Notes on the looting of antiquities in Iraq and the memory of the west

the us-led coalition that invaded iraq on 2003 paved the road for the looting of cultural and archaeological resources of the country, which were rapidly incorporated into antiquities black markets. a critical view, as a mean to interpret the looting, points at three questions that should be addressed by historians and archaeologists, but also by political researchers: 1) the role of archaeological artifacts in middle eastern countries; 2) the ideological place that the west maintains for eastern antiquities; 3) the policies that should be followed, taking the previous points into account.