ISBN: 979-8990915831, KeyPoint Press, August 2024, 421 pages, $29.00
Reviewed by: Zachary Z. Horsington, Small Wars Journal El-Centro
As human populations continue to increase and urbanize, dedicated interdisciplinary security studies surrounding urban warfare are absolutely necessary. Urban Operations: War, Crime, and Conflict, a multi-author volume edited by John P. Sullivan, Nathan P. Jones, and Daniel Weisz Argomedo, is an intricate and accessible companion to anyone interested and involved in urban security, regardless of their background and experience.
The book examines a culturally and temporally diverse range of case studies across defense and law enforcement contexts and serves as a functional and multidisciplinary source of materials relating to urban operations. The editors, Dr. John P. Sullivan, Dr. Nathan P. Jones, and Dr. Daniel Weisz Argomedo are highly accomplished security studies academics, as are the rest of the contributing authors, and there is a skilful mix of practitioner and scholarly insight throughout. Each chapter includes a bibliography at the end, and several relevant book reviews are also attached in the appendix, which altogether form a highly practical treasury of subject materials. Considering the various active urban combat zones around the world today, the book’s multifaceted contents are timely, and its consistent focus on human security is refreshing.
The preface faithfully contextualizes the importance of civil-military affairs, the spectrum of threat actors associated with urban environments, and the broader tendency to militarize the subject. The introduction explains how a large portion of the book originated from a special issue on Urban Security featured in the Journal of Strategic Security and acquaints the reader with the additional chapters included in this book.
The opening chapter succinctly clarifies megatrends concerning rising populations and urbanization and explains the legacy of conventional forces in rural environments. The spectrum of activities and threats related to urban operations is adroitly framed here, whereby the reader is introduced to twin insurgency, terrorism, transnational organized crime, and complexities concerning state jurisdiction. The rest of the book’s chapters are briefly overviewed, and details regarding feral cities, mega slums, and the rise of sophisticated transnational illicit networks conclude this section.
Chapter 2 offers insight into civil affairs in Antwerp during WWII. A concise history of Canadian Army Civil Affairs is provided, which frames its purpose, training, selection, force structure, and deployment, followed by a short history of the liberation of Antwerp and the Battle of Scheldt. Considering that the V-1 cruise missile and V-2 ballistic missile represent the first of their respective kind, Antwerp’s case study is critically relevant, as it highlights one of the premier examples of expeditionary civil-military administration under direct aerial bombardment by these platforms. Overall, the chapter brilliantly describes the administrative and structural issues following the Nazi occupation.
Chapter 3 continues the WWII focus by thoroughly analyzing the American liberation of Manila in 1945. The chapter overviews MacArthur’s assault on Japanese-occupied Manila, and the associated aftermath and post-conflict reconstruction. Asymmetric warfare complexities are discussed, namely the Japanese use of human shields, victim-operated improvised traps, and disguised combatants, as well as the general propensity for friendly fire and significant civilian casualties in such contexts. Ultimately, the chapter explains how a force inflicts destruction upon an enemy inextricably affects post-conflict recovery. While that is simple enough to understand, the foresight and strategy to design an assault/siege with this in mind proactively and persistently is profoundly more complex, especially in urban contexts.
Chapter 4 jumps forward in time to analyse the two Battles of Culiacán that occurred in 2019 and 2023, respectively. This chapter not only presents insight into two critical case studies but also overviews the concepts of ‘virtual urban siege’ and non-state actor swarming. The 2008 Mumbai Attacks, the 2013 Westgate Mall Attack in Kenya, the 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cache attacks, and the November 2015 Paris attacks are all introduced to provide conceptual context here. These examples represent marauding terrorist attacks and barricaded sieges designed to effectively paralyze a city by manipulating and maximizing the second and third order effects of fear to project strength beyond the tangible capacities of the threat actors themselves. While all terrorism is communicative violence, such a technique is leveraged specifically for immediate tactical advantage during the attack, to disguise or spoof force strength, location, and/or capabilities to confuse law enforcement, and/or influence civilian behavior.
Chapter 5 provides unique insight into how the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) function, and their operations in response to the Boston Marathon Bombing. Lessons learned are thoroughly discussed throughout, and the chapter cleanly highlights ‘Things Done Well’, ‘Issues Needing Improving’, and associated ‘Recommendations.’ Joint Information Centre communication and information management issues are addressed concerning haphazard or conflicting public messaging, and general feedback is provided on overall resource management, logistics, and command and coordination. It is evident from this chapter that the entire system requires more practice and stress testing to ensure more efficacious preparedness in the future, and more could be said about how large-scale systems exercises should function.
Chapter 6 examines six operational case studies to overview Israel’s experience conducting urban operations, associated challenges, and adaptations. There is a good introduction to the nature and character of urban warfare, and a basic overview of strategic bombing campaigns, although no comment regarding their strategic efficacy. Operation Defensive Shield, the Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defence, Protective Edge, and Operation Guardian of the Walls are all examined well. The chapter emphasizes Israeli full-spectrum, multi-domain, battlefield dominance and its asymmetric advantage concerning precision strike platforms, command and control capabilities, and sophisticated cyber/space assets.
