How are demographic and economic shifts increasing the importance of urban centers around the globe? What does this mean for military forces? To what extent do the local politics of a city complicate military operations there—specifically irregular warfare activities? When conflict between an insurgency and government forces enters a city, does the terrain inherently favor one side over the other? This special episode addresses these questions as it brings together two of the Modern War Institute's core areas of focus: urban warfare and irregular warfare.

Kyle Atwell and Ben Jebb host the episode. You can also hear this and many more insightful explorations of issues related to irregular warfare on the Irregular Warfare Podcast. And don't miss the exceptional written content produced by the Irregular Warfare Initiative.

Their guests are Sergeant Major Charles Ritter, deputy commandant of the US Army's JFK Special Warfare Center and School, and John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute. A leading expert on urban warfare, John also leads the Urban Warfare Project and hosts the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, both of which are outstanding resources on urban warfare and its challenges.

Intro music: "Unsilenced" by Ketsa

Outro music: "Launch" by Ketsa

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0