Elgin Marbles:

The Greeks have engaged a new PR firm to help with their wish to have the Elgin marbles returned. I'm not sure that a PR firm will do them much good, though. Polls have consistently shown that a majority of the British public support the return of the marbles, despite the objections of the head of the British Museum (would his title be curator?). The Greeks need to persuade one man rather than a population, and PR firms aren't generally very successful at that.

Now it could be the Greeks are hoping to create intolerable public pressure for the marbles' return. I don't think the average Brit cares enough to lobby his MP, though; it's one thing to think in the abstract that the marbles should be returned and it's another to actually do anything about it.

I'm not even sure whether I think they should be returned. Greece's record for protecting its antiquities is not particularly good, and something like those should not be lost. The new gallery that they are building on the (unlikely) chance that they get the marbles for the Olympics does sound really cool though.

And, of course, the question remains: if you start returning the Elgin marbles, does everything have to be returned? I know the Egyptians are looking for a deal on some obelisks, and I'm sure the Indian government would like some stuff back as well (really you can include just about any country here). Can you say the rules are different because the marbles are a national treasure, and, if so, who defines "national treasure"?