Cities have been targeted since time immemorial, evidenced by the plunder and pillage of ancient cities such as Carthage—one of the most powerful trading and commercial centers from 650 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E.—that was razed to ground by Roman military forces. During the Thirty Years’ War (1614-1648), one of the longest in European history, the city of Magdeburg was sacked by the Imperial Army.| Peace Policy
In responding to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of war in cities, it is crucial to pay attention to every individual death, injury, and incident of destruction and also to indirect harm to the collective population and its shared spaces—to the very fabric of the city.| Peace Policy
The city as a unit is the expression of a sum greater than its parts: homes, centers of community and culture, roads to work and school, infrastructure and architecture, and the people living there; it is both political and politicized. The city is politicized in the act(s) of construction, destruction, and reconstruction, and political in its relevance to the state and, increasingly, to the international. The destruction of the city by modern warfare produces and perpetrates multiple forms o...| Peace Policy