FROM SELFIES TO SOLDIERING ⟩ How Nordic and Baltic Countries Turn Instagrammers Into Infantry

After transitioning to an all-volunteer force in 2010, Sweden struggled with recruitment. The return to conscription in 2017 was a pragmatic decision, driven by the need to bolster the military in the face of rising tensions in the Baltic Sea region. Today, only about 5% of Swedish youth are still conscripted, making it one of the most selective systems in Europe.

Both Norway's and Swedish systems are characterized also by their gender parity. Denmark has also recently promised to soon start conscripting women and to increase the number of conscripts and also the length of the conscription service.

In Denmark, Latvia, and Lithuania, the selection of recruits is lottery-driven. While the majority of conscripts enlist voluntarily, the system still relies on a draft to fill the remaining ranks. This hybrid model reflects a balance between maintaining a robust defense force and adapting to the societal shift towards individualism.

Mixed-Gender Rooms and Social Cohesion

One of the most significant changes in modern conscription is the inclusion of women. Norway and Sweden have led the way with gender-neutral conscription, a move that has significantly increased female participation in the military. Today, women make up 20-25% of the conscripted force in these countries, a stark contrast to the 1-4% seen in Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania, where female participation remains voluntary.

In Norway, mixed-gender rooms during military training have become the norm, a practice that has been shown to break down gender barriers and foster greater cohesion among conscripts. Sweden has followed suit, recognizing that the future of their military depends not just on the number of soldiers but on the diversity and unity of the force.

Estonia has now also successfully adopted mixed-gender rooms, which signals that being a soldier is becoming less genderised. In Finland, a trial run of gender-mixed accommodation started in 2020 and the outcomes were successful in terms of improved group cohesion and information flow in the units. Based on that, gender-mixed accommodation was recently put into effect in all units in the Finnish Defence Forces.

Representative of the Estonian Defense Resources Agency (a civilian organization responsible for drafting the conscripts) told The Baltic Sentinel, that the presence of female conscripts disciplines and motivates male conscripts, who tend to act more responsibly in the vicinity of the opposite gender. The female conscripts have mostly preferred to live in the same room with their unit to support unit cohesion.

Volunteerism and Financial Incentives

Minimum length of conscription varies from 5 months in Switzerland to 9 months minimum in Lithuania. Longest possible conscription time -- 18 months -- is available in Norway, where conscripts are also offered a possibility to serve in the Arctic region patrolling the border with Russia, who's activity in the Arctic Norway has recently increased.

The length of conscription service is influenced by two factors. Firstly the duration of reserve training that follows, as conscription is merely a prelude to reserve service. Switzerland manages with such a short conscription period largely because their reservists are required to spend a considerable number of weeks each year undergoing additional training during their reserve appointment. Other nations, who run longer conscription service, balance it out by lesser training volumes in reserve.

A second factor influencing the length of conscription service is the nature of the service, specifically whether conscripts are also required to fulfill certain military roles. Norway's 18-month service includes "military work" where conscripts patrol the northern border with Russia. In most countries, conscripts are not assigned roles typically fulfilled by active service members but are instead drafted into the military as a pathway toward a career as professional servicemen and servicewomen.

Sophia Besch and Katrine Westgaard from Carnegie Endowment find in their recent report about conscription in Nordic and the Baltic states that modern conscription models increasingly rely on volunteerism (especially in Norway and Sweden) and different financial incentives, educational opportunities, and career support are offered to make military service more appealing.

Estonia has in recent years been experimenting with a recruitment model, that seeks to make use of existing societal bonds of the younger age cohort. According to the national defense service report there is an option for young Estonians to start conscription service together with their class mates or an existing group of friends. In 2023, a total of 42 classes, comprising 307 young people, and 67 groups of friends, totaling 378 young Estonians, began their military service together.

Classmates and friends can, when possible, choose a suitable time and place for their service and complete (at least) the basic soldier course together. This option has become increasingly popular, as it makes the adjustment from civilian life to military service smoother and safer for the conscript.

As these countries continue to adapt their conscription systems, one thing is clear: the concept of conscription is far from obsolete. In the last several months, Western European politicians, including in Germany and the United Kingdom, have publicly pondered the benefits of returning to mandatory military service. Conscription, and together with it, the concept of reserve armies is revitalized and evolving, shaped by the dual pressures of geopolitical realities and societal changes, including individualism and mental fragility.

Besch and Westgaard propose that European countries, particularly those in the Baltic Sea region, should engage in systematic exchanges to learn from each other's conscription models. A coordinated regional approach could enhance military recruitment and retention efforts across Europe and help governments reinstituting conscription avoid basic mistakes—especially relevant given the complexities of engaging the smartphone generation.