1. A content delivery network (CDN) having a plurality of geographically distributed points of presence (POPs) for processing content objects, the CDN comprising: a metadata directory comprising metadata characterizing the content objects, requesters of the content objects and/or providers of the content objects; and a policy reconciliation service (PRS) coupled to the metadata directory, the PRS comprising: a policy store comprising a plurality of policies, each policy defining a process to perform on a content object, and each policy including an applicability criteria and a storage disposition; a policy manager coupled to the policy store, wherein the policy manager identifies a first policy and a second policy from the plurality of policies applicable to a first content object based on metadata in the metadata directory associated with the content object; a policy mapping store comprising a hierarchy, the hierarchy identifying a priority of one of the first policy and the second policy over the other policy of the first policy and the second policy; and a policy compiler coupled to the policy mapping store, wherein the policy compiler identifies a resolution of a conflict of the first policy and the second policy based on the hierarchy.