The Growing Role and Responsibilities of UNESCO in the Field of Preserving Historic and Cultural Heritage

Abstract

UNESCO is the world's largest intergovernmental forum on humanitarian cooperation and offers an alternative way of maintaining bonds among nations. The article examines its growing role and responsibility in the protection and preservation of cultural and historic monuments. The research objective was to determine the role of UNESCO in preserving such monuments, developing measures for their protection, and sustaining historical truth. The research methods included a system-based analysis with its functional and empiric methods. The system-based analysis made it possible to consider interrelated aspects of UNESCO's functioning, approach the matter as a range of problems within a single process, and identify the basic characteristics of UNESCO's policy evolution in the sphere of world heritage conservation. The research also used achievements of political science, diplomacy, history, and international relations. The approach also allowed the author to examine the main tools used by UNESCO, as well as to highlight its current priorities and directions. To analyze the political reality, the author employed such empirical methods as monitoring and study of documents. The author focused on the matters of international cooperation and mutual responsibility of the members the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. The research attempted to identify the most important tasks of Russia in this direction. In the current challenging context, UNESCO has to find a conceptual niche and respond without compromise to any attempts to destroy its basic principles or to politicize its work.