Urban Warfare Project

For more than a year now, the world has watched as Ukrainian cities have become unrecognizable, transformed by the destruction of the ongoing war triggered by Russia's invasion. Bucha, Mariupol, Kherson, Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Bakhmut—these are just a few among many cities that, when the fighting ends, will face the monumental task of rebuilding. To better understand what that task involves, John Spencer is joined on this episode by retired Colonel Leonard DeFrancisci. A Marine Corps officer, he led a civil affairs detachment during the Second Battle of Fallujah and participated in the massive coalition effort to rebuild the city after the intense fighting and major destruction of the urban battle. He describes that effort in a conversation rich with lessons that will be important when the challenge of rebuilding Ukrainian cities comes.

In this episode, John Spencer is joined again by Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA. He researches Russia and the former Soviet Union, specializing in Russian armed forces, military thought, capabilities, and strategy. In the conversation, Kofman describes his recent trip to Bakhmut, Ukraine—the scene of intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces over the past several months. He analyzes the situation for both sides in the battle, including their approaches and motivations, as well as the battle's possible outcomes. Kofman and Spencer also discuss the unique urban features that are contributing to the complexity of this battle as well as others in ongoing war.

In this episode, John Spencer is joined by Dr. Anthony King, a professor of war studies at the University of Warwick and the author of the book Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century. He talks about his book, including an important conclusion: because of discernible trends in urbanization, weapons development, and the size of modern military forces, Western militaries will be unable to avoid fighting in cities in the future.

In this episode, John Spencer is joined by Samuel Bendett. An analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses, he specializes in Russian unmanned military systems and artificial intelligence. In the conversation, he discusses his work tracking Russian technological advancements. He also describes various unmanned aerial and ground vehicles Russia is experimenting with for urban combat and explains how lessons learned from Russia's recent experiences fighting in Syria is impacting Russian force development.

In this episode, Canadian Army Major Jayson Geroux joins to discuss the 1943 Battle of Ortona. Sometimes called the “Italian Stalingrad,” the battle took place in the town of Ortona, on Italy's Adriatic coast, during World War II. Maj. Geroux walks listeners through the battle, which pitted a Canadian infantry brigade against German paratroopers, and highlights lessons from the fighting that should inform the way we think about urban warfare and the potential for peer conflict in dense urban terrain today.

On the morning of March 7, 1988, three members of the Palestine Liberation Organization hijacked a bus full of Israeli women traveling to work near the town of Dimona, Israel, in what has become known as the “Mothers’ Bus attack.” Maj. Gen. Avshalom Peled was at the time a platoon commander in the Yamam, an elite Israeli counterterrorist organization that specializes in close-quarters battle, and took part in the rescue operation. He joins this episode and describes his role in the now famous hostage rescue. He also shares some of the many lessons Israeli police learned from the operation.

When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, one of their first targets was the city of Mariupol. The battle that followed is an epic story of resistance in which a very small number of Ukrainian fighters defended the city for over eighty days against a Russian force five to eight times their size, preventing the Russians from diverting to other parts of Ukraine. In this episode, John Spencer is joined by Aiden Aslin, a British citizen who took part in that battle and was captured by Russian forces there in April 2022. His experiences offers a unique view of how the Battle of Mariupol unfolded, and the details of his captivity as a Russian prison of war for over five months offer a glimpse into an often unseen aspect of the war.

The Battle of Jenin took place in April 2002 and was a key battle in the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) Operation Defensive Shield. In this episode of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, John Spencer is joined by Dr. Ohad Leslau, a historian in the IDF's history department and one of the world’s leading experts on the 2002 Battle of Jenin.

In this episode, John Spencer is joined by Michael Kofman, research program director in the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses and fellow at the Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The discussion explores the general composition and force design of the Russian military, before turning to the subject of Russia's military performance in Ukraine. Based on this foundation, Michael then offers his insights on some of the major urban battles fought during the war, including Kyiv and Mariupol. The episode concludes by highlighting lessons that researchers and observers should—and should not—be taking from the war.

In this episode, John Spencer welcomes back Brig. Gen. Robert Wooldridge, the deputy commanding general for operations of the 40th Infantry Division, California Army National Guard. In July, the division held the second iteration of the world’s only course specifically for division and brigade staff officers and noncommissioned officers, aimed at developing the skills needed to plan successful large-scale combat operations in the major urban areas. Brig. Gen. Wooldridge joins to describe the course's second round. He explains some of the changes made as the division aims to best prepare students for the unique challenges of urban warfare. He also shares lessons they learned from the latest iteration of the course and details plans for the next one, to be held in May 2023.