Iraq’s cultural heritage, which includes historical sites and artefacts as well as intangible traditions, has been degraded by conflict and sectarianism since 2003. At the same time, competitive exploitation of cultural assets by political elites presents an obstacle to more effective heritage preservation.
Iraq’s post-2003 politics continues to alter the country’s cultural landscape. Muhasasa – the sectarian quota arrangement pursued by US occupation forces and their partners for the management of the country’s politics, power and revenues – has resulted in the division and exploitation of Iraq’s cultural heritage. The management of cultural heritage has shifted in large part from the central state authorities to new post-2003 institutions. Large swathes of the country’s heritage are now controlled by competing ethno-nationalist, religious and political actors. Exploitation of this rich cultural heritage by political and religious groups has been fundamentally detrimental to the social and cultural fabric of Iraq, reflecting profound failings on the part of both the political system and international partners. The mechanisms, modalities and impacts of cultural heritage exploitation in Iraq are the subject of this paper.
Cultural heritage does not exist in a void, nor does it matter to the past only. In Iraq, it has become integral to the present-day operation of politics, particularly at the highest echelons of power. This paper develops a policy-relevant framework for understanding cultural heritage as a significant component of politics in Iraq today, and for setting parameters to improve heritage management in the future. For this purpose, the concept of ‘heritage predation’ – defined as the destructive exploitation of cultural resources for political purposes – is introduced here and its repercussions assessed.
Iraq is privileged to possess more than 15,000 archaeological sites and many more heritage and religious buildings, monuments and historic centres, as well as nationally significant archives, manuscripts, cultural artefacts, paintings and art. Yet it is suffering from cultural loss at unprecedented rates. ‘Intangible heritage’ – an embodiment of people’s identities and Iraq’s rich history and shared cultures – is being eroded at a similar pace. This paper contends that these losses, and the appropriation of Iraq’s cultural heritage by political elites, are not only the outcome of dictatorship and conflict, but also the result of the post-2003, elite-based sectarian power-sharing system, which in large part is premised on the politicization and fracturing of the country’s diverse identities and culture.
Decades of neglect, sanctions and conflict – including factors such as the US occupation and the rise of Islamic State (ISIS) – have taken a heavy toll on Iraq’s cultural heritage. This much is well known. However, much less attention has been paid to the ways in which cultural resources have been divided between religious and political elites aiming to entrench their presence and rule. Cultural heritage is in fact a primary arena of state contestation; it can therefore illuminate much about a country’s internal dynamics. Specifically, the concept of heritage predation – which illuminates how key centres of political and religious power are reshaping Iraq’s cultural heritage – provides an entry point into discussions about the country’s future.
Crucially, the manipulation of Iraq’s cultural heritage is designed not only to legitimize political and religious groups but ultimately to reshape Iraq itself in line with the priorities of post-2003 religious and ethno-nationalist interests. Case studies of heritage predation abound in Iraq. Examples in this paper – from Babil, Baghdad, Erbil, Mosul and Samarra, among many others – show how cultural heritage has been recrafted to serve the objectives of sectarian actors seeking to shape society for their own ends.
What could and should be a common resource for developing society-wide amicable relations is instead subject to systematic and predatory exploitation, leading to the enrichment and empowerment of narrow interest groups and the alienation of many citizens from Iraq’s shared cultures and communities. The fragmentation of cultural heritage reflects the country’s own political fractures. These include the creation of autonomous heritage-related institutions, particularly in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), and the rise of religious endowments that promote subnational ethnic and religious interests. As a result, narratives of exclusion and the promotion of religious and cultural differences have become central to how politics is conducted, a key characteristic of heritage predation. Communities and society at large have become increasingly apprehensive about the ways in which cultural and religious heritage, and more broadly narratives about the past, have been instrumentalized by political elites.
Prior to 2003, the central state managed and controlled Iraq’s cultural heritage. While all of Iraq’s cultural property and cultural heritage is in theory still the property of the state, the combination of multiple custodians, competing legal frameworks and rival interests complicates prospects for nation-building, the safeguarding of cultural resources and the development of a sustainable post-oil economy. Even in the context of the ongoing cultural emergency in Iraq – arising from the massive damage inflicted since 2003 – the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities and other central state institutions do not have sufficient financial support to deliver basic services such as security at major archaeological sites, emergency conservation, documentation and cultural safeguarding.
Iraq is forced instead to rely on foreign organizations and funders, whose interests are often circumscribed and short-term, and are not always aligned to Iraq’s own needs. In many cases, these same US and European institutions have bypassed Iraqi laws and worked with Iraqi subnational actors without state approval or knowledge. This paper offers examples of how cultural heritage is also a national sovereignty issue. In many cases – and particularly in the KRI – US and European heritage programmes, including excavations and cultural rehabilitation projects, have normalized Iraq’s fragmentation by ignoring and excluding domestic state institutions and legal frameworks. Such interventions are often another form of exploitation. For example, international heritage institutions have benefited from the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars since the destruction wrought by ISIS from 2014 onwards, but outputs on the ground have generally not reflected this investment.
Heritage predation involves intentional historical erasure with a view to ensuring that cultural heritage is remade in accordance with political interests.
Significantly, heritage predation – whether in the KRI or the rest of the country – is tied to the construction of new histories. Saddam Hussein pursued major state-funded projects aimed at rewriting Iraq’s history, with a view to promoting his own vision for the country. Similarly, the post-2003 elites – namely Kurdish and Shia political groups – have engaged in expansive rewritings of history, using such projects to justify their own political actions and control of the Iraqi state.
Another dimension of the problem can be seen in the rapid growth of political party-controlled universities, at the expense of intellectual and academic independence. In an increasing number of cases, master’s and PhD students (particularly in social sciences and humanities) are being asked to revise their theses in line with political diktats. In the field of cultural heritage specifically, political interference has ranged from cultural appropriation and historical fabrication to the partial or complete erasure and restructuring of cultural and religious sites. Identities have similarly been exploited by political elites within the muhasasa political system, encouraging separatist state-building projects that have destabilized the country.
Interventions to manipulate cultural heritage generally involve more than one of the above elements and include changes to physical as well as intangible cultural heritage. Whether through state-sanctioned actions, legal mechanisms, or the sectarian and religious political mobilization of public support, heritage predation involves intentional historical erasure with a view to ensuring that cultural heritage is remade in accordance with political interests.
Reversing this transformation of Iraq’s public cultural and religious assets – as well as addressing the widespread neglect of and lack of government support for institutions such as the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) – should be a priority for policymakers and cultural/archaeological institutions. So too should addressing the lack of official support for civil society, educational and other concerned institutions.
Unless new strategies are devised and delivered, and the non-partisan preservation of cultural heritage is elevated to the highest levels of domestic and international policymaking, Iraq’s current political trajectory will lead to a further degradation of cultural resources and social harmony. This paper aims to serve as a wake-up call not only to those concerned with cultural heritage per se, but also to national and international institutions, donors, governments and other key actors concerned with the wider stability and future of Iraq and the Middle East.
