Cultural Security

The following sections are included:

• Contents
• Foreword
• About the Author
• Introduction

By examining the historically progressive role of cultural property in terrorism and political violence, this chapter reveals the evolving significance of art to international security. Over the past two centuries, abuse of antiquities and fine art has evolved from the spoils of war into a medium for conducting terrorism that strives to erase the cultural heritage of “the other.” In contrast to wartime destruction and plunder, which date back millennia, the growth of the market for art and cultural artifacts over the past 50 years has created opportunities for novel abuses of cultural property. Since World War II, maturing international awareness has recognized the threat that armed conflict and looting pose to cultural property, but simultaneously, antiquities trafficking and the politics of cultural property have become tools for transnational organized crime and even terrorist groups. The resulting unique intersection of issues in art, politics, and security forms the basis for a new discipline — cultural security. Following an assessment of historical and topical security threats that suggest the need for such a discipline, the chapter concludes by speculating on international security risks that precipitate from antiquities collecting and trafficking.

International conventions that criminalize the wartime abuse of cultural property and bilateral treaties that target trafficking in antiquities reflect evolving consideration for looted art in foreign policy. Since the poignant plunder of Jewish collections by Nazi authorities, restitution of artworks has garnered political clout, and looting of developing nations during the Cold-War era compounded the significance of cultural property in international affairs. In parallel, the increasing financial volume of the art market over the past half-century has attracted the attention of transnational organized crime and has implications for the funding of terrorist groups. This chapter examines how security-intelligence services of World War II and the Cold War controlled the looting and recovery of cultural property. Related activities in the post-Cold War period suggest that applications for foreign intelligence on looted art have expanded from diplomacy to security policy.

Historically, empires recruited scholars to capture artworks as a complement to military victory. Over the past century, cultural scholars have integrated fine art and antiquities into campaigns of conquest, and assessed the political ramifications of damage to historic sites and religious monuments in military intervention. Consequently, historians, archaeologists, and legal scholars have advanced the role of cultural patrimony in international conflict from a rite of conquest to a means of combat. In World War II, art historians in the Nazi regime planned the plunder of artworks and destruction of historic structures as a tactic for conquest. During the Cold War, archaeological discoveries in developing nations enabled looting of cultural artifacts, and subsequent legal studies on the transfer of cultural property developed the value of cultural patrimony in the covert battle for control of the Third World. In the post-Cold War period, as transnational organized crime and terrorism exploit antiquities trafficking and target cultural sites in acts of political violence, scholars in international relations consider culture in security theories. Across the three periods of international conflict, cultural scholars have actively developed the tactical value of cultural patrimony and played a role in transforming the perception of plunder in the context of military victory.

The tightening interrelation of cultural property and international security — cultural security — creates a need for the collection and analysis of specialized intelligence. “Cultural intelligence” enables assessments of the tactical and strategic significance of antiquities, fine art, and cultural heritage sites to national and regional security. This chapter defines a framework for the collection of cultural intelligence as a fundamental asset in countering threats to cultural security. Looting of antiquities as a tactic in campaigns of cultural cleansing, trafficking in antiquities as a source of funding for insurgents, and targeting of historic structures and religious monuments in political violence represent distinct threats to regional security. A critical initial step in countering the threats includes marshaling appropriate sources of information. Publications that report on the art market and cultural property globally and players in the antiquities trade offer opportunities as sources of cultural intelligence. Ultimately, the development of tactical and strategic cultural intelligence can reveal trafficking networks and assess risks to cultural heritage sites. As a starting point, this chapter identifies viable sources of cultural intelligence. Conflicts in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) provide examples in retrospect, while volatility in Mali presents an opportunity in the context of an emerging security risk. In conclusion, the chapter speculates on the applications of cultural intelligence in regional security.

The market value of tribal art has implications for the risk of looting in Africa. Consequent trafficking in tribal art compromises security on the continent by eroding cultural identity, fostering public-sector corruption, and providing a source of revenue for insurgents. This chapter examines auction sales of African tribal art for the continent as a whole and by individual nations of origin. Graphical analysis of sales data from 2001 through 2009 identifies distinct market trends for temporal comparison with security in nations from which the artworks originate. The analysis suggests that collecting trends in “market nations” may reflect perceptions of security in “source nations”.

