Urban warfare in the twenty-first century
2022; Oxford University Press; Volume: 98; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/ia/iiab250
ISSN1468-2346
Autores Tópico(s)Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
ResumoHumans have waged war in, on and around cities since at least 3,000 Bce. And yet with more humans living in cities than ever before, many militaries are still trying to figure out how to fight in them effectively. Anthony King's latest book does not offer a how-to guide but instead provides a superb sociology of contemporary urban warfare focused on the changing size and density of military forces and cities. The book is organized into thematic chapters that outline a general anatomy of contemporary urban warfare by explaining the historical elements of continuity and change with respect to fortification, airpower, firepower, armour, partnership with local forces and information operations. King defines urban settlements as consisting ‘of 3,000 people, at a population density of 400 people per square kilometer, and, therefore, concentrated in an area of no more than 7.5 square kilometers’ (p. 20). He defines urban warfare as consisting of three fundamental elements: cities, weaponry and forces. These combine to produce recognizable but historically contingent ‘battlescapes’. King's overall conclusion is that urban warfare today is novel inasmuch as it has ‘a distinctive anatomy’ (p. 15), even if some common tactics remain similar to older historical examples. This is because contemporary urban warfare is shaped not only by the demography of cities––the standard explanatory variable in most recent analyses––but also by the size and posture of the military forces doing the fighting. Specifically, King argues that the shrinking size of the militaries that conduct contemporary urban warfare explains its distinctive anatomy.
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