In the conflicts of the 21st century, the deliberate destruction of tangible cultural heritage has become a strategy of war. This is due to the identitarian policies of the violent actors of the new wars and the important role of cultural heritage for collective identity. The systematic destruction of cultural property contributes to the identitary homogenization of societies and, as cultural cleansing, represents a central part of the strategies of ethnic cleansing. Furthermore, in the decentralized, globalized economies of these new wars, the illicit trafficking of antiquities has become an important source of income for non-state actors and especially for terrorist organizations. At the same time, this business activity contributes to cultural cleansing by stealing the past from affected peoples and accelerating the disintegration of societies. The Islamic State applied the strategy of cultural cleansing in the areas under its control in Syria and Iraq to a considerable extent and the illicit trafficking of cultural property was a considerable source of income at that time. Moreover, the organization was able to use modern means of communication to propagandistically spread its destructive actions for benefitting its purposes.
