Daniel Immerwahr

Daniel Immerwahr is the historian introduced in How to get what Greenland has, with permission as the author of [[HowToHideAnEmpire|How to Hide an Empire]]. The episode uses him to shift the Greenland discussion from whether territory can be bought to how states have historically pursued strategic control.

Immerwahr argues that buying land can look more civilized than conquest, but territorial purchases often also transfer people. The source’s example is the 1917 U.S. purchase of the Danish West Indies from Denmark, which it frames as a security-driven move tied to naval-base fears.

The episode also uses Immerwahr to explain Military Base Sovereignty. Modern states can project control through hosted bases, jurisdictional exceptions, flags, and access agreements, sometimes creating sovereignty-like power without formal annexation. That logic is why the source treats existing U.S. access in Greenland as more important than ownership rhetoric.

Connections

• How to Hide an Empire - book attached to his role in the episode.
• United States, Denmark, and Greenland - imperial history and Arctic access context.
• Guantanamo Bay and Cuba - base-sovereignty example.
• Military Base Sovereignty and Strategic Access Without Annexation - main concepts grounded through his comments.