Difficulties with Cultural Heritage Management in Syria: Daesh, UNESCO, and Eurocentrism

This paper will discuss the difficulties with cultural heritage management in Syria, arguing that while all cultural heritage sites deserve to be protected in times of war, global attention and preservation efforts are disproportionately focused on celebrity sites which leaves vernacular sites unprotected and unknown. Therefore, in times of conflict, it is essential to adopt more inclusive heritage management so that more sites and communities are protected. To prove this, this paper will analyze two case studies in Syria, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Palmyra and the Armenian Holy Martyrs Church, and the differences in the global attention they received when they were each destroyed.