War Resisters' Stories: January

Issue number
52
January 2018
Conscription trends
For many years, it looked like obligatory military service was on the way out. But in the last five years, the picture has changed: Norway has extended conscription for women; Sweden has reintroduced conscription for all; Ukraine, Georgia, Lithuania and Kuwait have reintroduced conscription for men after short hiatuses; Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have introduced conscription for the first time. In this article our campaigner on conscientious objection, Hannah Brock, looks at why governments are turning to compulsion to fill their armies, and what this means for pacifist movements.



