Urban Warfare Project Podcast

Urban warfare is as old as warfare itself. Cities have always been the seats of political power and economic engines of nations. But because of the rapidly increasing urbanized world, shrinking Armies, democratization of military technology, information revolution, and political instability military forces will find themselves fighting in cities rather for cities. The Urban Warfare Project Podcast, from the Modern War Institute at West Point and hosted by John Spencer, features insightful discussions with scholars and practitioners as it sets out to explore the unique characteristics of urban warfare.

You can listen to John’s podcast at the Modern War Institute at West Point site, on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to subscribe, and if you’re enjoying the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, please take a minute and leave the podcast a review or give it a rating!

#75 - “Studying The October 7th Terrorist Attacks,” March 15, 2024

#74 - “Helicopter Mission into the Battle of Mariupol,” February 16, 2024

#73 - “Urban Warfare 101,” January 19, 2024

#72 - “An Urban Warfare Christmas Wish List,” 2023 Edition, December 22, 2023

#71 - “The Law of War and the Urban Battlefield,” November 24, 2023

#70 - “What Can the IDF Do about Hamas Tunnel,” October 20, 2023

#69 - “Israel, Gaza, and the Looming Challenges of Urban Warfare,” October 12, 2023

#68 - “Surviving Occupied Mariupol,” September 15, 2023

#67 - “Training Ukrainians in Urban Warfare,” September 1, 2023

#66 - “Creating a Unit Optimized for Urban Warfare,” August 18, 2023

#65 - “Defending Mariupol,” July 21, 2023

#64 - “Artillery in the Urban Battles of Ukraine,” May 26, 2023

#63 - “What Do We Actually Need for Urban Warfare Training,” April 28, 2023

#62 - “The 2022 Battle of Kyiv: A Lecture,” April 14, 2023

#61 - “The Battle of Bakhmut,” March 17, 2023

#60 - “An Urban Warfare Expert’s Christmas Wish List,” December 23, 2022

#59 - “A Firsthand Account of the Battle of Mariupol,” November 25, 2022

#58 - “The Battle of Jenin”, November 11, 2022

#57 - “Russia, Ukraine, and Urban Warfare,” August 19, 2022

#56 - “Round 2 of the World’s Only Urban Warfare Planners Course,” August 5, 2022

#55 - “Studying the Battle of Kyiv, Part 1,” July 8, 2022

#54 - “Why Urban Warfare is the Hardest Type of Warfare,” June 10, 2022

#53 - “A New Way of Combined Arms Urban Warfare Training,” May 27, 2022

#52 - “The Israeli Way of Urban Warfare,” May 13, 2022

#51 - “Social Media and the War in Ukraine: Twitter Spaces,,” April 29, 2022

#50 - “Concrete Hell Revisited,” April 14, 2022

#49 - “What Will the Battle of Kyiv Look Like?” March 14, 2022

#48 - “Walking the Urban Battlefield of Shusha,” February 18, 2022

#47 - “Learning From the 2008 Terrorist Attacks in Mumbai,” January 21, 2022

#46 - “The Urban Warfare Project’s Christmas Wish List, 2021 Edition,” December 24, 2021

#45 - “The Mothers’ Bus Attack and the Yamam,” December 10, 2021

#44 - “The US Army’s First Urban Warfare Planner,” October 29, 2021

#43 - “The Man in The Tank Wins: IDF Armor, Part 2,” October 15, 2021

#42 - “The Man in The Tank Wins: IDF Armor, Part 1,” October 1, 2021

#41 - “Discovering Jerusalem’s Hidden Urban Warfare Lessons,” September 3, 2021

#40 - “Book Talk: Dr. Anthony King on Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century,” September 17, 2021

#39 - “Deep Futures and Urban Warfare,” July 23, 2021

#38 - “Urban Breaching,” July 9, 2021

#37 - “Policing a Major City,” June 25, 2021

#36 - “Rebuilding Fallujah,” June 11, 2021

#35 - “Underground Warfare in Israel and Gaza,” May 28, 2021

#34 - “Italian Stalingrad: The Battle of Ortona,” May 14, 2021

#33 - “Civil Affairs and The Second Battle of Fallujah,” April 30, 2021

#32 - “The Army’s Next-Generation Combat Vehicle,” April 16, 2021

#31 - “Urban Warfare at Echelons Above Brigade,” April 2, 2021

#30 - “The Battle of Marawi,” March 5, 2021

#29 - “The Future of Urban Warfare Training,” February 19, 2021

#28 - “Battle of Ramadi, 2006-2007” February 5, 2021

#27 - “Beneath the Streets,” January 22, 2021

#26 - “The Second Battle of Fallujah and the Future of Urban Warfare,” January 8, 2021

#25 - “All I want for Christmas is an urban Warfare capability set,” December 25, 2020

#24 - “Seeing Through Walls,” December 11, 2020

#23 - “Why is Urban Warfare So Challenging,” November 27, 2020

#22 - “Explosive Ordnance Disposal and the City,” November 14, 2020

#21 - “Urban Warfare and Military Ethics,” October 30, 2020

#20 - “Defending the City of Ubungsdorf,” October 16, 2020

#19 - “A Roundtable Discussion with Three Leading Experts on Urban Warfare,” October 2, 2020

#18 - “Russia’s Urban Warfare Tech,” September 18, 2020

#17 - “Smart Cities and the Military,” September 4, 2020

#16 - “Urban Policing 101,” August 21, 2020

#15 - “Multi-Domain Operations at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center,” August 7, 2020

#14 - “Understanding Global Cities,” July 24, 2020

#13 - “Attacking the City of Dara Lam,” July 10, 2020

#12 - “A Talk With The US Army’s Underground Warfare Expert,” June 26, 2020

#11 - “A Senior Enlisted Perspective on Combat in Megacities,” June 12, 2020

#10 - “Attacking the City of Razish,” May 29, 2020

#9 - “Fighting ISIS in the City,” May 15, 2020

#8 - “Is Urban Combat the Great Equalizer,” May 1, 2020

#7 - “Feral Cities, Pandemics, and the Military,” April 17, 2020

#6 - “When War Goes Underground,” April 3, 2020

#5 - “Preparing the Military for the Complexity of Megacities,” March 20, 2020

#4 - “The Battle of Sadr City, March-May 2008,” March 6, 2020

#3 - “Protecting Civilians in Urban Combat,” February 7, 2020

#2 - “Army Doctrine and the Urban Battlefield,” January 1, 2020

#1 -“Out of the Mountains: A talk with Dr. David Kilcullen,” December 13, 2019