No environment is more challenging for militaries than a city. No form of combat is more inherently destructive than urban warfare. And yet too often, militaries are both unprepared for the challenges of cities and unable to avoid being pulled into brutal urban fights.

In Understanding Urban Warfare, readers will gain more than just an appreciation of the unique challenges of urban warfare-from the limiting effects of three-dimensional terrain on many weapon systems and the multiplicity of enemy firing points on a city street to the overarching need to minimize civilian casualties and protect critical infrastructure and cultural property. The book presents readers with new ways to understand the distinctive characteristics of a variety of cities-megacities, global cities, feral cities, and even smart cities-and how those characteristics impact military operations in urban terrain.

Readers will also be provided first-hand accounts of some of the most relevant urban battles in modern history-the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, the 2004 Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq-plus the 2020 Battle of Shusha in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and more-to illuminate trends and lessons to better understand urban warfare.

In an increasingly urban world, the future character of conflict will also be increasingly urban. This book sets out to understand that future.

Autorentext

Dr. Liam Collins is the executive director of the Madison Policy Forum, a senior fellow with New America, and a permanent member with the Council on Foreign Relations. Colonel (retired) Collins served in the US Army for 27 years. As a career Special Forces officer, he conducted multiple operational and combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, South America, and the Horn of Africa. In Iraq, Liam conducted operations in Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, and many other cities. Liam retired from the military in 2019 as the founding director of the Modern War Institute and the director of the Department of Military Instruction at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace) from the United States Military Academy, and a Master's in Public Affairs and a PhD from Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs.