| AFP | Agence France-Presse |
| AKTC | Aga Khan Trust for Culture |
| ALIPH | International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas |
| AP | Associated Press |
| AP I | Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions |
| AP II | Additional Protocol II to the 1949 Geneva Conventions |
| AQIM | al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb |
| B/C | benefit-cost (ratios) |
| BCE | Before the Common or Christian Era |
| BRI | Belt and Road Initiative |
| BSI | Blue Shield International |
| CAVR | Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor |
| CCP | Chinese Communist Party |
| CE | Common or Christian Era |
| CEDAW | Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women |
| CESCR | Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| CNN | Cable News Network |
| CPP | cultural property protection |
| DGAM | Directorate General for Antiquities and Museums |
| EAMENA | Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa |
| ECOSOC | UN Economic and Social Council |
| EU | European Union |
| GAL | Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur |
| GDP | gross domestic product |
| HRC | Human Rights Committee |
| IAC | international armed conflict |
| ICC | International Criminal Court |
| ICCPR | International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights |
| ICCROM | International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property |
| ICESCR | International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights |
| ICG | International Crisis Group |
| ICISS | International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty |
| ICJ | International Court of Justice |
| ICOM | International Council of Museums |
| ICOMOS | International Council on Monuments and Sites |
| ICRC | International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent |
| ICTY | International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia |
| IDP | internally displaced person |
| IHL | international humanitarian law |
| ILA | International Law Association |
| IMT | International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg |
| Interpol | International Criminal Police Organization |
| IRR | internal rate of return |
| ISIL | Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
| ISIS | Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (also known as ISIL or Da’esh) |
| KFOR | NATO’s Kosovo Force |
| KLA | Kosovo Liberation Army |
| LIDAR | Light Detection and Ranging |
| LOAC | law of armed conflict |
| LTTE | Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam |
| MFAA | Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section (of the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the Allied Armies; in World War II) |
| MINUSMA | UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali |
| MOJWA | Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa |
| MOU | memorandum of understanding |
| NACLA | North American Congress on Latin America |
| NAGPRA | Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
| NGO | nongovernmental organization |
| NIAC | non-international armed conflict |
| NPV | net present value |
| NSAG | nonstate armed group |
| OHCHR | Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights |
| QIP | quick impact projects |
| R2P | responsibility to protect |
| RAC | Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historical Monuments in War Areas |
| RASHID | Research, Assessment and Safeguarding of the Heritage of Iraq in Danger |
| SAA | Society for American Archaeology |
| SCPR | Syrian Center for Policy Research |
| SHOSI | Safeguarding of the Heritage of Syria and Iraq Project |
| SOAS | School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London |
| SPLM/A | Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army |
| TCCH | Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in Cyprus |
| TRADOC | Training and Doctrine Command, US Army |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNAMI | UN Assistance Mission for Iraq |
| UNDP | UN Development Programme |
| UNDRIP | UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples |
| UNESCO | UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| UNFICYP | UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus |
| UNHCR | UN High Commissioner for Refugees [Office of the] |
| UNICEF | UN Children’s Fund |
| UNIDROIT | International Institute for the Unification of Private Law |
| UNIFIL | UN Interim Force in Lebanon |
| UNITAD | UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL |
| UNITAR | UN Institute for Training and Research |
| UNMIK | UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo |
| UNODC | UN Office on Drugs and Crime |
| UNTSO | UN Truce Supervision Organization |
| UNWCC | United Nations War Crimes Commission |
| USAID | US Agency for International Development |
| WHC | Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage |
| WTP | willingness to pay |
| XUAR | Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region |