Cultural Heritage Protection During Armed Conflict

The destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict has become the forefront issue within the international discourse on its legal protection in the last several decades. Many scholars and professionals have contributed to the development of international legal instruments concerning cultural heritage protection. This thesis analyzes the existing international legal instruments to demonstrate their practical application, or lack there of, in recent armed conflict situations vis-aÌ€-vis the changing paradigm in the execution of war. The complexity of the issue of law and cultural heritage protection during armed conflict is that it involves a variety of disciplines: anthropology, archeology, architecture, conservation, law,†¦show more content†¦This chapter is broken down into three main parts, culture and heritage, the law and war, and the international community and its legal instruments. The first part addresses the historical perspective of the ideas about culture by acknowledging the development of the term; starting from Edward Burnett Tylor’s definition of culture from the 19th century to the ideas suggested by Clifford Geertz concerning culture.1 These ideas are further explored through contemporary scholarship on the associations of culture and heritage, and how cultural heritage relates to the identities of human beings and thus becomes a target in conflict situations. The second part of the first chapter, on the law and war, outlines the development of International Humanitarian Law th roughout history in order to communicate how the law is reactive and consequently created. The distinct difference in treatment of cultural objects throughout the history of war has demonstrated the value and ideas surrounding their importance and safeguarding. The last part of Chapter 1 is a legal analysis of primary sources of law, chiefly dealing with the Geneva Law and Hague Law, on the protection of cultural heritage and their practical application during armed conflict. Chapter two presents two recent armed conflict situations, the Bosnian War (1992-1995) and the Cultural Heritage Protection During Armed Conflict Introduction The destruction of cultural heritage during armed conflict has become the forefront issue within the international discourse on its legal protection in the last several decades. Many scholars and professionals have contributed to the development of international legal instruments concerning cultural heritage protection. This thesis analyzes the existing international legal instruments to demonstrate their practical application, or lack there of, in recent armed conflict situations vis-aÌ€-vis the changing paradigm in the execution of war. The complexity of the issue of law and cultural heritage protection during armed conflict is that it involves a variety of disciplines: anthropology, archeology, architecture, conservation, law, international affairs, politics and philosophy among others. Therefore when addressing the issue, all disciplines, as well as the many stakeholders involved, must be considered and challenged. Nevertheless, this thesis focuses on a legal analysis of cultural heritage protection during armed conflict to establish the importance that cultural heritage has on humanity at large and to emphasize the role of the international community in its safeguarding. The conceptual basis of this thesis is cultural heritage, therefore a critical analysis of the ideology associated with the terms, culture and heritage, is fundamental to understanding their development throughout time and within international legal instruments. 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