International politics began with the emergence of the first organized states thousands of years ago. Global politics is more recent--it appeared about five centuries ago when the European powers began to mesh the world's far corners together through conquest and trade. Today we live on a planet...

Economic Disruption and the Monetisation of French Collections -- Samuel Courtauld as Private Collector and Public Donor -- Albert Barnes as Currency Opportunist and 'Visionary Art Educator' -- Kojiro Matsukata and the Economics of Rodin in Japan -- Institutional Inertia and the National Gallery...