The Safety And Security Of Cultural Heritage In Zones Of War Or Instability

A nation's cultural heritage represents its past, its present and its path to the future, but for many years, the cultural heritage in or adjacent to war and conflict zones has been subject to continual assault, both deliberate and unintended. This book presents papers delivered at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop entitled “Cultural heritage’s safety and security in zones of war or instability”, hosted online by the University of Rome from 25 to 27 November 2020. NATO has always been a leading player in the protection of cultural property (CPP) in the areas in which it intervenes, indeed, the protection of cultural property and common heritage is part of NATO’s core values. In addition to this, the illicit trade in antiquities and archaeological finds represents another danger to cultural heritage and can help to finance the terrorist groups that manage to seize these assets. The workshop aimed to explore ways to protect and safeguard cultural heritage in war zones or from terrorist attacks, and a group of international experts were invited to contribute presentations on selected topics of direct relevance to the processes in NATO with regard to CPP. Topics included: the experiences of international institutions; conservation and restoration; and countermeasures, technologies and examples of successful interventions. The book raises awareness of the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage and sets out ways of tackling the problem. It will be of interest to all those working in the field of protecting cultural heritage in unstable areas.

The fourth volume of the J. Paul Getty Trust Occasional Papers in Cultural Heritage Policy series is the result of a multi-day discussion on the issue of cultural heritage under siege. It features an edited collection of papers and discussions by nineteen scholars and practitioners of different specialties in the field of cultural heritage. This paper, along with the other Occasional Papers, is free and downloadable online.

Using contemporary case studies, this book offers a novel legal perspective on the protection of cultural heritage during war.

This open access book identifies various forms of heritage destruction and analyses their causes. It proposes strategies for avoiding and solving conflicts, based on integrating heritage into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It reflects on the identity-building role of heritage, on multidimensional conflicts and the destruction of heritage, and considers conflict-solving strategies and future perspectives. Furthermore, it engages theoretically and practically with the concepts of responsibility, reconciliation and sustainability, relating mainly to four Sustainable Development Goals, i.e. SDGs 4 (education), 11 (e.g. World Heritage), 13 (climate action) and 17 (partnerships for the goals). More than 160 countries have inscribed properties on the UNESCO World Heritage list since the World Heritage Convention came into force. Improvements in the implementation of the Convention, such as the Global Strategy for a Representative, Balanced and Credible World Heritage List, have occurred, but other conflicts have not been solved. The book advocates for a balanced distribution of properties and more effective strategies to represent the global diversity of cultural and natural heritage. Furthermore it highlights the importance of heritage in identity building.

The protection of cultural property during times of armed conflict and social unrest has been an on-going challenge for military forces throughout the world even after the ratification and implementation of the 1954 Hague Convention and its two Protocols by participating nations. This volume provides a series of case studies and “lessons learned” to assess the current status of Cultural Property Protection (CPP) and the military, and use that information to rethink the way forward. The contributors are all recognized experts in the field of military CPP or cultural heritage and conflict, and all are actively engaged in developing national and international solutions for the protection and conservation of these non-renewable resources and the intangible cultural values that they represent.

Charting in detail the evolution of the international rules on the protection of historic and artistic sites and objects from destruction and plunder in war, this 2006 book analyses in depth their many often-overlapping provisions. It serves as a comprehensive and balanced guide to a subject of increasing public profile, which will be of interest to academics, students and practitioners of international law and to all those concerned with preserving the cultural heritage.

Cultural Cleansing and Mass Atrocities: Protecting Cultural Heritage in Armed Conflict Zones addresses the connection between cultural heritage and cultural cleansing, mass atrocities, and the destruction of cultural heritage. Pulling together various threads of discourse and research, Cultural Cleansing and Mass Atrocities outlines the issues, challenges, and options effecting change.

"Since the publication of the first edition of War and Cultural Heritage in 2004 there have been a number of important developments. The Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict has entered into force and there are now 64 States Parties. The Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict provided for under the Second Protocol has been set up and has adopted the Guidelines for the Implementation of the Second Protocol. Disbursements have been made from the Fund for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. In 2008 the United Kingdom published for public consultation the draft Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Bill, the legislation to enable the United Kingdom to become a Party to the 1954 Convention and its two Protocols and in 2009 the United States ratified the 1954 Hague Convention (but neither of its two Protocols). The time to publish a second edition of War and Cultural Heritage to take account of these and other developments is long overdue. The civil war in Syria has resulted in extensive destruction of that nation's cultural heritage. More recently in the conflict of Mali Islamist insurgents retreating from Timbuktu set fire to a library containing thousands of priceless historic manuscripts, described by the town's mayor as a 'devastating blow' to world heritage. These incidents demonstrate the need for all parties engaged in armed conflict to have regard to the rules of international law concerning the protection of cultural property. War and Cultural Heritage contains in a single volume an article-by-article commentary on the 1954 Hague Convention and its Two Protocols. The book also analyses other instruments of international humanitarian law relevant to the protection of cultural property. These include the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Additional Protocols, which had a profound influence on the drafting of the 1954 Convention and the Second Protocol respectively. The book also examines the extent to which the provisions of the 1954 Convention and its Protocols are part of customary international humanitarian law. The book takes into account the latest developments regarding the international efforts to secure restitution of Holocaust-looted cultural property, including the work of the UK's Spoliation Advisory Panel"--Page 4 of cover

Over the past two centuries, abuse of antiquities and fine art has evolved from the “spoils of war” into a medium for conducting terrorism which strives to erase the cultural heritage of “the other”. At the same time, the growth of the art market over the past fifty years has created opportunities for exploitation of cultural property. Since World War II, there has been maturing international awareness that armed conflict and looting pose a threat to cultural property; but simultaneously, art trafficking and the politics of cultural property create opportunities amidst risks in developed “collecting nations” and emerging “source nations”.This is the first book in the literature that touches on the interrelation of the financial value, politics, and security of cultural property and suggests the implications for the power of culture in global affairs. The intersection of these issues forms the basis for a new field which this book examines — cultural security. As part of the changing significance of cultural property in foreign relations, Cultural Security assesses corresponding security threats and opportunities for diplomacy.This book will take readers through the concepts and issues surrounding cultural property, cultural currency and cultural power, leaving readers with invaluable insights on the political economy of cultural property and the resulting source of “alternative power” in global affairs.

The role of private actors in policing has become a topic in both research and policy, as police forces face budgetary and expertise-related constraints. These challenges are evident in art crime policing, where a lack of prioritisation often means limited resources are allocated for a crime that requires significant expertise to tackle. Cooperating with private actors has been mooted as a solution to this deficit, but empirical research to support this suggestion is scarce. This book helps fill this gap by examining the interaction between specialist art crime police units and private actors in Belgium, the United Kingdom, and France. Its central questions are whether cooperation already exists in art crime policing, and why, or not. It was found that while limits to police capacity are an important driver for private outreach, several other factors also significantly affect cooperation. This book is relevant for policy, practice, and research, as it examines a hitherto less discussed topic which is nonetheless urgent as art crime shows little signs of abating.