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For your weekend reading, excited to announce my newest article at Parameters @ArmyWarCollege @USAWCPubs @SSInow on "Civilians, Urban Warfare, and US Military Doctrine" examining the role of civilians #civcas & #IHL in @USArmy @USMC warfighting doctrine https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/vol50/iss4/5/
The article comes at an important time for @USArmy as it reorients doctrine & training from an era of COIN to near peer conflict--emphasizing lethality & "sharp war" (and potentially deemphasizing civilian protection in the process) https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-training-prepare-against-near-peer-adversaries-2017-1
In this move, @WestPoint_USMA @WarInstitute experts @SpencerGuard & Lionel Beehner note in today's @washingtonpost that the US military is cutting key programs incl. Asymmetric Warfare Group, Project Metropolis, & others that can help ops in urban conflict https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/11/20/afghanistan-iraq-pentagon-cuts-army-marines/
#Doctrine is a key organizational guidepost by which @USArmy @USMC signal what is--and isn't--important for fighting and winning wars. As my article shows, this shift toward "lethality" has come at a cost to the emphasis of #civcas and civilian protection https://academic.oup.com/ia/article-abstract/88/2/243/2326482
Sadly, @USArmy and @USMC doctrine persistently overlooks close examination of challenges civilians will present on the battlefield--both for civilians and US forces https://www.stripes.com/news/army-rolls-out-new-field-manual-focused-on-fighting-near-peer-adversaries-1.491916
Increased global urbanization means that #urbanwarfare--and hence, war among civilians--will become more and more likely for the US military and its partners in coming decades: Fallujah, Mosul, and Marawi aren't outliers https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/opinion/memorial-day-falluja.html
Civilian-dense battlespaces will create severe issues in constraining freedom of movement at the strategic, operational, and combatant levels of war--the operational-tactical levels being particularly challenging as noted by @IDA_org expert Alec Wahlman https://mwi.usma.edu/when-the-campaign-meets-the-city-urban-battles-and-the-operational-level-of-war/
Civilian-dense environments will present challenges not only for maneuver and but also for forces (like the US military) attempting to abide by #IHL #militaryethics standards, as noted by @DPBEthics https://mwi.usma.edu/urban-warfare-and-military-ethics/
Another challenge critically overlooked--the mental health and #combatethics and #moralinjury challenges posed to US troops fighting amidst (and inflicting) 1,000s of civilian casualties--levels not seen since Vietnam era and before https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG191.html
Conversations w @danmahanty @KuboMacak @aurelsari @S_A_Cooper @priyanica and others at the Lieber Institute at @WestPoint_USMA helped to refine my understanding of these issues--many thanks to @Lieber_Inst for providing the space for these discussions https://lieber.westpoint.edu/
Shout out to research by @SpencerGuard @mzmargulies @WarInstitute & @ICRC for keeping #urbanwarfare at the fore of our thinking about modern conflict https://www.icrc.org/en/document/new-research-shows-urban-warfare-eight-times-more-deadly-civilians-syria-iraq
I also want to recognize @danmahanty @annieshiel @Sahrmally and others at @CivCenter--their initial thinking motivated this project and it builds upon their terrific advocacy and writing on this issue https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/05/protecting-civilians-still-matters-great-power-conflict/156723/
Looking forward to continuing this conversation on civilians, urban warfare, and how to continue to improve US military operations in these challenging environments
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2686&context=parameters
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2686&context=parameters
I'll add for those interested in US military @USArmy doctrine and urban warfare, this @WarInstitute podcast by @SpencerGuard is a terrific resource https://mwi.usma.edu/army-doctrine-urban-battlefield/
