National service

Greece has always had compulsory military conscription

Switzerland has almost 800 years of peace. Its is famous for its watches, its chocolates and -of course- its banking system. But what not many people know is that Switzerland has a quite strong military force based on the mandatory national service of its citizens.

I was in Israel last week, where I saw a picture of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife posing with their youngest son, who is about to be conscripted into the Israeli army. Israel has mandatory military service and, as the photo shows, there are no exemptions. Even young women serve.