John Spencer is the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. A retired US Army officer with twenty-five years of active-duty service, including two combat tours in Iraq, he is considered one of the world's leading experts on urban warfare. An award-winning scholar and internationally recognized national security and military analyst, he has advised US top four-star generals and other senior leaders as part of strategic research groups from the Pentagon to the United States Military Academy. He is the author of Connected Soldiers and Understanding Urban Warfare, and his expertise has been featured by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC. A graduate of Georgetown University, he continues to advise militaries and governments worldwide on strategy and modern conflict.