By physician John P. Sullivan
Urban warfare is increasingly beingness recognized every bit a characteristic of contemporary as well as time to come war. Indeed, successfully negotiating urban operations is an imperative every bit the “era of urban warfare is already here.” This directly as well as time to come operational infinite is fraught amongst challenges every bit described inwards the previous essays inwards this series. These challenges include the complexity of operating inwards urban terrain ranging from tunnels, to vertical spaces, population density as well as various demographics, sprawl, architectural as well as political complexity, culminating inwards humanitarian challenges. Add to this: environmental as well as ecological challenges, such every bit hazardous materials disasters, as well as famine as well as resources scarcity resulting from urban fighting. Urban Convergence
The urban operational infinite (‘opspace’) is 1 of ‘convergence’. As whatsoever ‘beat cop’ that has patrolled an urban setting tin attest the variety of urban terrain demands a flexible as well as adaptive approach to working the streets—and subways as well as high-rise structures ranging from role towers to housing projects. This convergence is ofttimes nearly visible during critical events as well as disasters. These arrive at from ‘bush’ fires at the urban-wildland interface exacerbated past times sprawl to harm to urban infrastructure every bit seen inwards Hurricanes Sandy as well as Katrina through the collapse of high-rise structures every bit seen inwards the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. All of these events involved complex, multidisciplinary, multi-agency responses as well as long-term health, environmental, as well as social consequences for the cities impacted.
Another variety of terrain convergence is the ‘urban-littoral’ battlespace convergence. While Hurricanes as well as tsunamis illustrate the risks accompanying urban evolution inwards littoral zones, littoral combat brings an additional laid of complexity. Littoral zones—or the coastal regions—are the nearly populous on the planet. They are besides dwelling to nearly megacities as well as of course of written report the world’s seaports. The fragility of coastal cities when combined amongst their economical significance makes them probable sites of time to come urban conflict. As 1 trenchant Australian Army analysis noted, urban littoral combat brings the “worst of both worlds.” This convergence applies to both urban terrorism—as seen inwards the infiltration of the Bombay attackers for the 2008 urban siege/swarming assault on 26/11—and urban warfighting at seaports as well as their cities.
Urban-Cyber Convergence
Next comes cyber-urban convergence where the urban domain interacts amongst the cyber realm. The final result is a laid of novel engineering challenges that complicate the urban opspace. Drones, swarms of drones, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) aiding intelligence, surveillance, as well as reconnaissance, every bit good every bit command command as well as communications—cumulatively C4ISR—for all parties of the conflict. Drones, patch mostly bringing intelligence capabilities to non-state actors tin besides accomplish kinetic potentials. Houthi rebels inwards Republic of Yemen are deploying armed UAVs to assault Saudi as well as Emirati troops as well as lethal anti tank drone ambushes evoke “Shades of Grozny” where Chechen guerrillas decimated columns of Russian armor. Suicide or ‘kamikaze drones’ compliment the mix of capabilities. The threat of terrorist drones beingness deployed against cities is real.
The terrorist drone potential would endure enhanced if it employs swarms of drones or is used to leverage chemical as well as biological attacks. As operational urban warfare scholar John Spencer noted, ISIS used off-the-shelf drones every bit “grenade launchers, kamikaze, bombers, decoys as well as aerial ‘eyes inwards the sky’ increasing their might to find, target as well as attack” opposition forces. This capability volition endure expanded when drone swarms are added to the mix amongst drones becoming forcefulness multipliers past times enhancing the might to seat adversaries patch maintaining concealment as well as protection. In a graphic illustration of drones deployed against critical infrastructure Greenpeace crashed an unarmed drone into a French nuclear reactor to highlight peril to nuclear facilities. All combatants that gain aerial drone superiority tin exploit this capability. Artificial intelligence (AI) as well as lethal automated weapons systems (LAWS) besides hope to alter the urban battlespace. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross has warned of terrorist job of AI as well as both urban terrorists as well as conventional combatants are probable to comprehend AI every bit it becomes a mature technology. Quite simply, drones as well as AI will—and are—changing the confront of urban battle.
