Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, a series of battles have taken place for control of cities—Kherson, Mariupol, Kharkiv, and many more. Each of those fights have shared a common characteristic—the presence of civilians—that also represents one of the greatest challenges in urban warfare. Specifically, how can a military force protect noncombatants while it seeks to accomplish its objectives in a city? To explore this question, John Spencer is joined on this episode by Sahr Muhammedally from the Center for Civilians in Conflict, a nongovernmental organization that seeks to convince parties to armed conflicts to recognize the dignity and rights of civilians.
During the 2022 Battle of Mariupol, approximately three thousand Ukrainian defenders, vastly outnumbered by Russian forces, were quickly surrounded in a steel plant with...
Why are subterranean environments so uniquely challenging for military forces? And why is underground warfare occurring increasingly frequently? Dr. Daphne Richemond-Barak—author of the book...
In this episode, John Spencer is joined by Dr. Saskia Sassen, the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. She is the...