As fighting in Europe and the Middle East continues, many countries are being forced to reconsider conscription of citizens.

Recent public dialogues over forced military service have erupted in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada — countries that have largely abandoned forced military service.

Other countries like Norway, Latvia, Estonia and Sweden have adopted some form of mandatory military service either on a selective or broad basis, with Sweden adopting gender-neutral conscription. Like other European countries, Ukraine and Russia both have conscription but have struggled with fighting-age men fleeing national borders to avoid fighting.

Canadians often forget that our country is effectively a sea-border state with Russia, a factor that is making headlines as Chinese and Russian war planes skirt the edge of Canadian airspace and foreign military flotillas patrol the boundaries of our warming Arctic waters.

Along with British youth opposing military conscription due to what they see as “elitist wars” and Canada’s........

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