The preserving cultural heritage problem in the Republic of Mali from an international politics perspective

In this paper, the author considers the problem of preserving cultural heritage in the zone of armed conflicts. The destruction of cultural values by terrorist groups is a very urgent problem in modern international relations. It is sad to realize that the destruction of historical heritage of the world is now actively used as a tool of soft power. Thus, the number of cultural heritage sites under threat is increasing year after year. As a prime example, the work considers the situation in the Republic of Mali, where a number of historical and religious heritage sites in the city of Timbuktu were destroyed during the armed conflict that began in 2012. The uniqueness of this example lies in the decision of the International Criminal Court in 2016, which recognized the destruction of cultural heritage as a war crime. The emerging positive trend in this issue, however, does not cover all the problems. Preservation of cultural heritage sites still requires a comprehensive approach.