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11 Chi.-Kent J. Int'l & Comp. L. 1 (2011)
Culture Wars: Protection of Cultural Monuments in a Human Rights Context

handle is hein.journals/chkjicl11 and id is 188 raw text is: CULTURE WARS: PROTECTION OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS IN A HUMAN RIGHTS CONTEXT By: Kruti J. Patel I. INTRODUCTION A nation's internal conflicts are often about cultural supremacy. Conflicts between cultures are far more dangerous than conflicts between states because, while states understand the language of diplomacy, parties involved in a cultural conflict often do not. Many times the differences between cultural blocks in a nation are so strong that they prevent any negotiations towards a truce. Fueled by a fundamentalist mindset, conflicts between different cultural groups frequently become deadly and destructive, often because the goal of the conflict is to attain victory by eradicating of the conflicting culture. Ultimately, many culture wars are about creating a homogeneous national identity. Attacking the physical manifestations of the conflicting culture is one of the most tempting tools of cultural warfare.1 While civil wars, like the Kosovo war, provide a clear example of cultural conflicts under international law, the more interesting and difficult situations do not rise to the level of civil wars, such as the Babri Mosque Riots in India, or the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. With respect to the protection of culture objects, international law is at its weakest where hostilities do not rise to the level of civil war. International law recognizes the importance of protecting cultural property as both the heritage of a specific group and of all humankind.2 However, the driving force behind the major international cultural property preservation and protection agreements is the idea thatcultural 1 KEvIN CHAMBERLAIN, WAR AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 2 (2004). 2 John Henry Merryman, The F ree International Movement of Cultural Property, 31 N.Y.U. J. INT'L L. & POL. 1, 10-12 (1998). 1

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