Perspectives on Cultural Heritage: Research, Practice, Policy
The report is the product of a convening held in Washington D.C. with the Smithsonian Institution in April 2015 (full event recap, photos, and video).
The Rape of Mesopotamia: Behind the Looting of the Iraq Museum
On April 10, 2003, as the world watched a statue of Saddam Hussein come crashing down in the heart of Baghdad, looters attacked the Iraq National Museum. Despite the presence of an American tank unit, the pillaging went unchecked, and more than 15,000 artifacts – some of the oldest evidence of human culture – disappeared into the shadowy worldwide market in illicit antiquities. Since then the losses of antiquities in Iraq have increased, and include half a million artifacts that had previously been unexcavated.
Antiquities Under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War
This book contains the first full published account of the disasters that have befallen Iraq's cultural heritage after the removal of Saddam Hussein. It analyzes why the array of laws and international conventions, the advocacy efforts of cultural heritage organizations, and the military planning and implementation of cultural protection operations all failed, and continue to fail, to prevent massive and irreversible loss.
The Case for Changes in International Law in the Aftermath of the 2003 Gulf War
The 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was written in response to the large-scale intentional destruction and damage to cultural property perpetrated by Nazi Germany during World War II. Following the Balkan Wars, the Convention was updated in its Second Protocol of 1999. Despite this updating, the 2003 war and subsequent occupation of Iraq have demonstrated additional shortcomings of the Convention and its Protocols.
The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1999 Second Protocol
The presentation will focus on the comparisons between and contributions of provisions related to safeguarding of and respect for generally protected cultural property under the 1954 Hague Convention and its Second Protocol.