A Pearl in Peril: Heritage and Diplomacy in Turkey explores the relationship between an urban core and her rural hinterland. Known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean, Izmir is Turkey’s third largest city with a vast and changing countryside. Luke investigates Izmir’s hinterland in the context of its vexed and contested past as well as its burgeoning future. From the Greek “Big Idea” (Megali Idea) that foreshadowed the “Asia Minor Catastrophe” to Turkey’s first post–World War I International Fair in 1923 and the design of Izmir’s Kültürpark, this study probes the pivoting place of cultural heritage in the countryside of Izmir, from Classical ruins to active industrial landscapes. Case studies reveal contested negotiations and the legacies of the extraction industry, archaeologists, and the League of Nations; the untold story of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s project in the Aegean and open intelligence at the Izmir International Fairs; the effects at Sardis from Abu Simbel’s exorbitant price tag; and the relationship between organic olives, the European Union, highway expansion, and the preservation of Bin Tepe, Turkey’s largest royal burial. These examples illustrate the art of negotiation and diplomatic practice in archaeology as reflected in treaties, development dollars, and corporatism from the late nineteenth century to current day. Future centennial events of the League of Nations in 2020 and the Republic of Turkey in 2023 offer opportunities for reflection of Europe’s promise, Turkey’s vision, and the global context of heritage studies, human rights, and agendas of development.