Sweden, as a nation, has not been involved in armed conflict for nearly 200 years.\u00a0 The country has lived by a policy of neutrality in all major conflicts, including WWI and WWII.\u00a0 The nation does send peace keeping troops abroad, and does participate in UN actions, but on the whole is considered to be a neutral country.<\/p>\n
Despite this neutrality, F\u00f6rsvarsmakten, the Swedish Armed Forces, has continued a policy of conscription.\u00a0 Essentially, any able bodied male 19 and older is eligible to be conscripted to the armed forces.\u00a0 This is known colloquially in Sweden as \u201clumpen.\u201d\u00a0 For now.\u00a0 Because as of July 1st<\/sup>, 2010, the Swedish military will no longer be based on conscription, but instead become a completely professional force.<\/p>\n When I moved back to Sweden I was 23 years old.\u00a0 I had not considered the possibility of being conscripted.\u00a0 At all.\u00a0 Luckily, within a month or so, the Swedish government had made their position very clear. I received, a letter from F\u00f6rsvarsmakten informing me that I would not be conscripted.\u00a0 I was surprisingly ok with that.\u00a0 As if to hammer their decision home, just a few weeks later, I received a second letter. \u00a0Identical to the first.\u00a0 It seems they had not changed their mind, and at the ripe old age of 23, my services were deemed unnecessary.<\/p>\n Thirty years ago, nearly all eligible men served their mandatory military service.\u00a0 When I moved to Sweden, a movement was underway to change that.\u00a0 As a general rule, F\u00f6rsvarsmakten tried to admit men who were interested in serving their country.\u00a0 But there were exceptions.\u00a0 And it was those exceptions that made headlines.\u00a0 Men and women (who could volunteer but not be conscripted) who wanted to serve in the military were being denied, while some who refused conscription were being jailed.\u00a0 It was a system that wasn\u2019t working.\u00a0 With the move away from conscription to a professional standing military, Sweden has made sweeping reform to a system that has been in place for years.<\/p>\n My being denied was a sign of the times though.\u00a0 The Swedish Armed Forces have undergone many changes in recent years.\u00a0 Budget cuts, changes in strategy, and of course, the move from conscription to a professional fighting force.\u00a0 Some argue that these changes have left the military weakened and unable to protect the country. Others argue that, after nearly 200 years without conflict, a standing army based on conscription could best be described as archaic.<\/p>\n Regardless of which side of the argument you stand on, the Swedish Armed Forces will change drastically in just a few weeks time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sweden, as a nation, has not been involved in armed conflict for nearly 200 years.\u00a0 The country has lived by a policy of neutrality in all major conflicts, including WWI and WWII.\u00a0 The nation does send peace keeping troops abroad, and does participate in UN actions, but on the whole is considered to be a…<\/p>\n