Ending the Draft: The Case of Belgium

After the end of the Cold War, beginning with the Low Countries, most Continental West­European countries progressively ended (or more often, suspended) the draft, the core of the mass armed forces of the 19th and 20th centuries. In its place, smaller, professional quick reaction constabulary forces have progressively been put into place. The paper, after briefly analyzing the structural causes of this fundamental societal change, describes how compulsory military service was suspended in Belgium and examines the problems with which the Belgian armed forces have been confronted while restructuring, and what challenges lay ahead in terms of recruitment.