463: Urban Warfare Perspective on Ukraine and Israel. With John Spencer

John Spencer's journey from active duty in the U.S. Army to a pivotal academic role underscores his profound commitment to understanding and teaching the complexities of urban warfare.

Spencer transitioned from military service to an academic role at West Point, where he studied urban warfare and the challenges of operating in megacities

After serving 25 years in the Army, rising from private to major and serving as a platoon leader and company commander in Iraq, Spencer transitioned from military service to an academic role at West Point. His experiences fueled his interest in urban warfare, particularly in the context of rapidly growing megacities.

During his tenure at the Pentagon working for General Odierno's Strategic Studies Group, Spencer focused his study on urbanization and identified that more warfare would likely take place in urban areas. He concluded that the U.S. military was not adequately prepared for such operations, which led to recommendations to address this gap.

Becoming deputy director of the newly created Modern War Institute at West Point, teaching strategy and urban warfare to cadets

Spencer's academic pursuit saw him becoming the deputy director of the Modern War Institute at West Point and taking up the chair of urban warfare studies. He was instrumental in creating a research center aimed at preparing cadets for modern wars through their studies. As part of the Contemporary Battlefield Assessments program, he took West Point cadets to Bosnia and Mumbai to study past urban conflicts, such as the siege of Sarajevo and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

In the role of an educator, Spencer highlights the importance of firsthand experience in understanding urban warfare. He even takes cadets to New York City ...

John Spencer has conducted extensive in-depth research on pivotal urban battles from World War II to the present, drawing insights from firsthand accounts and comprehensive analysis.

Spencer has conducted in-depth research and case studies on pivotal urban battles throughout history, from World War II to the present day

Examined battles like the siege of Sarajevo, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and the Battle of Nagorno-Karabakh to extract insights on urban warfare tactics and challenges

Spencer is reconstructing past urban battles through firsthand interviews with participants, from generals to soldiers, analyzing key moments and tactics used. For example, he highlighted how a company of Ukrainians prevented Russian forces from entering Kyiv and how about 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers held off 20,000 Russians at Mariupol using a steel factory's underground facilities for over 80 days. Spencer has also visited the sites of past conflicts, such as Bosnia and Mumbai, to study urban warfare tactics further. He has published articles about urban warfare, discussing drone use, historical battles like Stalingrad, Aachen, Ortona, Fallujah, and observations from the Second War of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Leveraged firsthand experiences and interviews with commanders to provide comprehensive analyses of these urban battles

Spencer uses case studies from various urban battles such as the Battle of Mosul, where despite using precision-guided munitions to limit destruction, 80% of Western Mosul was destroyed. He also examined the Battle of Manila where, due to MacArthur's directive against the use of air power, urban warfare prolonged and led to high civilian casualties, contrasting with the Battle of Seoul where a similar approach resulted in no recorded civilian deaths. Spencer's approach includes his own personal experiences, like those in Sadr City, contributing to his analyses.

Identified key factors such as the importance of terrain, the role of tunnels and underground infrastructure, and the challenges of fighting in densely populated areas

Whilst reinvestigating the fall of a decisi ...

Modern urban warfare is a multi-faceted challenge that has forced militaries worldwide to innovate and adapt. The conflict in cities, with their dense populations and complex infrastructures, provides a challenging battlefield that blends conventional and asymmetrical warfare.

Urban warfare has become increasingly complex, with adversaries like Hamas and Hezbollah exploiting the urban environment to their advantage.

Adversaries have built extensive underground tunnel networks and fortified urban areas, making them difficult to dislodge

John Spencer details the complexities of modern urban conflict, highlighting the strategic and tactical adaptations both defenders and assailants have made. He elaborates on the massive network of tunnels built by adversaries such as Hamas in the Gaza Strip, extending over 400 miles. These tunnels, equipped with power, lighting, and even ventilation, enable movement across regions while remaining shielded from aerial attacks. They are located deep underground, well beyond the reach of conventional munitions.

The fortification of urban areas and use of tunnels as strategic assets create significant challenges in dislodging combatants. Spencer recounts instances where the Israeli military encountered unexpected resistance due to concealed tunnel networks. The combatants are embedded within civilian populations, complicating military operations and raising grave humanitarian concerns.

Civilians are often used as human shields, complicating efforts to minimize collateral damage

Spencer dissects the troubling practice of using civilians as human shields, a frequent occurrence in the urban battlegrounds of Gaza. This tactic becomes a barrier to minimizing civilian casualties and inflicts psychological warfare on the opposing forces. In his discussion, it becomes clear that such adversarial tactics skew the civilian to combatant casualty ratio and complicate any military's efforts to engage ethically in conflict zones.

The exploitation of civilians stretches to the indoctrination of young generations, with Hamas conducting an information warfare campaign to cement hatred and a desire for the destruction of the Israeli state from a young age.

Adversaries have also become adept at information warfare, using social media and propaganda to shape the narrative and garner international sympathy

The adversaries’ use of information warfare is also a factor in modern urban fighting. Spencer notes that misinformation about Israeli actions is a tool used by groups like Hamas, who manipulate media coverage and social media to portray Israel as aggressors. The projection of their narrative to the world often involves claims intended to incite international reactions and interventions, influencing perceptions beyond the immediate conflict zone.

Israel has developed innovative tactics and technologies to address the challenges of urban warfare, including the use of "call-out" operations and subterranean maneuver

Israel has implemented stringent measures to protect civilian lives amid escalating urban conflicts. A notable method is t ...

John Spencer, as an urban warfare specialist, has been deeply involved in studying various urban conflicts, drawing on history and his own extensive fieldwork.

Following the October 7th, 2022 attack in Israel, Spencer conducted on-the-ground research and interviews to understand the complexities of that incident

Spencer, through his unique connections, visited Gaza multiple times to study Israel’s mobilization for urban challenges, especially in response to the October 7th attacks. He watched videos presumably documenting Hamas's actions and conducted interviews with numerous individuals, including the Prime Minister and head of the military, to gain insights into the incident.

He discussed how terrorists’ intentions to publicly display their savagery differ from historical instances where such atrocities were hidden. Despite the traumatic nature of these videos, many of Hamas’s recordings are available online. Spencer underscored Israel’s decision not to release certain footage due to the respect for victims and the desire not to play into the terrorists' interests.

Furthermore, Spencer detailed the terrorists’ use of GoPro cameras during the attack as a means to showcase their actions to other Jihadists and potentially spread radicalization. He also noted their use of drugs, possibly to dehumanize themselves, as seen in other attacks like Mumbai.

Spencer has also been engaged in research and advisory work related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza

Through his fieldwork, Spencer studied the complexity of the October 7th invasion, which involved a detailed military plan and saw over four thousand individuals penetrating twenty different locations with the intention of marching towards Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. He highlighted the actionable intelligence terrorists had on each village and the use of snipers at strategic points.

Considering Israel’s response, Spencer researched their three main post-attack goals. He examined the challenges of dealing with simultaneous threats, such as the attack from Hezbollah on October 8th, and described Israel's ...