Military engagement of insurgents risks the destruction of religious monuments and historic structures, and the political and economic instability that follows armed conflict enables the looting of antiquities. In combination, threats to cultural structures and movable cultural patrimony compromise cultural security. This chapter explores the potential of the art market for open-source intelligence assessments of cultural security. A comparison of the market value of artifacts of different ethnic origins provides a measure of the risk of looting of cultural patrimony by geographic region. Intelligence assessments of the relative desirability of cultural artifacts by region of origin can inform strategic planning to mitigate looting in conflict zones and to alert security services to emerging threats of trafficking in cultural patrimony.

Reflection on the wartime treatment of artworks, historic buildings, and religious monuments since World War I reveals the compounding value of cultural property in foreign affairs. The poignant plunder of artworks during World War II has led to a history of restitution that suggests a model for the resolution of wartime art crime. The exploitation of cultural artifacts in developing nations during the Cold-War era tests the model for repatriation of antiquities, and the destruction of historic and religious monuments in the post-Cold War period offers an opportunity to apply the model in predictive analysis for strategies in foreign policy. Specific examples illustrate the maturing market value of Nazi plunder. Successful restitution cases and an expanding art market inspire repatriation of looted antiquities. The financial and political significance of artworks decades after the wartime art crime indicate that the clout of displaced cultural property in foreign affairs increases with time.

In the background of immediate threats of terrorism and political violence, a non-physical, insidious threat to international security develops. Progressive abuses against cultural heritage support campaigns of terrorism while simultaneously undermining the political credibility of targeted nations. This chapter emphasizes the need for art-centric intelligence to counter the political and financial benefits that terrorist groups gain from the erosion of cultural heritage. Primary types of erosion include the wanton destruction of cultural property in campaigns of ethnic cleansing, looting of undocumented cultural artifacts, and collateral damage to historic buildings and religious monuments during military action against terrorist groups. While all types of destruction confer political clout on terrorist groups, the wartime destruction and looting of cultural artifacts directly impact nations that combat terrorism. During armed conflict, intervening nations incur political liability by negligently damaging cultural property. Similarly, “collecting nations” incur political liability as private collectors and museums encourage erosion of cultural heritage by creating a viable market for looted antiquities. Through an informal proposal for an artintelligence program, this chapter examines immediate political risks engendered by the physical erosion of cultural heritage and speculates on evolving threats to international security as terrorist groups capitalize on the intangible value of manipulating cultural identity.

The tightening interrelation of cultural patrimony and regional security characterizes the relevance of cultural security to foreign policy. Targeting of religious monuments in political violence and political backlash against collateral damage of historic sites illustrate the hard and soft power that derives from cultural patrimony. Monetarily, trafficking in antiquities and tribal art demonstrates the value of cultural patrimony to transnational organized crime and insurgencies that may derive funding from looting. The risks of political violence and looting also present opportunities for engagement. Policy on the protection of religious monuments in conflict and interdiction of post-conflict looting of archaeological sites can garner goodwill in regions of political interest, and the development of intelligence on the market for antiquities can provide insights for leveraging cultural patrimony in strategies for counterinsurgency and, optimally, for mitigating the risk of conflict.

In May 2012, The Scream by Edvard Munch set a record for the most expensive painting sold at auction. The $120 million sale at Sotheby's in New York illustrated a trend in record prices for artworks at auction and in private sales. At the same time, members of the al-Qaeda-linked group Ansar Dine started to target mausoleums of Sufisaints in Timbuktu, Mali, and conflict in Syria continued to compromise cultural heritage with the looting of the well preserved Crusader castle, Krak des Chevaliers. The purchase of The Scream and the destruction of the historic monuments represent extremes that derive from the perceived value of art and the strategic value of cultural heritage…

The following sections is included:

• Index