The Efficacy of International Cultural Heritage Law: A Critical Examination of its Application to the Terrorist-led Destruction of Cultural Heritage in the Middle East.

This thesis will be examining the efficacy of international cultural heritage law and its application to the terrorist-led destruction of cultural heritage. Over the past two decades, there has been a sharp increase in the terrorist-led destructions of cultural heritage, specifically in the Middle East. Such destructions rapidly drew the world’s attention as a direct result of the obliterations of the past and also through the effective use of both international and social media by organisations such as the Taliban and ISIS (Harmansah 2015). The ferocious attempt by both the Taliban and ISIS to obliterate history is an endeavour to legitimise the extremist ideologies which they promote, as well as establish their control over a population and to negate their history, heritage, and the identity of a civilisation (Turku 2018: 4). The key aim of this thesis is to examine the efficacy of international cultural heritage law in the terrorist-led destruction of archaeology in the Middle East. The research will be conducted through desk-based analysis, as current events and the still dangerous nature of the countries being discussed prevent any first-hand observations. Specific heritage laws will be identified and interrogated in association with the four case studies