completely off-the-wall question

[kaigou]

(No, this has nothing to do with any plans for world domination. JUST ASKIN', really.)

What happens if more than 50% of your country's tangible property -- land -- is purchased/owned/occupied by nationals of another country? I mean, is there any scenario in which you could visualize or rationalize or imagine buying out a country? Or maybe just causing significant political shifts (assuming it's a multi-party and/or non-authoritarian regime)? Or... what happens when refugees from another country completely overwhelm the existing population (numbers-wise)? Could you end up with such chaos that the country ends up in a state of quasi-claimant by the nationals of a second country?

Feel free to reference books, movies, other fiction that's addressed such ideas, or your own experience and/or theories, academic or just fantastical, or real-world political, economic, financial, etc.

[Consider it purely curiosity on my part, but probably a curiosity that's buttressed by my own culture's assumptions that a nation is made up of its people & its land, which is where the foregone conclusion resides that a massive paradigm shift of people & ownership would have to, therefore, affect the nation as a whole.]

Comments

[hollyberries]

I could be completely wrong, but I think one branch of Zionism had this idea re: the establishment of Israel? Whether it worked or not, well...

[kaigou]

OMFG. Massively un-PC to draw such a connection, but wow, talk about a perfect real-world example. (Not to mention hard to find, since most historical accounts, including Wiki, just start with 'Israel declared independence' and I'm going, but what, it sprang full-grown from the head of Palestine Zeus?) But finally tracked down a more thorough background history and by gum, you're right on the dot. Thank you!

[hollyberries]

It's very much an awkward point in conversation and pretty much the elephant in the room, but the fact is that Israel did some pretty illegal things and are still doing them, and I don't much feel like going beyond saying this. I'm not Jewish or Palestinian, and I have no personal stake in the whole conflict, so it maybe un-PC for me to bring any of this up.

It remains that the entire affair, from 1900s onwards, leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.

[kaigou]

It occurred to me that Cyprus might also be an example. Turkey invaded, and after fighting to a standstill, I believe it was UN mandate that literally cut the island in half, put up a wall, and fifty years later we still have Turkish Cyprus and Greek Cyprus, and it'll probably be another several generations (or more) before the twain ever meet. Still, that annexation was imposed by external forces -- as a way to end the endless fighting, but in a way it did validate the imposition by an external force, even if Turkey only got half the island instead of all of it.

(I'm glossing somewhat, since it's more complex than that, but I didn't think you'd want a dissertation.)