French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to plough ahead with a campaign promise to reintroduce compulsory military service to France nearly two decades after it was scrapped.
During his election campaign Mr Macron pledged to give all young people “a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands” and said restoring national service would inspire patriotism and social cohesion.
Between 600,000 and 800,000 young people are year would face military training and spend at least a month with the armed forces – at great cost to the French state.
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Honestly, I can't recall this campaign pledge coming up in English language discourse on the last French presidential election. I'm a bit surprised, but given Russian bellicosity, it's not surprising that Macron would lean on the old French tradition of conscription to get ahead of the curve this time. Of course, it's going to be expensive, and won't provide any immediate boon in national security beyond providing a mass of reservists that can be mobilized in the future. But it's also strangely out of step with Macron's Europhilia to bring back such a central pillar of nationalism like the citizen-army.
Thoughts?
