When the UK’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced at the beginning of the year that Neil MacGregor, director of the British Mu-seum, would spearhead a £3m programme aimed at sharing Britain’s cultural collections and expertise with the rest of the world, there was little doubt that he was the right man for the job. The globe-trotting arts boss has made it one of his central missions to forge cultural links with “difficult” countries – Iran, China – that do not necessarily enjoy warm political relations with the west.