From Welfare Society to War Mobilization: The Changing European Security Landscape Behind Norway's "Preparatory Conscription" Letter
20/01/2026
On January 19, 2026, over 13,500 letters from the Norwegian Armed Forces were delivered to mailboxes of citizens across the country. The content of these letters was enough to make any recipient pause: in the event of war, the state has the right to requisition your home, vehicle, boat, or machinery. This is not a drill, nor a theoretical exercise—it is a formal administrative notice known as a preliminary requisition. Combined with the nearly 14,000 letters already sent in 2025, nearly 28,000 Norwegian citizens have received this stark reminder in just two years: peace is not a given.
The head of the Norwegian Armed Forces Logistics Organization, Major General Anders Jernberg, was blunt about it: We are in the most severe security policy crisis since World War II. Our society must prepare for security crises and, in the worst-case scenario, for war. This statement, much like the letter itself, marks a turning point in an era: Norway, once seen as a model of stability in Europe and a benchmark for high-welfare societies, is now openly rehearsing the transition from a market society to a mobilized society in an unprecedented manner.
Geographical Destiny and Strategic Frontiers: Why Norway Must "Take the First Step"
To comprehend the weight of these tens of thousands of letters, one must turn their gaze to the northeastern corner of Norway's map. There, a 196-kilometer (approximately 123-mile) land border tightly connects this Scandinavian nation with Russia. This is not merely a line on a map; it is one of the shortest physical contact lines between NATO and Russia. Amid the increasingly tense geopolitical contest in the North Atlantic and the Arctic Circle, Norway's geographical location has transformed from a strategic asset into a heavy responsibility, even a risk.
The Prime Minister of Norway once described the country as NATO's eyes and ears in the north. This metaphor accurately captures its dual role: serving as the Western alliance's outpost for monitoring Russia's Arctic activities and as the most vulnerable frontline in potential conflicts. The Arctic region is no longer a distant, frozen expanse; with melting ice, it is becoming a new shipping route, a zone for resource competition, and a hotspot for military deployment. Russia has concentrated the majority of its nuclear submarines and key naval forces on the Kola Peninsula, facing Norway's Finnmark county across the sea. This close proximity has made Norway's sense of crisis far more acute than that of other landlocked European countries.
Norway's security assessment indicates that the threat landscape is becoming increasingly complex. While traditional large-scale invasion scenarios still exist, a more likely and frequent form of erosion is known as hybrid threats—cyberattacks, disruption of critical infrastructure, information warfare, maritime harassment, and infiltration by special forces. These actions blur the lines between war and peace, aiming to test and weaken a nation's resilience and response capabilities without triggering a full-scale war. In the face of such gray-zone challenges, relying solely on standing military forces is far from sufficient. The integration of resources across the entire society and the ability for rapid mobilization have become the new core of defense.
The Return of "Total Defense": From Military Concept to National Practice
The letter of intent for requisition is not an isolated incident, but a key component in the revival of Norway's comprehensive defense strategy. The so-called comprehensive defense is a concept rooted in the Cold War era, with its core idea being the recognition that the outcome of modern warfare depends not only on the military forces on the battlefield but also on the support capacity of the entire nation's economy, industry, and society. After a prolonged period of post-Cold War peace dividends, this concept is being revitalized with practical significance in Europe, particularly in frontline nations like Norway.
The Norwegian government has officially designated 2026 as the Year of Total Defense. This nationwide initiative, jointly led by civil defense and the armed forces, has a clear objective: to comprehensively enhance the country's ability to prevent and manage security crises and even war by revising emergency plans and conducting joint exercises. Participants in the initiative span all levels of government agencies, private enterprises, and ordinary citizens. This marks a paradigm shift in national security preparedness—evolving from a purely military matter into a civic responsibility requiring the shared commitment of the entire society.
The legal basis for requisition letters is Norway's "Requisition Act" and its supporting regulations. This law authorizes military authorities to requisition necessary supplies during wartime or when the threat of war is imminent. It is worth noting that the phrase "imminent threat of war" carries a certain degree of subjective judgment, granting the government flexibility to take action as a crisis escalates before formal war is declared. According to the regulations, the scope of what can be requisitioned is extremely broad: ranging from private cars, fishing boats, and vacation homes, to production facilities such as factory workshops and power stations, and even including specific production services and labor. The regulations also stipulate that for the purpose of war preparation (such as large-scale military exercises), requisitions can be implemented to a limited extent during peacetime, but each peacetime requisition must obtain case-by-case approval from the Ministry of Defense.
