Heritage under Attack : motives for targeting cultural property during armed conflict

Although attacks on cultural property have caused international outcry,our understanding of this phenomenon is still limited. In particular, littleresearch has been directed towards exploring the motivations for suchattacks. Therefore, we ask: What are the motives for attacking sites, buildingsor objects representing cultural heritage? By combining insights from peaceand conflict research with findings from heritage studies we present atypology of motivations for attacking cultural property. We identify four,not mutually exclusive, broad groups of motives: (i) attacks related to conflictgoals, in which cultural property is targeted because it is connected to theissue the warring parties are fighting over (ii), military-strategic attacks, inwhich the main motivation is to win tactical advantages in the conflict (iii),signalling attacks, in which cultural property is targeted as a low-risk targetthat signals the commitment of the aggressor, and (iv) economic incentiveswhere cultural property provides funding for warring parties. Our typologyoffers a theoretical structure for research about why, when, and by whom,cultural property is targeted. This is not only likely to provide academicbenefits, but also to contribute to the development of more effective toolsfor the protection of cultural property during armed conflict.Attacks on Cultural Heritages: Causes and Consequences Examined from a Multidisciplinary Perspectiv