In every operation, the functions of command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and communications are all fundamental to success. But in cities, the dense population, many manmade structures, and other challenges act to severely impede these functions in several ways. This monograph contemplates the nature of those challenges and proposes several recommendations to surmount them in both the short and longer terms.

Warfare has migrated into cities. From Mosul to Mumbai, Aleppo to Marawi, the major military battles of the twenty-first century have taken place in densely populated urban areas. Why has this happened? What are the defining characteristics of urban warfare today? What are its military and political implications? Leading sociologist Anthony King answers these critical questions through close analysis of recent urban battles and their historical antecedents. Exploring the changing typography and evolving tactics of the urban battlescape, he shows that although not all methods used in urban warfare are new, operations in cities today have become highly distinctive. Urban warfare has coalesced into gruelling micro-sieges, which extend from street level – and below – to the airspace high above the city, as combatants fight for individual buildings, streets and districts. At the same time, digitalized social media and information networks communicate these battles to global audiences across an urban archipelago, with these spectators often becoming active participants in the fight. A timely reminder of the costs and the horror of war and violence in cities, this book offers an invaluable interdisciplinary introduction to urban warfare in the new millennium for students of international security, urban studies and military science, as well as military professionals.

This book investigates the complexities of modern urban operations—a particularly difficult and costly method of fighting, and one that is on the rise. Contributors examine the lessons that emerge from a range of historical case studies, from nineteenth-century precedents to the Battle of Shanghai; Stalingrad, German town clearance, Mandalay, and Berlin during World War II; and from the Battle of Algiers to the Battle for Fallujah in 2004. Each case study illuminates the features that differentiate urban operations from fighting in open areas, and the factors that contribute to success and failure. The volume concludes with reflections on the key challenges of urban warfare in the twenty-first century and beyond.

"Understanding and leveraging the news media has become critical for operational-level commanders conducting urban combat operations. The insatiable public appetite for information has created conditions in which tactical actions can have severe strategic repercussions because of media reporting. In the 21st century, the operational-level commander conducting urban combat operations must clearly understand the influence that the news media has on operational success. Media influences on world public opinion can now change the traditional model of warfare described by Clausewitz's trinity. World public opinion, influenced by the media, is now a fourth factor in influencing war, modifying the trinity into a diamond. Therefore, operational-level commanders must address the media in their planning and operations. Adding the media as a line of operation for planning and establishing media crisis teams will allow the commander to consider media coverage, or the media battle space, throughout an operation. This ensures that planners will develop the media battle space as an integral part of the urban kinetic fight. The author examines the battles of Hue during the Vietnam War and Fallujah during the Iraqi insurgency through the lenses of the reporting cycle, public perception, and military doctrine to demonstrate the new significance of the media in 21st century urban combat."--Abstract.

Experienced commanders discuss anecdotes and case studies from their past operations.