Germany's Return to Conscription? Military Service Bill & The Wider Implications on The Protagonists

Germany's Return To Conscription? Military Service Bill and The Wider Implications.

Germany's parliament has just passed a law requiring all 18-year-old men to complete a questionnaire and medical check starting January 2026, as a step to strengthen the military amid Russia's war in Ukraine and NATO pressures. Service stays voluntary with €2,600 monthly pay, but needs-based conscription could follow if recruits fall short—potentially by lottery. Students protested en masse, prioritizing schools, climate action, and freedoms over arms buildup, while a poll showed 81% of young people are unwilling to fight. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius welcomed the demonstrations as proof of democracy, even as the nation aims to expand forces to 260,000 by 2035.

Why Germany is doing this is on the surface quite obvious. The war in Ukraine is not going to plan, the economy is failing, energy bills are rising, there isnt enough money for pensions but are they seriously going to send bodies into a foreign war or do they really expect Russia will attack? is this an empire on the verge or panic?

Mike Ryan HOST

GUESTS:

Dr Ralph Shoellhammer, Geopolitical Analyst & Academic.

Geopolitical Analyst Dr Ralph Schoellhammer is Head of the Center for Applied History and IR Theory at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Budapest. He is also an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Webster Vienna Private University and podcasts at The 1020. His research has a particular emphasis on how culture, values, and ideologies influence state behaviour. Ralph has written for Unherd, Spiked, the Wall Street Journal and other publications about energy, and geopolitics.


Prof Emeritus Hall Gardner, American University Paris, International Relations Expert.

Hall is an international relations theorist, editorialist, TV commentator, poet and novelist. His many books on global politics, including Toward an Alternative Transatlantic Strategy (2021) in French and English; IR Theory, Historical Analogy and Major Power War (2019); Crimea, Global Rivalry and the Vengeance of History (2015); NATO Expansion and the U.S. Strategy in Asia (2013); and American Global Strategy and the "War on Terrorism" (2005), blend a historical and theoretical approach with contemporary international affairs, concentrating on questions involving NATO and European Union enlargement, the collapse of the Soviet Union and its impact upon China and Eurasia in general, as well as the global ramifications of the "war on terrorism."


Robert Cibis, Filmmaker Book Publisher & Editor in Chief Oval Media.

Robert Cibis is a producer, director, and author of films, documentaries, and TV shows, as well as a book publisher and editor-in-chief of oval.media. Robert made it his mission to convey a new perspective on power mechanics. His goal is to foster active citizenship by providing a deeper understanding of the world through a variety of media.

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