Therefore, these preliminary requisition letters essentially constitute a nationwide census of civilian assets and a preemptive legal notification. It is a cold list, not a hot requisition. Its purpose is to eliminate legal ambiguity and shorten the response time from decision-making to execution when a crisis truly strikes. For the ship owner who receives the letter, it means their fishing vessel may be used for coastal patrol or material transport; for the business owner with large warehouses, their facilities may be converted into military supply distribution centers. The state gives advance notice: I have taken note of this resource you possess and have reserved a place for you in the contingency plan for the worst-case scenario.
Psychological Shock and Institutional Resilience: How Democratic Societies Confront the Reality of Preparing for War
Despite repeated official assurances that these letters have no practical impact during peacetime, the psychological shock they cause is real and profound. It forces citizens accustomed to peace and the sanctity of private property to confront a once unimaginable scenario: personal property may no longer belong entirely to the individual and could become a cog in the national war machine when the survival of the state requires it.
This kind of impact is precisely one of the effects that overall defense aims to achieve. General Yernberg pointed out that these letters enhance the level of combat readiness and reduce uncertainty in resource allocation during crises or wartime. In other words, in addition to legal and administrative preparations, the nation is also conducting a social-psychological stress test and adaptive training. It requires citizens to mentally complete the transition from peaceful residents to potential national defense participants.
Analysis reveals that Norway's approach stands out due to its high level of transparency and institutionalization. Requisitions are not secret military deployments but are publicly communicated through formal letters; the exercise of authority is based on clear written laws rather than temporary administrative orders; the entire process seeks to strike a balance between national security needs and the protection of citizens' rights. For example, requisitions are typically set with a one-year validity period, and among the letters issued in 2026, approximately two-thirds (around 9,000) were renewals of previous notifications. This indicates that many citizens are not encountering this matter for the first time, and the system is gradually becoming normalized in an effort to reduce societal shock.
However, questions have also arisen. How efficient is this defense model that relies on civilian resources? In a real emergency, can the requisition process be carried out smoothly? Will the owners cooperate? Can the compensation mechanism be implemented promptly to avoid social injustice? There are no simple answers to these questions. What Norway is currently undertaking is a large-scale social experiment, whose success or failure not only concerns its own security but will also provide valuable reference for other European democratic countries.
Nordic Signals and the Future of Europe: A Quiet Strategic Transformation
The expropriation letter from Norway, like a massive stone thrown into the tranquil lake of European security, is sending ripples far and wide. Its signal is clear and powerful: Europe's security environment has undergone a fundamental shift. The complacent mindset fostered by the longest period of peace since World War 2 must now give way to a new, more resilient logic of survival.
Norway is not an isolated case. Across Europe, from the Baltic states to Poland, from Germany to France, measures such as increasing defense budgets, expanding military forces, strengthening border controls, stockpiling critical supplies, and enhancing infrastructure protection are becoming widespread trends. NATO's forward presence continues to grow, and the scale and frequency of joint military exercises have risen significantly. What makes Norway unique is that it presents this strategic adjustment in an extremely concrete and personal way, directly reaching every citizen. It transforms macro geopolitical risks into a micro-level conscription letter at one's doorstep.
This leads to a deeper proposition: How can modern welfare democracies effectively respond to high-intensity security competition and even the threat of war while maintaining their core values of openness, freedom, and respect for private rights? Norway's attempt seems to offer an approach: by establishing an early, transparent legal framework and communication, standardizing and making predictable the exercise of power during national emergencies, thereby maximizing the preservation of the rule of law and the social contract even in times of crisis.
From a broader perspective, Norway's move reflects the difficult awakening of Europe's strategic autonomy awareness. Faced with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, uncertainties in transatlantic relations, and the restructuring of the global power landscape, European countries have realized that they cannot fully rely on any external guarantees for their own security. Establishing comprehensive defensive resilience from the grassroots of society to the top level of the state has become an inevitable choice.
Norway, a wealthy country with a long coastline, abundant resources, and a relatively small population, is giving us a preview of a certain future. When stability is no longer taken for granted, when peace shifts from a background state to a goal that requires active maintenance, the logic of how society operates begins to quietly change. From welfare to resilience, from market to mobilization, this path is destined to be filled with tension and challenges. Those tens of thousands of letters already sent may ultimately not lead to a single actual requisition procedure, but they have already accomplished a more important mission: awakening an era and writing a footnote in advance for an uncertain future. The next question might be: how many more citizens across the European continent will receive similar letters from home in the near future?