Protecting Cultural Heritage in Times of Conflict: Lessons from Iraq

The past as taught in schools around the world still focuses on what differentiates us rather than what we have in common. This is surely an increasingly important issue as the world appears to be dividing into antagonistic camps that refuse to comprehend each other. We need, in the words of the British archaeologist David Clarke, to “come of age”—and to influence school curricula. We also need to influence general public understanding of the past and its importance and we need to focus attention on groups in society that have particular roles in protection of sites: for example the military.