Abstract This chapter uses the insights gained from previous chapters to outline the bright and dark sides of international heritage law, particularly as seen from the perspective of communities’ engagement with their own heritage and the legal structures around it. This chapter argues that, while there have been tremendous achievements in the field of international heritage law under UNESCO’s tutelage, each one of these achievements has brought with it unintended consequences that we need to be mindful of if we are to continue constructive engagement with the field. This chapter, while setting these bright and dark sides in pairs, should not be read as creating dualities but rather as dialectically bridging concepts, and showing cause and effect: every bright side casts a shadow, which needs our attention.