Margarita Konaev

The Era of Urban Warfare is Already Here

Post author By Margarita Konaev
Post date 09/04/2018
1 Comment on The Era of Urban Warfare is Already Here

*Image courtesy of the US Army/Flickr.* *(CC BY 2.0)*

This article was originally published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) on 21 March 2018.

Aleppo. Mosul. Sana’a. Mogadishu. Gaza. These war-ravaged cities are but a few examples of a growing trend in global conflict, where more and more of the world’s most violent conflicts are being fought in densely populated urban areas, at a tremendously high cost to the civilians living there. Despite their aversion to urban warfare, American and NATO military strategists increasingly acknowledge that the future of war is in cities. Concurrently, humanitarian agencies such as International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are adjusting their response to relief operations in urban centers in real time. This rise in urban violence and the resurgence of warfare in cities comes from three key factors: the global trend toward urbanization, increasingly volatile domestic political conditions in developing countries, and changes in the character of armed conflict.

Tags Conflict, Urbanization, Insurgency, cities

The Future of War is in Cities – The Study of War Should Follow Suit

Post author By Margarita Konaev
Post date 12/07/2017
No Comments on The Future of War is in Cities – The Study of War Should Follow Suit

*Courtesy of Alessandro Grussu/Flickr. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)*

This article was originally published by Political Violence @ a Glance on 23 May 2017.

On March 17^th, a US airstrike killed nearly 300 people in the densely populated area of western Mosul. This deadly attack – along with other reports of mounting civilian casualties from US airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen – are raising questions about whether the Trump administration has relaxed the rules of engagement.

Since entering office, President Trump has sought to reduce the constraints on the use of force imposed by his predecessor. For instance, he has designated parts of Yemen and Somalia as “areas of active hostilities,” giving the US military greater latitude to carry out airstrikes and ground raids. His new plan to defeat ISIS is also expected to include “recommended changes to any United States rules of engagement and other…policy restrictions that exceed the requirements of international law.” So far, both administration and military officials have denied that a formal change in the rules of engagement has taken place. But human rights groups are saying that even the perception of declining concerns over civilian deaths can have a “detrimental strategic impact” on the fight against ISIS, with dire humanitarian consequences.