In this episode, Jon Alterman talks to Dave DesRoches, associate professor and senior military fellow with the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University. Dave, a former Defense Department official responsible for U.S. defense policy in the Gulf and a retired U.S. Army Ranger, lays out the military case for—and against—conscription. Dave also talks about the social and economic implications of building a conscription society. He argues that history shows conscription can either be a force that drives forward national integration or one that sets it back—with much hinging on implementation.