Global Cities-Global Slums
The convergence of offense as well as state of war is the terminal urban convergence. Here, criminal bands—gangs, cartels, militias—wage battle inwards irregular conflicts amongst both criminal rivals as well as the state. The gangsters’ battlespace ranges from narco-cities inwards United Mexican States to Brazil’s favelas. Many of the world’s global slums are dwelling to gangs that at times move incubators for child soldiers. Farhad Khosrokhavar has examined this social dynamic inwards the evolution of jihadis inwards the banlieues of French Republic asserting that 'poor districts' (i.e., slums) tin move hotbeds of Jihadism. He called the province of affairs 1 of a ‘jihadogenous urban structure’. Similar dynamics drawing youths into criminal enterprises or the ‘crime-terror’ nexus be inwards global slums throughout the world.
This complex social terrain of conflict has turned contested cities inwards the Middle East into ‘Stalingrads’ every bit Antônio Sampaio reminds us: “The New Frontlines Are inwards the Slums.” As Mike Davis illustrated inwards Planet of Slums, the world’s slums are potential incubators of non exclusively conflict but besides innovation. That is they are non exclusively potential venues for conflict but besides potential venues of reconciliation as well as peacemaking. This brand agreement feral cities as well as “Global cities – global gangs” a critical chemical constituent inwards successful urban operations.
Operating inwards Cities as well as Megacities
Cities as well as megacities volition dominate time to come armed services as well as peacekeeping operations. As stated inwards the opening essay of this series, PRC is dwelling to mega cities as well as emerging megacity complexes that hope to reshape the time to come of urban warfighting. Indeed, PRC is reconfiguring into a serial of interlocking metropolitan mega-conurbations. These clusters are restructuring the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta as well as mega-city corridors along China’s coast every bit good every bit inwards the interior. The final result is expected to endure 19 mega-cities forming novel super-regions. One of these super-regions inwards the Pearl Delta is expected to concealment 42,00 foursquare miles as well as surface area larger than the Netherlands. The mega-cities are beingness linked past times a dense network of high-speed rails as well as commercial infrastructure. Competition amid the regions is a distinct possibility despite the intent of the Chinese Communist political party to sustain hegemonic control. Similar mega-city clusters are emerging—or are probable to emerge—in other parts of Asia as well as Africa. Understanding these novel patterns of evolution demands intense written report of emerging urban political economic scheme as well as conflict.
Peacekeeping inwards cities volition endure an of import component of this mix. Integrating policing, humanitarian considerations, as well as agreement of communities to create opportunities for peace as well as governance requires the evolution of novel skills.
The urban opspace volition house pregnant demand on commanders, their subordinate leaders, as well as operators. Major John Spencer has articulated the demand for a USA Army urban warfare school to address this need. Such a schoolhouse would exercise goodness from the evolution of counterparts for other services: the navy, coast guard as well as marines for urban-littoral operations (as amphibious as well as riverine operations inwards cities may move necessary) as well as the air forcefulness (and naval as well as marine air) for unopen air support—picture a drone enabled Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Similar learning capabilities would endure beneficial at allied militaries (and amongst gendarmerie as well as constabulary partners) since combined urban operations are besides probable inwards the future.
Conclusion: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 New Grammar for Urban Strategy
Michael Evans inwards his essay “War as well as the City inwards the New Urban Century” advised that grooming as well as engineering would endure essential to addressing urban insurgency as well as urban armed services operations. The nexus betwixt insurgency as well as urbanization that he described is increasingly important; every bit is his recognition that cities are sites of strategic importance. This ‘strategic commons’ is punctuated past times the interplay of global cities as well as global slums. These are the venues of Mary Kaldor’s ‘New Wars’ as well as they demand non exclusively the evolution of venues for grooming as well as exercising but the evolution of non exclusively what Alice Hills would telephone band a ‘new grammar’ for addressing urban operations but besides a novel theory of urban strategy to ensure “Command of the Cities.”d
New Wars inwards the City: Global Cities – Global Slums
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