from The New York Times -
When Ancient Artifacts Become Political Pawns
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"But the larger truth is that all patrimony arguments ultimately live or die in the morally murky realm of global relations, meaning that modern governments like Egypt’s and Iraq’s may win sympathy today by counting on Western guilt about colonialism when asking for the return of art from ancient sites within their current borders. At the same time there’s no international clamor for Russia to return storerooms of treasures it stole from Germany at the end of the war, or, for that matter, for Sweden to fork over the spoils of a war 350 years ago with Denmark. It’s about emotion, not airtight logic and consistent policy."

Perhaps, the way to take all these twists and turns of events is to realise that when a field of professional work becomes sufficiently mature, petty politics moves right in. Welcome to the world ...
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