Consolidating Peace and Security: R2P and the Institutional Dynamics of Protecting Heritage During Armed Conflict
Consolidating Peace and Security: R2P and the Institutional Dynamics of Protecting Heritage During Armed Conflict

Summary/Abstract: The protection of heritage is a security issue recognised by United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 2347. The resolution acknowledges the importance of cultural property for peace and security, and underlines the central role of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in international efforts to protect heritage during armed conflicts. Rooted in the UN’s broader commitment to shield populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing, the safeguarding of cultural property has also become relevant in the context of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). This article analyses UNESCO’s and the Security Council’s argumentation surrounding the adoption of Resolution 2347 in 2017, examining how the shared commitment to protect heritage against atrocities reflects aspirations to protect vulnerable populations under R2P and problematises the standard division of labour within the United Nations system. The article concludes that while the agendas of R2P and heritage protection appear compatible and mutually supportive, in practice they are both defined and constrained by the challenge posed by state sovereignty. Moreover, despite the unanimous acknowledgment of heritage protection as a humanitarian and security imperative, it remains unclear whether the resolution perceives the threat to international peace and security as stemming primarily from the deliberate destruction of cultural heritage, or from terrorist activity financed through the plundering of such property. This ambiguity highlights the internal division between the two UN actors: the first reading echoes the heritage governance rhetoric characteristic of UNESCO, while the latter frames counterterrorism as part of the global heritage protection agenda, thereby legitimising the Security Council’s involvement.

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