Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASS) invites you to a forum on the recently updated topic of mandatory military service. MASA recognized the topic as legitimate and significant for the academic public as well, because according to the way it was opened, it indicated the necessity of a more serious and comprehensive approach to determining priorities and specific goals of the development of a society and state. For the development of long-term plans, policies and opportunities, the analyzes and research results of scientific institutes, faculties, expert teams are very important, as well as the involvement of the wider public, in order to more clearly and precisely determine all potential problems and obstacles that indicate limited opportunities to carry out the announced changes, that is, presented the benefits and opportunities for the realization to be successful.
The segment that was less talked about in public, and is important for the topic of mandatory military service, includes part of the realization of the recruitment process itself. In its structure, this process implies the fulfillment of numerous criteria, which through standard procedures exclude a significant part of potential recruits, because they require minimum mental, medical and physical standards, educational and moral requirements, age limits, the issue of security checks and the like. For this reason, it is important for the public to hear the words of experts from various scientific and professional bodies and institutions in the fields of medicine (psychiatry, public health), education, security, physical culture and upbringing, economics and many others.
The forum will be held in Tuesday, 21.6.2022. year at 6 p.m. in Club Polet (Cetinjska 15, Belgrade).
Speakers:
- Jovan Mirić, prof. of the Faculty of Philosophy in retirement (Department of Developmental Psychology)
- Svetlana Stanarevic, associate professor, Faculty of Security, UB
- Slobodan Spasic, psychologist, PhD student
- Dr. Miroslav Marković (Institute for the Improvement of Education and Training, President of the Serbian Association of Physical Education and Sports Teachers)
In the background of the issue of mandatory military service, there are also the following issues that we will open:
1) How does our society, that is, representatives of state institutions and decision-makers determine priorities and whether they rely on reliable data and research results when making those decisions; how familiar they are with the importance and understanding of the advantages and limitations of some information and data; how much and in what way the general public is involved, especially when it comes to topics that come from the security sphere and that require ever greater openness and the possibility to realize an appropriate public discussion.
2) To what extent is the academic community ready to engage in public discussion regarding issues that represent the strategic determinations of our society and the state in the sphere of security, but also more broadly; does it have sufficient capacity and significant research endeavors that can result in a greater contribution in meeting normative, political, strategic and operational requirements, so that life can take place in conditions of greater safety, security and better quality.
3) Is the planning of public policies carried out in an integrated way, paying attention to the balance between responding to security needs and other essential needs of the population (such as education, health, employment, access to clean water, food, access to energy, etc.) and why not? Representatives of the academic community and educational institutions at all levels, with their different specializations, represent a set of expertise that can contribute to improving the state's response to the multidimensional (security) needs of citizens, but also support public decision makers by analyzing needs, analyzing opportunities, independent evaluation of existing policies and formulating proposals for future work. Participants of the forum are invited to give their opinion and state their views on the current topic of compulsory military service, which reflects many other important issues in our society, which are looking for satisfactory answers and solutions.
