War in the city: Urban ethnic geography and combat effectiveness

Abstract

How does the urban environment, and the ethnic geography at its heart, influence the combat effectiveness of democracies conducting counterinsurgency operations? We argue that the city’s ethnic geography–whether it is ethnically homogenous, segregated, or mixed–influences combat effectiveness through two main mechanisms: intelligence and public opinion. There is no ‘ideal’ urban ethno-demographic setting where militaries are likely to be effective in combat. Rather, different ethno-geographies lead to different challenges with respect to intelligence and public opinion, which in turn affect combat effectiveness. We test our arguments through a structured focus comparison of the Troubles and the First Palestinian Intifada.