Recent links of note:
The great EU power trap
Noel Malcolm, The Spectator
It’s hard to believe that we are less than a mere month away from what promises to be the most significant international event of the summer—barring any unforeseen dustups, something increasingly unguaranteed. I speak, of course, of the British referendum on EU membership, pithily termed “Brexit,” and a source of major concern for those on and off the sceptered isle. Of the many arguments offered in favor or “remain,” the one that has found the most currency on the right has been that Britain has a better chance to shape international affairs from within than without. But as Noel Malcolm puts it, “if this rickety building is under such dangerous stresses and strains, wouldn’t we be safer standing outside it?” Click through for Malcolm’s masterful dissection of just what’s at stake on June 22.
An interview with Harvard’s Harvey Mansfield
John Leo, Minding the Campus
Harvey Mansfield has long been one of the sanest voices in the American academy—a place not known for the sanity of its constituent population, making his clarity of thought even more remarkable. This week John Leo interviewed the Harvard legend, yielding more wisdom than we have space for here. A choice excerpt, on the habitual taking of offense that is voguish on campuses now: “it becomes one’s moral duty to look for offenses. [laughs] And the people who give offense, even though they may be innocent or not ill meaning, still deserve to be smoked out, reproached, and told that they are wrong.”
Louvre and Cairo museum strike antiquities co-operation deal
Gareth Harris, The Art Newspaper
Not to be outdone by their British counterparts—as Dominic Green said, “the first rule of being French is never accommodate the Rosbif”—the Louvre has signed a concordat with the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo that will result in the sharing of resources and the mounting of joint exhibitions. No dollar amount has been assigned to the agreement but it is unlikely to match the up to £1 billion pounds of value that the Brits might send to the Gulf. The Cairo museum has been closed since 2014, when damage sustained in a car bombing forced its shutter, but the agreement has prospectively indicated a joint exhibition in 2017—welcome news.
From our pages:
A classic restored
George Grimbilas
On a new translation of the Iliad.