European armed forces are confronted with increasing recruitment and retention challenges as governments shift from compulsory service to all-volunteer forces, unprecedented population aging notwithstanding. This volume compares human-resource developments in both old and new NATO members as well as unaligned countries, including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. These countries' collective contribution to international stability is not to be underestimated: combined, they field about as many active military personnel as the United States.

In its cross-European approach to comparing variation in policy and trends across more than a dozen like-minded countries, the study offers empirically unparalleled insights into the permutations, that civil-military relations are undergoing in the twenty-first century. This book is indispensable reading for decision-makers, practitioners, military officers, scholars, and anyone with an interest in civil-military relations, the armed forces, and the future of European countries' contribution to international peace and security.