Empirical data elucidates that the world's population is aggregating in cities at an alarming rate. In 1950, twenty-nine percent of the world's population lived in urban areas. Today, this statistic stands at fifty-four percent. By 2030, when the world's population is expected to be around 5 billion people, it is predicted that approximately sixty-one percent of the world's population will live in cities. This dramatic change in world demographics requires the US Army to take an introspective look in how it plans to thrive in the world's changing landscape. For centuries, armies have gravitated towards cities due to their operational and strategic importance in war. Cities possess political, religious, economical, and military power that largely cannot be ignored, or bypassed, by military commanders. History evinces a city's importance in war, and buttress' the fact that urban warfare is nothing new. As the world's population continues to grow, the likelihood the US Army will operate in an urban environment will precipitously increase. Thus, the US Army must understand the complexity that foments within urban areas, realize that indigenous groups are best at resolving local problems, accept operating decentralized, and value the importance of supreme firepower.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)