Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine has prompted a slew of difficult questions for a NATO alliance long confident of economic and military superiority over its historical eastern adversary.
European Union and NATO efforts to fund and arm Ukraine are unprecedented in their scale, speed, and complexity, but have proved stuttering and inadequate in meeting the demands of a major modern war on European soil.
Alliance leaders readily admit that NATO—unlike a Russia willing and able to throw huge amounts of men and material into battle—is not prepared to wage a full-scale war.
Though advanced Western weapons systems have proven their value on Ukrainian battlefields, Kyiv's struggle to maintain adequate manpower and munitions is serving as a warning to its Western backers.
Several NATO nations are now mulling the reintroduction of compulsory military service in various forms. Currently, 10 NATO nations call up conscripts each year for extended periods of training and service.
The Netherlands sends conscription letters to some 200,000 young citizens annually, though the obligation to report for duty was scrapped in 1997. Those who wish to can report for service on a voluntary basis.
Turkey—which boasts NATO's second largest military after the U.S.—conscripts hundreds of thousands of men between 21 to 41 years of age each year, who are required to serve for six to 12 months.
Neighboring Greece also has conscription for males between the ages of 19 and 45 lasting from nine to 12 months depending on service and location.
Half of the NATO nations that use conscription sit along Russian borders. Estonia has maintained conscription since its independence in 1991 and the end of the Cold War. Lithuania reintroduced mandatory service in 2015, and neighboring Latvia committed to reintroduce the draft following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Nordic nations of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland all also have mandatory military service. Sweden and Finland, both of which joined NATO in the two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, have mandatory service at the heart of their national defense planning.
Sweden dropped conscription in 2010 as the nation cut defense spending. It was reintroduced in 2018. Amid the war in Ukraine and Sweden's NATO accession, Stockholm now plans to double the number of annual conscripts to 10,000 by 2030.
Finland trains around 21,000 new conscripts each year, who then join the war-time reserve of 280,000 soldiers. Helsinki has long maintained a strong reserve force while warily watching across its 830-mile border with Russia.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more
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