Chapter 7 delves into artificial intelligence and lethal autonomy. The chapter discusses artificial intelligence and super computation within the context of defense, overviews killer robots, and provides insight into Joint Special Operations Command and Israeli human-computer augmentation with regards to counterterrorism/insurgency targeting. Analysis explores how remarkably juxtaposed expedited data processing capabilities are with the glacial tempo associated with urban operations, although more could have been said concerning the ethical and practical dilemmas associated with Identity Dominance and Targets-of-Opportunity. Proportionality within the context of international law is addressed purely through a non-combatant/belligerent casualty/fatality ratio, which scantly considers how noosphere informational dynamics continue to modify international casualty sensitivities.
Chapter 8 brilliantly scrutinizes Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) through the lens of panoptical colonial surveillance. The chapter chronicles the historical evolution of panoptical surveillance and WAMI by analyzing case studies from Mauritanian plantations through to today. The double-edged nature of invasive surveillance is explored, namely how it undermines privacy regimes, constructs ‘in’ and ‘out’ risk groups, and coalesces generally dehumanising security and sovereignty norms. The concept of the ‘postmodern plantation’ is excellent, and analytical frameworks such as this should be designed and applied more prevalently across security studies generally.
Chapter 9 overviews urban conflict wargaming and analyses six games associated with The Battle of Hue. The chapter introduces wargaming, associated research challenges, and provides a detailed breakdown of the six games. Designers’ intent, asymmetric combat, co-ordination and command frictions, operations beyond the city, Rules of Engagement, fire support, population perceptions, Critical National Infrastructure, as well as political factors and media variables are all examined. The chapter makes great use of figures and tables throughout, which augment analysis fittingly, although more could have been said about the need for complex and organic non-combatant gameplay within such wargames generally.
Chapter 10 examines the 2022 Fall of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. This case study provides superb insight into criminal contagion, crime wars, and criminal insurgency. The chapter provides a contextual overview with rich statistical investigation. Corruption and penitentiary management are analyzed thoroughly. Ecuador’s Mano Dura approach is explained, and the chapter includes a table of institutional modifications to Ecuador’s Security Institutional Framework over time.
Chapter 11 is an insightful examination into the nexus between government and crime in Mexico. The chapter provides a rich historical overview of Mexico’s urban life since the turn of the 20th century – the brutality, severity, and scale of criminal violence, and draws on insights from various interviews throughout. Complexities and conflict relating to land access, institutional political dominance, and economic hegemony are contextualized and analyzed. The chapter’s focus on sustainable and local institution building, economic development, and the rule of law is framed through a context of reconciliation, which is particularly perceptive.
Chapter 12 outlines NATO’s projects concerning Urbanisation and Urban Littorals. The chapter tracks NATO’s thinking regarding multi-domain operations within urban and littoral environments and outlooks possible futures. There is great insight into guiding principles and conceptual foundations, although more could have been said about the information environment and climate-conflict considerations.
Chapter 13 is a great introduction to contemporary subterranean operations. The chapter functions as a source bank of relevant materials, and analyzes subterranean systems and activities according to British and American best military practice. A helpful figure is included, which presents an overview of system categories and associated attributes. Organized criminal contexts are mentioned, as well as civil response considerations. Overall, the chapter provides conceptual and practical insight into associated operational planning, logistics, and futures.
Chapter 14 provides a somber analysis relevant to Ukraine’s post-war urban recovery. Comparative analysis across select historical cases explores the significance of maximizing the mundane, synergy, and adaptation. Relevant implications for Ukraine are discussed, concerning the importance of external support and defeating insider threats.
Chapter 15 is a grim chapter into vicious non-state actor capability, as well as the challenges and complexity associated with state response. The chapter sufficiently introduces Gaza before providing a near hour-by-hour breakdown of the urban battles of October 7, 2023. The chapter provides perceptive analysis concerning challenges associated with situational awareness, interagency intelligence sharing, as well as general insight into how states prioritize their response to sophisticated non-state actor threats in urban environments and operationalize support from the public.
The final chapter fittingly closes with a broad look at the international legal frameworks associated with urban operations. The chapter offers succinct insight into civilian protection, proportionality, and strategy within this context, and cleanly concludes the book with a concentrated emphasis on human security.
The postscript expands upon seven hypotheses covering info-kinetic operations, the role of autonomous platforms, manoeuver within urban environments, swarming, decentralised systems, and more. Altogether, this book is an impressive cross-disciplinary effort, and the case studies and analysis throughout are a credit to the authors. Practitioners, scholars, and non-specialists alike will all find value from engaging with this book, as it is accessible, insightful, and highly relevant.
Zachary Z. Horsington is a specialist in unconventional approaches to irregular risks and red-teaming, with experience spanning academia, defense, and the private sector. He has worked with Ambrey Risk, C/O Futures LLC, the Australian Defence Force Academy’s Future of War Group, the Free Burma Rangers, CART, and McKinsey & Co. He holds degrees from the Australian National University and Cranfield University, and currently researches criminal armed groups and the climate-conflict nexus with Small Wars Journal.
