In recent years, the deliberate targeting of cultural heritage in armed conflicts
has been receiving a bigger attention than ever before. Although the phenomenon is
not new, the international shock and outrage provoked by the systematic and widely
broadcasted iconoclastic destruction and large-scale looting perpetrated by ISIL
(also known as Daesh or Islamic State) after expanding its control over territories
with a rich millennial heritage in Iraq and Syria, led to an increasing international
awareness about the need of an efficient protection regime. The present paper
seeks to collect and analyse the political decisions and measures takenby different
international organisations (especially UN Security Council, UNESCO) and the proactive
role of certain states (particularly France, Italy) in influencing the international
agenda primarily in reaction to the violent acts of ISIL against cultural heritage,
arguing that there is a stronger political commitment than ever before at an international
level for establishing effective norms as well as institutional, financial and
military tools as regards prevention, mitigation and retribution for preserving
the cultural heritage of humanity in times of armed conflicts, raising the field gradually
to the international security agenda at the same time.
