Protecting Cultural Heritage in the Mediterranean Region: Identifying Threats to, and Solutions for, Cultural Property Protection

In the 21st century culture is under constant threat. All over the world art, antiquities, archaeological sites and heritage institutions are in danger. Cultural Heritage (CH), and the Cultural Property (CP) that forms part of it, has an emotional element that connects individuals, communities and nations with their past, an educational element that teaches humankind about where they have come from and where they may be going, and a commercial value that can vary massively from the country from where it is extracted, to the country it is ultimately sold in.

Through an extensive series of interviews with expert stakeholders from the UK, US, Europe and around the Mediterranean, who work in a broad range of occupations, this thesis will demonstrate an accurate understanding of the problem and produce realistic and practical solutions to resolve, or at least mitigate, some of the current threats to CP and challenges to cultural property protection (CPP). Using the Mediterranean as a case study the information from these interviews will build an understanding of the environment and how it is exacerbating the destruction of CP, and how the conditions for people in that environment enable the exploitation of CP. It will then explore the varied risks and threats to CP, both human and natural, and how they impact CP’s safe-being. Next it will evaluate the responses of law enforcement through agencies and national police forces in their attempts to conduct CPP, but also appraise the impact of specialist units that are tasked with protecting CP specifically. By evaluating the government, European Union, governmental agencies and the civilian responses by professionals, archaeologists, and non-governmental organisations it will review the impact they have through the work they do and whether their efforts are being applied in the right way. Finally, utilising the research accrued in the previous chapters, examine the ways in which cultural heritage and property (CH/P) can best be protected, and produce a solution to limit CP destruction in the future. Considering responses is not new (Brinkman, 2006; Gibbon, 2005; Fiedler, 1996), but this thesis will recommend a strategic, operational and tactical solution framework, and it will also propose the knowledge, skills and experience (KSE) required to make someone successful in a career in CPP.

By interviewing such a diverse workforce this research will harness the passion and knowledge of individuals, organisations, and institutions and use this data effectively. Only by channelling efforts into one cohered enterprise can a real advance be made towards a future where the safety and preservation of CP is guaranteed for generations to come.