International regulation of historic buildings and nationalism: the role of Unesco

This article focuses on the (ambiguous) relations between nationalism and international regulation of historic buildings. There are several tensions and reciprocal influences in this field: nationalistic policies operate sometimes nudged by, sometimes against international regulation, as well as sometimes in favour of, sometimes diminishing the protection of historic buildings. The analysis deals with what is usually considered the most suitable standpoint to unpack such problems: the activity of UNESCO. From this perspective, two different forms of intervention can be distinguished. The first one is the creation of a world heritage of outstanding universal value. The second one relates to the UNESCO recommendations aimed at protecting historic urban landscape. The article shows that UNESCO seems to favour both political and cultural forms of nationalism: this could significantly affect the nationalistic use of historic buildings, and, on a broader level, produce relevant effects on the very idea of Nation