Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century

War is urbanising. From Mosul to Mumbai, Aleppo to Marawi, the largest and most intense battles of the twenty-first century have taken place in densely populated urban areas. In the Ukraine War, Russian and Ukrainian troops have converged on urban areas, Kyiv, Mariupol, and Bakhmut, to fight brutal attritional sieges. Meanwhile, the Battle of Gaza rages.

Through a close analysis of recent urban conflicts and their historical antecedents, sociologist Anthony King explores the changing typography of the urban battlescape. Whilst many tactics used in urban warfare are not new, he shows how operations in cities today have coalesced into localised 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, digitalised 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.

Fully revised and updated to include detailed examples from Ukraine and Gaza, Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century illustrates the anatomy of twenty-first century urban warfare. The second edition of this popular text is a timely reminder of the costs and the horror of war and violence in cities. As such, it 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.