skirt local red tape, and it has bipartisan support. But if it’s going to succeed, the plan has to be oriented toward transforming smaller plots of land within urban areas and on their periphery. Read the full article here |
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'Land politics' are at the root of our costliest natural disasters
October 15, 2024 The disasters wreaked by Hurricanes Helene and Milton are an immense human tragedy. The years leading up to these powerful storms, as well as the responses in their aftermath, demonstrate that how we reckon and live with the environment is also rooted in politics. Patterns of home-building in climate frontiers, and the resources provided to communities following natural disasters, are deeply rooted in the political power of land. Read the full article here |
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In Venezuela, A Suspicious Win for the Strongman
July 29, 2024 In what appears to be a deeply unfair election riddled with irregularities, Venezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, seems to have survived once again. The outcome, which is already facing challenges and unrest that could grow in the coming days, is not just a disappointment for the opposition and the millions of Venezuelans yearning for democratic change. The election was a crucial test of the durability of the new brand of authoritarianism gripping the Americas — and it has proved that the movement may not fade away anytime soon. ... Read the full article here |
Additional Op-eds and Opinion Pieces
- "Despite Trump's Attacks, South African Land Restitution Matters." Inkstick (2/20/2025).
- "Protecting Small Farmers During a Time of Radical Transformation." The Hill (1/30/2025).
- "Trump is likely to dial back tribal management of federal land." The Hill (11/28/2024).
- "Why Land Reform Matters in South Africa's Election." Foreign Policy (5/27/2024).
- “The Key to Renormalizing US-Cuba Relations.” Project Syndicate (6/9/2022).
- "Chile's Election Will Define Its National Identity and Political Struggles All Over Latin America." Washington Post (12/13/2021).
- “Peru’s New President Isn’t as Radical as He Looks.” Foreign Policy (6/14/2021).
- “Chile’s Constitution is Too New for its Own Good.” Foreign Policy (5/21/2021).
- “There would probably be more yawns than outrage if Biden expanded the Supreme Court.” Washington Post, “The Monkey Cage” (4/20/2021).
- "How Authoritarians Turn Rural Areas Into Their Strongholds." The Atlantic (4/11/2021).
- “Peru’s Election is About to Make its Problems Worse.” Foreign Policy (4/8/2021).
- "The Time to Return Land to Native Americans is Long Overdue." The Hill (3/9/2021).
- "Why Trump's Border Wall Failed." Washington Post, "The Monkey Cage" (2/17/2021).
- "Peru Needs a New Constitution." Foreign Policy (12/1/2020).
- “Will Chile Set an Example for True Democracy?” New York Times (10/19/2020).
- “Americans Are Officially Giving Up on Democracy.” Foreign Policy (10/16/2020).
- "Don’t Give Zimbabwe’s Government Aid Until it Gets Serious About Land Reform." Foreign Policy (8/11/2020).
- “The pandemic challenges democracies – but really hurts dictators.” Washington Post, "The Monkey Cage" (4/30/2020).
- "The Coronavirus Will Cause New Crises in Latin America." Foreign Policy (4/6/2020).
- "Pinochet Still Looms Large in Chilean Politics." Foreign Policy (11/5/2019).
- "Guaido's Make or Break Moment." Foreign Policy (4/30/2019).
- "There is Still a Way Out of Venezuela's Stalemate." Foreign Policy (2/26/2019).
- "Venezuela’s Best Path to Democracy? Pay Off the Military." New York Times (1/30/2019).
- "Chávez's Real Legacy is Disaster." Foreign Policy (12/6/2018).
- "The Military Is Back in Brazil." Foreign Policy (10/29/2018).
- "The Military Returns to Brazilian Politics." Foreign Policy (10/8/2018).
- "There's a Better Way to Take White Farmers' Land." Foriegn Policy (8/27/2018).
- "Latin America's New Authoritarianism." Slate (5/21/2018).
- "Why Are So Many Democracies Breaking Down?" New York Times (5/8/2018).
- "Crony capitalism and protectionism are the despot's way." Seattle Times (4/20/2018).
- "How flawed constitutions undermine democracy." Washington Post, "The Monkey Cage" (2/26/2018).
- "Even with a new Colombian peace deal, what happens in the countryside?" Washington Post, "The Monkey Cage" (11/13/2016).
- "Here are the 3 (big!) challenges facing Peru's next president." Washington Post, “The Monkey Cage” (4/12/2016).
- "This Land Was Your Land." Foreign Policy (11/13/2015).
- "The Key to Peace in Colombia is in its Countryside." Forbes (10/29/2015).
- "Piketty thinks South Africa needs to redistribute land. Democracies can't do that. Dictatorships can." Washington Post, “The Monkey Cage” (10/20/2015).
- "Land and Conflict in Brazil." International Relations and Security Network (9/2/2014).
- “Capitalism Need Not Churn Inexorably Toward Higher Inequality.” London School of Economics, “Politics and Policy Blog” (7/28/2014).
- "Land Reform and Rural Conflict in the Developing World." International Relations and Security Network (Week of 6/2/2014).
- "How Democracies are Gamed for Power and Profit: An Addendum to Picketty’s ‘Capital’." Washington Post, “The Monkey Cage” (5/27/2014).
- "A Glimmer of Hope for Democracy in Egypt." Seattle Times (1/31/2014).
- "Why Egypt’s New Constitution May Not Turn Out As Badly As You Think." Washington Post, “The Monkey Cage” (1/16/2014).
- "South Africa, Unequal by Design." Foreign Policy (1/3/2014).
- "The Odds are Good for Egypt." Foreign Policy (7/18/2013).
- "Land for Peace in Colombia." Foreign Affairs (4/16/2013).
- "Aftermath of Revolution." New York Times, Global/IHT (2/14/2013).
- "Chávez Rides Again" Foreign Policy (10/10/2012).
- "Colombia's Rebels and Land Reform" New York Times (10/9/2012).
- "Burma Can Bring It: Burma faces an uphill climb in its transition to democracy. But the odds may be better than you think." Foreign Policy (5/14/2012).
- "Needles Into Ploughshares: Want to fight Latin America's drug problem? Try land refom." Foreign Policy (4/12/2012).
- "For Enduring Democracies, Revolutions are the Best Bet" USA Today (3/2/2011).
