From Matthew Cox, Military.com: "The Army's chief of staff said Tuesday that in about 10 years, the service must be ready to fight in megacities, a type of warfare that will require future units to resemble today's special operations forces.”
From John Spencer, Modern War Institute: “Megacities cannot be ruled no-go areas for military forces. The intent of the Army as outlined by U.S.C. Title 10 is to be “capable, in conjunction with the other armed forces, of—(1) preserving the peace and security, and providing for the defense, of the United States, the Commonwealths and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States; (2) supporting the national policies; (3) implementing the national objectives; and (4) overcoming any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.” These are global requirements. And the globe is increasingly made up of megacities. As I pointed out in my first article, by 2030 there will be 662 cities around the world with at least one million inhabitants (compared to 512 today) and 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. The potential for operations in dense urban areas will rise correspondingly, presenting a challenge the Army cannot ignore.”
From Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Foreign Affairs: "Western observers are often blind to social currents within the Muslim world. During the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011, outside analysts confidently predicted that the uprisings would marginalize the jihadist movement in favor of more moderate and democratic reformers. In fact, the opposite happened—an unprecedented jihadist mobilization that has inspired legions of fighters from around the world and fragmented or threatened more than half a dozen countries. In large part, this was because the collapse of the old regimes, which had suppressed Islamism domestically, created new spaces for jihadists. These spaces included both literal ungoverned territory and discursive spaces, where radicals were newly able to engage in dawa, or proselytism."
From Jim Greer, Strategy Bridge: “We have enjoyed absolute dominance in the air and at sea, and significant advantages in forces, technologies, and logistics on land, resulting in overwhelming victories in the major combat operations of JUST CAUSE in Panama and DESERT STORM in Iraq. This power and dominance shaped the development of American military forces; physically, mentally, and culturally. This two-part series will focus on the land power and Army implications of such development. Part one of this two-part series will focus on the challenges ahead, while part two will focus on how we can adapt to meet those challenges.”
From Magdalena Defort, Small Wars Journal: "Military and civil alliances are paramount for maintaining peace and stability in the globalized world. Understanding the residents (language, religion, culture, political system) and environment where a mission takes place is relevant to gain their trust, which facilitates intelligence gathering and collaboration. The real Army’s landpower is more about the knowledge about a region and its people than military and technological capabilities. Indeed, a respect for these elements is required for a modern and committed Army."
The Army is creating an experimental combat unit to develop new tactics for lethally fast-paced future battlefields. – Breaking Defense
From Blake Baiers, RealClearDefense: “Small Unit Approach to Megacities – Speaking this week at the Future of War conference, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said that the military has a decade to be ready for the challenge of combat in so-called megacities: cities with a population of ten million or more. A fundamental shift in the character of warfare as battle shifts to from woodland and desert environs to megacities. Some may dispute that point, but what is irrefutable is that military weapons platforms and force structures of the future will need to conform, such as a smaller is better approach.”
From Thomas McDermott, Strategy Bridge: “Military practitioners should hold these twin ideas of force and will close to their hearts. Every action taken in war is fundamentally an application of force, or a threat of force, to compel others to do our will. This includes killing; the most fundamental and final way of persuading an individual to change their point of view. Military art (be it strategic, institutional, operational or tactical) should always be seen through this lens - the skill of applying or threatening the right amount of force, with acceptable risk and reasonable cost, to compel an opponent to do our will. At the heart of this, I believe, is the need for an intimate, near spiritual connection with an adversary; the quest for a deep psychological understanding of their hopes, needs and fears in order to leverage the nature of war against them.”