The Lebanese social experiment briefly entertained in France

That is, all of 20 minutes...

Following the implementation of the Taif Accord when Lebanon state of Civil War seemed to truly cease, a number of measures were taken to “detribalize” the social and political environment. Among them were the making of military service an opportunity to integrate a society in conflict by breaking up regional military units, and consciously blending the assignments in platoons to reflect the range of society. Unit cohesion is critical to protecting one anothers’ lives, by its’ very nature causes people to make friends across confessional and social lines.

Key to this was half an billion dollars a year in aid including military aid from the U.S. It has been so successful, that they’re actually phasing conscription out, and now feel quite comfortable saying that without the national defense forces, they could not guarantee the promise of a free society in a culture where the general instinct would be to evade or bribe ones' way out of military service.

France now finds itself toying with similar things, and at a similar level to a nation that had to reconstruct itself after it went through a 16 year long civil war.

France 2 reports that the Prime Minister rejected the notion of introducing a kind of compulsory civilian service similar to a military draft, but had at least weasely, guarded proponency to at least removing another barrier, albeit lat in the game: the photo required with a CV.

«M. de Villepin indicates that "he doubts that the idea of an obligatory non-military national service would be accepted by young people, and that that it corresponds to our needs".

It was in addition declared "completely favorable" to the experimentation of the use on anonymity in job applications.

For M.Villepin "the process has limits, but if that gives access in job recruiting, all the better", adding that "he’s not sure that it is necessary to make it compulsory but that it should be encouraged", after "discussion with labor and industry".»

It all goes back to the onerous “employment contract” system which is wrecking the economy, and making the getting of a job vicious and unrelated to the appropriateness of a job-seeker to the field.

They have a long way to go. Traditionally the Army was a means of getting young men to grow into decent, productive, and non-rioting citizens – the essence of the Republican concept. But in a society where anti-military notions are always lurking quietly in the background, it’s hard to see how they have any other method with which to create a viable and productive social contract.