Applied in Norway and Sweden, perhaps soon in Croatia, the conscription chosen represents an original way of applying compulsory conscription, while respecting all the constraints which apply today to European armies.
As they encounter increasing difficulties in maintaining their numbers, and as the international threat imposes increased resources, these armies must now consider all models, including less traditional ones, to respond to the security challenges that present themselves today, and which will certainly increase tomorrow.
In this section:
Since the end of the Cold War, European armies have experienced considerable manpower deflation, most often linked to the end of compulsory conscription. Thus, the French Armies moved from a format of 562 men in 000, including 280 conscripts, compared to 000 active military personnel today. It was the same in all European armies.
On the basis of the benefits of Peace, and the disappearance of the Soviet threat, the European armies have, for the most part, put an end to conscription, which was then experienced as an unnecessary constraint, both by the conscripts and by the soldiers themselves.
Exposed to numerous external missions in which conscripts could not, statutorily, participate, and with decreasing credits, the soldiers themselves favored a professional army, with a tight format, but adapted to the missions by its professionalization, and the increased technicality of its operators.
Recruitment difficulties and declining loyalty, the challenge of maintaining already insufficient numbers in European armies
Over time, however, two problems came to undermine this reasonable model. First, the end of conscription significantly eroded the mix between the armies and civil society, leading to a very significant reduction in the volume of candidates each year.
The problem is such that, very often now, the number of candidates simply having the required physical skills is lower than the number of positions offered, sometimes very significantly.
The European armies, but also the American ones, are now exposed to a cruel dilemma: reduce their selection criteria, with the risk that this will have repercussions on operational efficiency, or not fulfill their recruitment quotas, which, there also, has obvious operational consequences.
To this already more than serious problem, since the beginning of the 2010s, a second one has been added, even more restrictive. Appearing in 2012, with the coming to power of Xi Jinping in China, and the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin, it has continued to grow since.
Indeed, the two men have jointly increased the military power of their respective countries considerably, while showing themselves to be increasingly bellicose on the international scene, in particular towards the West, which they This is the case of Taiwan in the Pacific, or of Ukraine in Europe.
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Hello,
Even if this solution seems to have many advantages, we should be careful to ensure that the conscripts chosen by the army do not correspond each time as if by chance to the poor and those who cannot be boosted. Perhaps there should be a draw among suitable candidates.
Sincerely,
See how interesting it is: in Norway, it is the elite who go to do their military service. In France, there is a fear that it will be the poor... The fact of being chosen (by the armies) tends precisely to ensure that the pool best corresponds to the needs of the armies. It is my opinion that they will be looking more for computer science graduates, STAPS or nurses, than young people with problems. That said, we can also very well imagine that this mechanism could allow certain young people to reconnect with society, in the form of "deferred" military service, but only with regard to profiles having shown a real determination in this sense (I am a fan of the Yan-Tsé gunboat).
Your site is fascinating. Many articles have a European framework, an interest that goes beyond the borders of France. Your articles are translated into several languages. Are you considering a space for debate that would allow you to exchange views with European speakers?
Defense Europe is being built in the headquarters, but also in the exchanges which allow civil society to understand the debate and take ownership of it. However, until now, apart from Twitter and its excesses, we hardly have access to prime material for debate.
Your articles not only report the facts, they also offer a projection of what will happen and are therefore a source of inspiration for future public policies, whoever is elected. Some of these policies are expected to have a European dimension. To wonderfully evoke the role that France could play there and the risks or threats that we should address, whether military or industrial perils with a complete review of the chain of our interests. They deserve to be debated with French but also European speakers, if we want to move the debate forward.
I suspect that this request exceeds what a reader has the right to expect, and in any case wish you good luck for the future.
Sincerely,
Thank you for the comment. This is, in fact, the editorial line of the site, the aim being to broaden the debate, in Europe and beyond, and above all to fight against certain certainties and hasty judgments, which pollute the debate.
For now, comments are reserved for subscribers. This is imposed by the solution used to operate the site, and prevent the distribution of advertising to subscribers. However, there are European users who have already commented on certain articles, making the effort to write them in French. paradoxically, if they wrote it in their native language, their comment would be automatically translated into all languages, except French, which is the “original” language of the site. I raised the subject with the publisher of the translation solution, to see if it is possible to remedy it.
Otherwise, the articles are discussed on LinkedIn, a much more courteous and pleasant environment than other social networks.
Sincerely
Hello,
Thank you for your feedback, I will see what is forgotten on Linked'in as well.
Sincerely,
Math