Urban warfare can take many forms, from guerrilla attacks to militia patrols to gang violence, but fighting in cities and towns — where civilians are at risk and combatants can hide more easily — is markedly different from combat in a more open or defined theater of operations. Determining how to assess enemies, mount a defense, and protect civilians is a focus of urban warfare research at RAND.
RESEARCH BRIEF
The authors identify factors critical to the coalition victory over Jaish al-Mahdi in the 2008 Battle of Sadr City and describe a new model for dealing with insurgent control of urban areas.
REPORT
A review of recent Israeli military conflicts indicates the United States may be ill-prepared for "hybrid" warfare against state-sponsored adversaries who have a modicum of training and small force numbers, but possess advanced weapons and enough expertise to challenge the U.S. military.
NEWS RELEASE
A review of recent Israeli military conflicts indicates the United States may be ill-prepared for "hybrid" warfare against state-sponsored adversaries who have a modicum of training and small force numbers, but possess advanced weapons and enough expertise to challenge the U.S. military.
REPORT
Using primary sources and interviews with those involved in the fighting and its aftermath, the authors describe the 2008 Battle of Sadr City, analyze its outcome, and derive implications for the conduct of land operations. Their analysis identifies factors critical to the coalition victory over Jaish al-Mahdi and describes a new model for dealing with insurgent control of urban areas.
COMMENTARY
If one year from today, the Taliban controls less territory and the Afghan security forces are more capable, then we will know the United States is winning, writes Nora Bensahel.
REPORT
The U.S. military is ill-equipped to strike at extremists who hide in populations. Using deadly force against them can harm and alienate the very people whose cooperation U.S. forces are trying to earn. To solve this problem, a new RAND study proposes a “continuum of force” — a suite of capabilities that includes sound, light, lasers, cell phones, and video cameras. These technologies are available but have received…
COMMENTARY
The lawlessness along the mexican
border has gone way beyond a
local crime wave: there has been
a dramatic increase in armed robberies, not by lone gunmen but by heavily armed gangs. Kidnappings and homicides are way up—and not just murders but beheadings.... It is starting to look like a terrorist campaign, writes Brian Michael Jenkins.
COMMENTARY
As NATO's role in Afghanistan was debated in Bucharest recently, the bad headlines continued rolling in. And yet, on the ground, there is equally compelling evidence that the efforts of the international community are making a difference, write Obaid Younossi and Peter Dahl Thruelsen.
COMMENTARY
Because security in Iraq is improving, the United States now has a chance to achieve the best realistic outcome of its unfortunate invasion and occupation: extricating the bulk of U.S. forces without making things worse, writes David C. Gompert.
NEWS RELEASE
RAND Recommends U.S. Military Adopt Consumer Marketing Strategies to Reach Iraqi and Afghan Civilians.
REPORT
Today's strategic environment implies an obligation to preserve innocent life when possible and to rebuild that which war destroys. Various tools can help better enable military and civilian alike to meet these objectives by more effectively conducting urban combat and restoration.
REPORT
Non-combatants can affect the U.S. military’s ability to meet tactical and strategic objectives in wartime engagements. With little research on civilian behavior in the defense community, and as policy questions on the role of civilians in wartime grow in importance, this dissertation assesses methods for modeling large numbers of noncombatants in a more formal way, recommending a layered approach to civilian behavior, beginning with…
REPORT
A joint urban training strategy is developed to help the military community prepare for future actions in densely populated, built-up areas. The study identifies training requirements; examines current and pending training capabilities; identifies the gaps between requirements and capabilities; defines modules; assesses how well the modules meet the requirements; and outlines the steps to create the strategy.
REPORT
Historically, combat stress casualties are not higher in city operations. Commanders still need the skills to treat and prevent stress casualties and understand their implications for urban warfare.
REPORT
In the global security environment of the future, sea basing (loosely speaking, the ability to assemble, equip, and support forces from sea platforms without relying on land bases) will be critical to the Navy and Marine Corps’ ability to project-and sustain-forces ashore. Sea basing clearly will be useful in the event of joint forcible entry operations (JFEOs). This monograph describes the global environment in which JFEOs might…
REPORT
Military operations in urban areas are among the most complex challenges confronting the U.S. Army. Analysis of urban terror campaigns in Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan provide insight into operating in this new environment.
REPORT
In every operation, the functions of command, control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and communications are all fundamental to success. But in cities, the dense population, many manmade structures, and other challenges act to severely impede these functions in several ways. This monograph contemplates the nature of those challenges and proposes several recommendations to surmount them in both the short and longer…
REPORT
With respect to military urban operations, this study proposes a new planning approach that employs identification of critical points — the essential elements of the urban area’s physical and demographic terrain — along with the notion of density — the number of elements and activities within the urban space — to aid military personnel in their efforts to overcome the complexity of urban operations.
REPORT
The inevitability of U.S. armed forces future involvement in urban contingencies worldwide demands that those responsible for arming, manning, sustaining, and otherwise supporting these operations prepare for the challenges inherent in such undertakings. This report gives an overview of these formidable tasks and recommends ways for the U.S. Army combat service support (CSS) community to prepare itself to meet them.
COMMENTARY
The Atlantic Monthly Magazine features a compilation of ten short essays written by experts at RAND, collectively titled Headlines Over the Horizon. The RAND authors examined developments in international and military affairs drawing little attention today that are expected to be major issues in the next three to five years.
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