ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the traits and challenges that distinguish traditional urban warfare from the new urban operations. In future, it is unlikely that people will avoid military operations in urban environments, which has been the default 'strategy' for most Western militaries for years. That is, the urbanisation trends of the last 20 years suggest that urban warfare in more traditional understanding of the term will continue to pose challenges for states that have an ambition to retain an urban warfighting capability, such as the US, Israel, France, Britain and a few other nations. Future urban conflicts are likely to take place in cities that are not, and should not be turned into, warzones. The question is whether this implies that there is no 'utility of force' in dealing with the problems of future urban conflict. The Brazilian experiences from Port-au-Prince and Rio de Janeiro offer little clarity but some indications as to the shape of things to come.
