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The Parthenon Marbles dispute and the debate over cultural repatriation
Who gets to claim art as their own? It’s a complicated issue, and elite art institutions are undergoing a reckoning over their Indiana Jones-style acquisition tactics of the past. GZERO’s Alex Kliment explores the complex debate of art repatriation and the controversy surrounding ancient artifacts displayed in Western museums. One of the most infamous cases involves the Parthenon Marbles (sometimes called the Elgin Marbles) at the British Museum, which the British took during Ottoman rule. The Greeks have been demanding the Marbles be returned for almost 200 years.
“I think this is really a moral or ethical case,” says Leila Amineddoleh, an art repatriation expert, “Should museums hold onto objects that were taken under either violent circumstances or were taken during a time of looting, theft or when a country was colonized?”
This question of who owns art has become more intensely political in recent years. On one side are the defenders of the “Universal Museum” idea, who say it’s important to have places where everyone can come see art from all over the world in one place. However, critics argue it’s a form of cultural imperialism that denies rightful ownership to the people who created the artifacts in the first place. Ultimately, the debate raises broader questions about museums' responsibility to address historical injustices, balance cultural preservation with global accessibility, and navigate the complex dynamics of ownership and cultural heritage.
Watch the GZERO World with Ian Bremmer episode: The identity politics trap
Catch GZERO World with Ian Bremmer every week at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld or on US public television. Check local listings.
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Britain's King Charles III waves.
Hard Numbers: Ditch the monarchy, eh?, we’re #2! , here comes Hurricane Lee, Ontario housing boom falls short
63: Barely one year into the reign of King Charles III – who is technically the king of Canada – 63% of Canadians say it’s time to rethink ties with the British crown. That’s up seven percentage points from March. And just over half of Canadians agreed with the statement that “we have to get rid of” the monarchy altogether.
2: The US News and World Report ranked Canada the No. 2 country in the world after Switzerland according to an array of lifestyle metrics. It may be hard for Canadians to miss out on the top spot — but the US isn’t even on the podium, coming in at fifth place.
90: Hurricane Lee is churning up the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, and is expected to strike Canada’s Atlantic provinces and New England over the weekend. Warm waters worsened by climate change and an El Niño event are driving a particularly harsh hurricane season, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now predicting up to 21 storms this year.
44,000: Ontario reported the highest number of new housing construction projects in 30 years, with 44,000 new builds underway in the first half of 2023. Unfortunately, that pace is well shy of the annual target of 150,000 housing starts that the province has set in order to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
Is King Charles III the "Wolf" of Buckingham Palace?
Britain's King Charles III was only four years old when his mother was crowned in 1953. But at 74, he's now the oldest person to be crowned in British history, Ian Bremmer explains on GZERO World.
He hasn't spent the past 50 years just sitting around, though - he's transformed his private estate, the Duchy of Cornwall, into a billion-pound business empire.
In 2021, it was worth over a billion pounds, and Charles had received £23 million from it.
While the family does bring in a lot of money for the UK economy, some are questioning the Windsors' ballooning personal fortune in a time of economic crisis.
US debt limit: default unlikely, dysfunction probable
Ian Bremmer shares his insights on global politics this week on World In :60.
Is the United States at real risk of default over the debt limit?
I say no. More importantly, the markets say no. Investors certainly aren't concerned about it. But of course, the fact that investors aren't concerned about it is part of the reason why the politicians will get closer to breaking the debt limit without an agreement. It's good that Biden and McCarthy are finally talking to each other, but in the near-term, if June is really the X date, the date where you would hit a default, what looks more likely, since there's not enough time to really agree to anything, is they punt for a few months with a very short-term extension, and then you're still in the same soup. And some level of credit crisis is probably required to make the deal painful enough that McCarthy feels like he can get away with it, not lose his job, Biden, get away with it, and not lose political support in the election. So that's the dysfunction of Washington around the debt limit.
The "godfather of AI "says we may be approaching a "nightmare scenario." What should we do about it?
This is the fellow, Hinton, that just resigned from Google, and now is coming out and speaking pretty strongly. The issue is what can we do about it? In the near-term, everyone I talk to that's involved in developing AI is spending all of their time ensuring that they are not left behind. So it's a massive amount of investment and a massive amount of effort that is gas pedaled down, full steam ahead, less the Chinese win, less your competitors in the United States win. And there aren't a lot of people in the US government that really understand the issue. There aren't a lot of people that would agree on what regulation should look like, and there's no one serious that controls and releases these tools that's prepared to do a pause or any real limitations. So I hate to say it, but I think what we should do about it is get as educated as humanly possible, get the government leaders up to speed so that when the initial major crisis hits, as it will, there's more capacity to respond and start formulating what some of the institutional responses and some of the constraints will be. But until that crisis hits, the likelihood that you slow this down is virtually zero. And also, I'm a huge enthusiast for all the upside that comes from AI. So it's not like I'm thinking, "Oh my God, this is all dystopian." No, it's great, and it's driving a lot of progress and driving a lot of efficiency, which is why there's so much money coming into it. But it's also why we're not going to slow it down until something pretty bad hits.
As the coronation of King Charles approaches, what's the state of the United Kingdom?
Well, I mean, better in the sense that Rishi Sunak is a credible, capable, solid pair of hands, at least in terms of his economic rule of the UK, as well as engagement with the EU, engagement with Macron in France, resolution of the Northern Ireland-Ireland border issue. And therefore, the person who can finally put a stake in Brexit and get the country moving on. You'd still be betting on Labour and Keir Starmer as the next prime minister in a general election, but it's no longer inconceivable that the Tories can be competitive and Sunak deserves a lot of credit for that. So have to say, I suspect he's going to have quite a positive trip to the United States the next month, and I look forward to spending a little time with him when I'm in the UK too.
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- Upheaval in UK: the sobering challenges facing new PM Truss & new King Charles III ›
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A PUPPET REGIME job opening: Queen Consort
With Camilla's popularity flagging, other world leaders make the case for why they should have her job as queen consort to the UK's King Charles III.
Watch more PUPPET REGIME!
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What We're Watching: King Charles III addresses the nation, IAEA warns of potential Zaporizhzhia plant catastrophe
King Charles III makes first public address as monarch
King Charles III addressed the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and the world on Friday with a public address following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Striking both a personal and formal tone, Charles paid tribute to his “darling mama” and her “unswerving devotion” to Britain. In discussing his faith, Charles said he was brought up to “cherish a sense of duty to others,” and he vowed to “solemnly pledge [himself] … to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.” He also spoke about the changing roles of his wife, Camilla, his Queen Consort, and his son William and daughter-in-law, Katherine, who now assume the titles of Prince and Princess of Wales. As Charles’s address aired, a service of remembrance was held for the late monarch at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. Attendees included Britain’s newly installed prime minister, Liz Truss, who had her first meeting with the king earlier on Friday at Buckingham Palace. The queen’s coffin remains at Balmoral and will be moved this weekend to Holyrood, the royal residence in Edinburgh, where King Charles III – officially proclaimed the monarch on Saturday – and the Queen Consort will head on Sunday. A service will be held for the queen in Edinburgh on Sunday before her coffin is moved to London. Her funeral is expected to take place within two weeks at Westminster Abbey. World leaders, including President Joe Biden, will attend, paying tribute to a queen who worked with 15 prime ministers and met 13 US presidents throughout her 70-year reign.