A tale of two cities: the just war tradition and cultural heritage in times of war

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article explores the plight of cultural heritage within the just war tradition. It traces the fate of two cities seen through the eyes of just war thinkers across time: Corinth and Tenochtitlan. This provides a useful heuristic tool to explore some of the tensions related to cultural heritage in times of war: the necessity tension (the dilemmas that military planners and soldiers face when deciding whether to destroy or preserve cultural heritage sites to advance toward victory) and the civilizational paradox (who defines which sites are intrinsically valuable), but also the magnanimity principle – the positive effects that could ensue in choosing not to pursue the full range of acts the laws of war permit in times of necessity. The story developed here is largely chronological in nature, spanning ancient Rome to the eighteenth century, and is largely a jus in bello story. However, it follows two distinct streams of just war thought represented by the plight of Corinth and Tenochtitlan that converge with the idea of cultural heritage as we understand it today, articulated explicitly by Vattel in the eighteenth century. It concludes with lessons this genealogy can teach us about the perennial moral dilemmas.