I’d like to take this post and discuss the problem of unintended consequences. It is a problem which plagues the rules governing antiquities and stolen art, but also international law generally. To begin we can take a few prominent examples. First, the United States has waged a decades-long “War on Drugs”, in which it has exported arms and military know-how to nations to its South. It has enacted stiffer penalties for the use of drugs, and made it a prominent part of its foreign policy. Whatever we think of the illegal drug trade, I think anyone can agree that many…
