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UNESCO, world heritage and the gridlock over Yemen
journal contribution
posted on 2020-07-13, 00:00 authored by L Meskell, Benjamin IsakhanBenjamin IsakhanSince March 2015, the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen has had devastating consequences for the country, its people and its rich cultural heritage. This article traces the responses of the world’s foremost multilateral body concerned with heritage promotion and protection, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Drawing on extensive interviews, archival research and long-term ethnographic research on UNESCO itself and, more specifically, its responses to the war in Yemen, it documents UNESCO’s profound failures in protecting Yemen’s heritage and in confronting the Saudi-led coalition. To do so, the article utilises the framework of ‘gridlock’ to analyse how and why multilateral bodies such as UNESCO become hamstrung in confronting powerful member states in conflict. The article concludes by arguing that UNESCO’s failures in Yemen hold powerful lessons about the role of multilateral institutions in addressing conflict.
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Journal
Third World QuarterlyPagination
1 - 16Publisher
Taylor & FrancisLocation
Abingdon, Eng.Publisher DOI
ISSN
0143-6597eISSN
1360-2241Language
engPublication classification
C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2020, Global South Ltd.Usage metrics
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