Mandatory Military Service - Speech or Presentation Example

Arabs are considered a martial race and a large part of our heritage and tradition was built on our ability in warfare, but nowadays, Arab youth culture is predominated with immature senseless and idle mannerisms. The contemporary Arab youths are fascinated with laid-back lifestyles characterized with fashion, fast foods and are withdrawn to fantasy worlds spent in front of the TV watching favorite sports and celebrities. In order to combat many of our youth’s social ills and build a better generation, I believe mandatory military service would be a great resource to our Arab world. Mandatory military service is a norm in many nations across the world; it is also the norm for most men reaching 18 years of age to dread the day that they would have to wear their nation army uniform. Contemplating over the year or three young people would dedicate to military service; I believe that it is an extraordinary honor and a great opportunity for self-development. Having a mandatory military service for everyone in the population would have a far-reaching positive impact on the nature of our Arab population; firstly, it would help in modeling character and character formation for our young people in the Arab world and eventually help in curbing social ills. This transformation will give forth-young people with sound moral values, and character traits that are admirable for cohesion in the Arab world; for instance, our Arab youths will gain a sense of duty and service to our nations; they would also learn the values of hard work, effective organization, self discipline, cooperation, good leadership and self defense. Many social ills in the Arab world such as acts of terrorism, juvenile crimes, violence, teenage pregnancies and substance abuse by the population can be directly attributed to lack of social values and morals; this can partly be blamed on upbringing and lack of good models for the young people. Mandatory military service will be efficient in instilling sound moral values in our population; young people will learn to value work as opposed to robbery and peace instead of violence. They will be sound morally upright individuals with impeccable character traits that will help in governance and leadership of our Arab worlds. Perhaps most importantly, mandatory military service would help instilling into our Arab youths a sense of nationhood and loyalty to our Arab nations- young people will be willing to sacrifice their lives for the noble course of duty and service to our great Arab nations. In addition to this, the population will be able to recognize and respect structural systems in the Arab nations, such as the courts in respect for law, order and authority. Cases of anarchy such as was witnessed in the recent past will be outdated as the Arab populations will be proud of their leadership and institutions in general. In this regard, mandatory military training will foster the development of a future generation that is not only committed to values of nationhood, but also one that can be relied upon in the event of emergencies for disaster for mitigation. Mandatory military training will be a great boost to national security especially for Arab countries in the Gulf region (Kuwait, Oman, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates) which are in constant clashes thereby making the regions politically unstable (Bahgat 79). These Arab countries are faced with two major imminent threats to their internal security, “a potentially aggressive, potentially nuclear armed Iran…” (Pollack 3) that viciously seeks to overrun other regional governments that challenge its dominance in the region, and an Iraqi that “could potentially threaten to destabilize the region by either sliding back into civil war or emerging as a new dictatorship” (Pollack 3). Apart from these two threats, Arab countries in the gulf region are endowed with rich oil deposits, a treasure that is of interest to the rest of the world; therefore, heralding a national security threats both externally and internally. In this case, Arab countries in the gulf region must be adequately prepared to combat any future attacks that may threaten their national security, and endanger the lives of innocent civilians given the unstable political situations in the region. Conscription will significantly boost the national government's military machines in terms of numbers with considerably lower financial implications to their annual budgets. The youth recruits would offer internal defense, enforce national security measures, provide emergency services in the event of disasters and bolster general national levels of preparedness for attacks. Quite notably still the whole population will be armed with basic military skills and technical competences that will enable them take security measures in times of crisis instead of relying on the military efforts alone. In other words, mandatory military training will enlighten the population on their obligations in times of a crisis, and what contributions to make in times of a national security threat. Mandatory military training will also have significant impacts on the health of our Arab populations in that cases of ill health and medical complications associated with obesity will decline due physical fitness as studies have linked obesity to physical unfitness (Vasankari 907-908). In order, to be eligible to join the military, young people will have to undergo screening tests to ascertain their physical fitness for training and, factoring that the military foundation will be mandatory for any future prospective, young people will be compelled to adjust their lifestyles in order to be in perfect shape for the training. Military training will involve rigorous training and excruciating tasks, which will require individuals who are healthy both mentally and physically in order to endure the pressures of training. Mental health will improve due to the endurance training, which enhances mental alertness and concentration levels; this will reduce stress levels in our population, as individuals will have sound healthy minds that are clearly focused on goals of nationhood, service and duty. It will also help young people to be more aware of themselves and others, and bolster their confidence and self-esteem; thus, reducing depressions cases, as is the norm with many young people who struggle with suicidal feelings. Young people will need this mental fitness for them to perform tasks that need high levels of concentration and skill for execution. Generally, the endurance training will boost young people’s physical fitness by improving their bodily functions such as respiration, metabolism and blood circulation (Vasankari 909). This will improve immune systems and keep many diseases and health complications at bay improve service delivery in our institutions and reduce our medical expenses and annual health budgets drastically. Ultimately, I strongly believe that military service should be mandatory to everyone; thus, mandatory military service would develop a lot of beneficial virtues in the population, we would be able to control a multitude of social ills ,build patriotism, nationalism ,cultivate a sense of belonging and most important of all strengthen national security. Works Cited Pollack, Kenneth M. “Security in the Persian Gulf: New Frameworks for the Twenty-First Century”. Brookings; Middle East Memo no.24. June 2012. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. Bahgat, Gawdat. "Persian Gulf Security At The Turn Of The Century: Opportunities And Challenges." Defense Analysis 15.1 (1999): 79-92. Vasankari, Tommi et al. "Physical Fitness Profiles Of Young Men Associations Between Physical Fitness, Obesity And Health." Sports Medicine 40.11 (2010): 907-920. Read More