The time has come for national service

This is one of the four winning student columns from the Clingendael Spectator student column competition for the summer of 2024, written by Alexander MacDonald.1  

Current assessments of international affairs suggest that the world may be closer to an all-out conflict between major powers than at any time since the 1930s. Indeed, recent remarks from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk affirmed that Europe has moved from a “post-war” to a “pre-war” era.2 In light of this, the introduction of national service should be considered, which for a variety of reasons will stand to bolster the collective capability and resilience of the West.

National service is already in place in many nations, a few of which are within NATO. However, the most populous and militarily capable countries of the West rely on a volunteer force. Recently, the idea of national service is gradually being considered again in the leading nations of NATO, as in the case of France, which is piloting a voluntary scheme.3

In an era of global competition it is imperative that the West, to effectively compete and thrive, invests in its youth

This should be taken further by instituting compulsory, nation-wide schemes of national service across NATO, either through military training or participation in other forms of community service such as caring for the elderly in care homes. Such policies would not only better prepare militaries if they required more personnel in wartime, but additionally serve the society in peacetime too.

In an era of global competition it is imperative that the West, to effectively compete and thrive, invests in its youth. Young people face a myriad of challenges. Chief among them are a decline in mental and physical health, and an increase in loneliness.4 The younger generation is bombarded with social media, has suffered isolation in their formative years during the Covid-19 pandemic and is about to be subject to an onslaught of AI-driven phenomena such as virtual reality romantic partners.5 All these developments have led to an ever-greater proportion of time being spent behind a screen. This results in people being less physically active, less socially fulfilled and with fewer real-world connections or friends.6

These sets of issues should be viewed as interrelated to national security, and at the core of a nations’ fighting capabilities during wartime. If we are raising a generation of more unhappy and unhealthy young people who have less of a sense of community and are living more in virtual reality, then we have less capacity to confront and deter our adversaries. Indeed, figures from the Pentagon reveal that today, “77% of young Americans would not qualify for military service without a waiver due to being overweight, using drugs or having mental and physical health problems”.7

A potential solution for these issues is a national service scheme, starting at eighteen years old. This would expose young people to new environments and people, as well as engender a sense of service to their country and community. It would also give youngsters a sense of achievement and a feeling for contributing to a goal greater than themselves.

Society no longer has the luxury of waiting to solve these issues through individual action

A section of the most suitable and willing national service participants in each cohort could be selected by the various branches of the military. It is especially important to include spots for those pursuing a career in skilled crafts to contribute as engineers or maintenance technicians. People that would not wish to serve should be offered alternative routes to fulfill their national service requirements. By helping in elderly care homes for instance. This would not only provide some relief to overstretched healthcare staff, but also give young people exposure to the wisdom and experiences of older people.

Precise details of each scheme will differ from country to country, but they would serve to enrich the experiences and (mental) health of youngsters, as well as provide a critical pool of recruits with a basic level of military training, which could be called upon in wartime. Moreover, this would also have a deterring effect towards potential adversaries, who would see a reinvigorated populace with the potential to produce significantly bigger armies than our volunteer forces at present.

Many may be opposed to this idea, arguing it infringes on individual freedom by introducing a compulsory scheme, or that the ‘nanny-state’ should not be concerned with intervening in public health and wellbeing. However, this strictly individualist critique has become outdated to contemporary national security needs and the collective defence obligations of NATO. An era of geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological change means that this is an idea whose time has come. Society no longer has the luxury of waiting to solve these issues through individual action and must apply some form of state-led policy to match the scale of its challenges, from big-tech to foreign adversaries alike.

• 1Many thanks to Clingendael Spectator intern Huub van Gisbergen for taking on and successfully managing the student column competition for the summer of 2024 as a dedicated project.
• 2Claudia Chappa, ‘War looms for Europe, warns Poland’s Donald Tusk’, Politico, 29 March 2024.
• 3Lucy Williamson, ‘France's raw recruits sign up for return of national service’, BBC, 26 June 2019.
• 4Nigel Huddleston, ‘New Government research identifies clear links between loneliness and mental health distress’, GOV.UK, 12 June 2022.
• 5Mark Travers, ‘A Psychologist Reveals 2 Dangers Of Falling For An AI Girlfriend’, Forbes, 27 January 2024.
• 6Katherine Hobson, ‘Feeling Lonely? Too Much Time On Social Media May Be Why’, NPR, 6 March 2017.
• 7Thomas Novelly, ‘Even More Young Americans Are Unfit to Serve, a New Study Finds’, Military.com, 28 September.