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Contemporary Western armies are capable of operating in urban areas but few field capabilities for urban combat. This is perplexing. Fighting amongst populations and structures presents well-documented, distinct military and political challenges. Demographic, social and rapid technical changes are increasing both the likelihood of urban combat and the severity of these challenges.  The most pressing challenge is perhaps unprecedented geo-political sensitivity to suffering own and inflicting civilian …

 “Riding from the Past into the Future” The recent  ‘Riding the Future Battlefield’  post on the Land Power Forum by Mr Wayne Shipp and Dr Jason Mazanov raised some excellent ideas for the potential study of future conflict and use of simulation to enhance Army’s understanding of the Future Operating Environment (FOE). However, in their enthusiasm to make their case, I fear the authors have been far too dismissive of the staff ride, an effective and proven Professional Military Education (PME) activity. …

If economics drives politics, then it will also drive conflict. An economic imperative for defence – Dr Nitin Gupta If economics drives politics, then it will also drive conflict. ‘Economics drives politics’ – this adage has validated itself over centuries. But an even more apt adage for the 21st century will be, ‘Economics drives conflict’. This is because the foundational drivers of conflicts and security challenges are increasingly economic in nature, and effectively dealing with them will require a …

In order to influence where religious feelings are strong, a deep understanding of the faiths is necessary, Dr Marigold Black writes. In the future, no American ambassador should be assigned to a country where religious feelings are strong unless he or she has a deep understanding of the faiths commonly practiced there … The State Department should hire or train a core of specialists in religion to be deployed both in Washington and in key embassies overseas. — Madeline Albright, 2006 (This article has …

A discussion on the Australian Army use of Anti-Tank landmines and the future Landmines are weapons that deliver some of the most decisive military effects employed in military history. They are effective but controversial weapons that have been employed successfully, but sometimes ruthlessly, in warfare for more than a century. The reason that they are so effective is that they modify the behaviour of combatants and populations in their primary role of denying terrain. Their misuse is deplorable, …

As a Catholic Military Chaplain, I have always felt a deep-seated desire to go on a pilgrimage to  Lourdes  at the foot of the Pyrenees Mountains in France, or Fatima in Spain; both sites of Marion apparitions. When I found out that 2018 was the 60th anniversary of the military pilgrimage to Lourdes, a pilgrimage for military personnel initiated by the Knights of Columbus in 1958 but with its origins during WW1, my wife and I began planning to go on this pilgrimage. We were then able to join in with the …

After the Vietnam War, the term  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder  (PTSD) has become a recognised condition affecting individuals who have been involved in an extremely traumatic experience, causing them ongoing distress and anxiety. Whilst PTSD is a known condition and understood on a very basic level in the general population, there is a risk that it is becoming a catch-all diagnosis to describe a number of mental health issues that are attributed to those individuals who witness or participate in …

To understand technological change, look for the enduring patterns and concepts When Facebook was launched almost 15 years ago with a goal of connecting people, no one could have imagined that it would have become a tool for spreading hate speech or undermining elections. Yet this is precisely what happened. This was greatly amplified by the birth of the iPhone a few years later—with its encryption, portability, and the selection of downloadable social media ‘apps’. While these problems have been evident …

Network-centric warfare (NCW) is becoming the dominant logic of current and future military operations. Network-enabling technologies bring with them a dramatic increase in the quantity of information, the need for constant interaction and a demand for greater organisational transparency. These network characteristics will raise important questions about the cultural assumptions held by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the wider Department of Defence. The pressure on the military workforce and the …

Warfare transcending all boundaries and limits is termed: unrestricted warfare. This kind of war means the focus is in readiness, information is omnipresent, and the battlefield is everywhere. It means all weapons and technology can be superimposed at will, it means all boundaries lying between the worlds of war and non-war, military and non-military, will be destroyed, and it means that many of the current principles of combat will be modified, and even that the rules of war may need to be rewritten. [1] …