Cultural Property: A 21st Century Military Challenge. International Conference and Research Workshop
— POSTPONED DUE TO COVID19 —
International Conference and Research Workshop
Cultural Property: A 21st Century Military Challenge
30 - 31 March 2020, NATO Headquarter, Brussels, Belgium.
Organiser: Nordic Center for Cultural Heritage and Armed Conflict in cooperation with the Canadian and Italian Permanent Delegations to NATO and with support from the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme.
Concern for the destructive effect of armed conflict on Cultural Property stands as a core NATO value as enshrined in the the preamble to the North Atlantic Treaty and as further expressed in the Alliance’s strong commitment to international humanitarian law. NATO remains dedicated to continue its efforts in the field of Cultural Property Protection as part of the Protection of Civilians mechanism and the comprehensive approach to crisis. Hence, NATO has made good progress in developing a NATO approach to addressing the crosscutting challenges related to Cultural Property in NATO operations and missions. In fact, today NATO stands as the leading organisation in developing a military approach to the implementation the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols.
Recent developments in international and non-international armed conflicts have in various ways pushed the military relevance of objects, buildings, sites and landscapes of significant cultural, historic and artistic value, viz. so-called ‘Cultural Property’, beyond the topic of protection and further into the domain of international security including military strategy and tactics – bringing new challenges to NATO operations and missions.
This raises the question to what extent NATO would benefit from adopting a NATO policy on CPP and what the scope of such a policy could be.
To contribute to the discussion in NATO of this issue, the NATO SPS supported workshop focuses on a number of issues related to Cultural Property Protection (CPP) in NATO, centering on the following questions:
What has been achieved so far in NATO in terms of building readiness within the Alliance to address CPP challenges?
What is the relationship between CPP and the Protection of Civilians in the context of NATO Human Security Framework?
How may Cultural Property be exploited as a tool of hybrid warfare?
How does Article 5 high-intensity warfare scenarios affect the international protection regime applicable to cultural property?
How significant is the link - frequently addressed by the United Nations Security Council - between the looting of cultural sites and the financing of terrorism?
What are the options for NATO to deepen the cooperation with other organisations on this matter?
Provisional agenda
30 March (Parker Airport Hotel)
11.00 – 17.00 Preperatory Expert Workshops
31 March (NATO Headquarters)
08.00 – 09.30 High-Level Breakfast Discussion hosted by the Canadian and Italian Delegations to NATO
10.00 – 17.00 Conference open to NATO and other international organisations