Catholic military bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck has called for Germany to bring back conscription quickly, arguing that the country’s security situation requires a larger Bundeswehr and cannot be solved through volunteers alone. Overbeck said Germany’s plan to expand the Bundeswehr from just over 186,000 to 260,000 troops by the mid-2030s is unrealistic without compulsory service. He […]

In a great new piece, German journalist Markus Heinrich makes a quite persuasive case that conscription is a relic that belongs in a museum. He writes: Who seriously believes that megalomaniacs like Putin can be deterred by a group of young people who, by the end of their compulsory service, may be able to make […]