In 2010, Sweden ended a 109-year-old national tradition by abolishing its military draft. At the time, the decision seemed like an obvious one; only 5,000 soldiers were being conscripted into the army—a 10-percent sliver of the mandatory enlistment in Sweden during the height of the Cold War and the 1990s, when most European countries had compulsory service. “The obligatory military service had become both old-fashioned and ineffective,” read an editorial in Sweden’s paper of record at the time, effectively calling the move a belated acknowledgement of peacetime.On Thursday, less than seven years later, Sweden formally announced it is bringing conscription …read more
Source: The Atlantic
