Urban Warfare Project
As the world is increasingly urbanized, military forces must be prepared for cities to become battlefields. The Urban Warfare Project Podcast, from the Modern War Institute at West Point, features insightful discussions with scholars and practitioners as it sets out to explore the unique characteristics of urban warfare.
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By its very nature, urban warfare involves the presence of civilians. And when cities become battlefields, it may be necessary to evacuate noncombatants from them—either due to humanitarian imperatives or because military objectives require it. But an array of legal obligations and other considerations arise when civil
According to US military doctrine, legitimacy is one of the twelve principles of joint operations. But that concept—legitimacy—is a complex one. How is it defined? How should we understand the ways in which the laws of war, rules of engagement, national policies, and civilian harm mitigation measures overlap—and how th
In what has become a holiday tradition, the Urban Warfare Project Podcast turns its attention to an important question: What items should be on a military force's urban warfare holiday wish list? To do so, John Spencer is joined once again this year by two urban warfare scholars to discuss the unique capabilities, idea
When thousands of Hamas militants invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, there were only 110 police officers on duty spread across hundreds of square kilometers, concentrated in four police stations and several other posts. Despite their relatively small numbers, these officers played a critical role that day. On
Cities' complex man-made terrain, the presence of civilian populations and infrastructure to support those populations, a complicated information environment, and a range of political and other factors make planning for brigade and division urban operations extremely difficult. Too often, militaries rely on a limited s
From ancient Jerusalem to today's urban battlefields in Ukraine and Gaza, we can find many examples of urban conflicts that have been heavily influenced by their underground components. But how should military forces categorize subterranean spaces and consider the different functions of underground structures? How does
