AC Executive Director Tess Davis Featured on CFR’s “Why It Matters” Podcast
August 25, 2020
Each episode of the Council on Foreign Relations “Why It Matters” Podcast breaks down an issue that is shaping our world’s future. On August 25, AC Executive Director Tess Davis joined Dr. Amr Al Azm (Professor of History and Anthropology, Shawnee State University) and host Gabrielle Sierra to discuss “Treasures Looted During War.”
“As long as we have had tombs, we’ve had tomb raiders. As long as there have been civilizations, there’s been an army waiting on the next hill to come in and plunder them. We’ve seen throughout history that culture has always been a weapon of war. It starts in places like war-torn Cambodia, war-torn Cyprus, war-torn Iraq or Yemen or Libya, the list goes on and on. And this is funding conflict, it is funding terrorism, and it’s certainly funding crime around the world which is why everyone should care about it, regardless of whether they’re interested in culture or the arts or preservation.” Tess Davis, Executive Director of the AC.
The episode covers cultural heritage during war, antiquities looting and trafficking, terrorist financing, international conventions and legal frameworks, global museums, and more.
Listen to the episode and dig deeper with linked resources here.