“The latest troubles should cause Americans to ask questions about our ethics and practices. Do the Met, the Cleveland Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston – places that bring together cultures from around the world, act as safe houses for civilization and provide public access to millions of people – also have claims to the world’s art, claims that legitimately compete with the nationalist goals of countries that cannot always provide the same care and access? Isn’t it better for an ancient pot dug out of some farm in Sicily to end up at a museum like the Met, where it can be studied, widely seen and cared for, than to become booty in some billionaire’s safe in Zurich, Shanghai or Tokyo? At the same time, does encouraging the movement of artifacts into museums stimulate looting and, in the process, impede the circulation of critical information about the provenance, or history, of these objects?”