La réappropriation de l’espace urbain par les armées occidentales

Abstract

Today, the city plays a central role in the major geostrategic dynamics worldwide. Since 2007, more than one in two inhabitants is urban and the urban rate would reach 54% of the world population in 2021. Demographic projections indicate still high rates for this century, with 60-70% of urban dwellers by 2050. For the military, mastering the urban terrain is therefore necessary if not fundamental to intervene in the next crisis management operations (Africa, Middle East, Asia mainly) whose number continues to increase since the end of the Cold War. It is recognized in all Western doctrines as unavoidable and formidable, requiring specific preparation and mechanisms for engagement with rural areas. Urban space is, after all, the terrain of asymmetrical warfare, hybrid strategies in favour of the defender, the circumvention of technological power by more rudimentary capacities. However, the Ukraine War since 2022 reminds us that the conventional war between two states remains conceivable on the European continent. The urban space also appears as central and decisive in military operations.

Keywords

• military geography
• cities
• military operations
• urban combat
• asymmetric war
• conventional war