Comments on: Signing up

By: pochp

pochp — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:56:24 +0000

I wonder if being a mercenary would be better considering the economy were in.

By: Ian Garrick Mason

Ian Garrick Mason — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:12:57 +0000

Hi Sylvia. I’ve certainly never done a quantitative analysis, but a good example might be France, whose conscript army has by tradition been focused on protecting France’s territory itself, and which formed the Foreign Legion precisely to fight colonial wars. (This, obviously, is also a counter-example to my point, because it shows how a country with a conscripted military can get around this constraint.) In the Gulf War, France sent the Foreign Legion, but I believe the French role in Afghanistan is being played by certain units from the regular French army too — which may be related to NATO’s presence in the theatre. This is all off the top of my head, by the way, so don’t quote me on it. But militaries have generally found that conscripted armies tend to start grumbling pretty quickly when sent off to fight foreign wars, and professional armies don’t.

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:18:54 +0000

Very interesting thoughts. Do countries with compulsory military service tend not to get involved in expeditionary wars? There is probably something to be said for the social cohesion that comes from compulsory service (but woe to the objectors!).

By: pochp

pochp — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:11:02 +0000

Jack Nicholson’s and Tom Cruise’s ‘A Few Good Men’ relates to this.