ABSTRACT
A simple evocation of this logic, linked to the evolution of the external context, might allow us to understand why France, Italy, and Spain all chose to abandon conscription at more or less the same time, moving from the model of a mixed army to an all-professional force. Without underestimating this element, however, the analysis presented in this chapter considers an alternative explanation, one that takes internal political variables into account to explain the programmatic change that led to the French military reforms of 1996. The sociological analysis of interaction among the various elite groups allows us to understand in its full complexity the process of military professionalization, understood here as a programmatic change that led to a major transformation of military policy. Through detailed analysis, and tracking in particular the rise of civilian elites in the Ministry of Defense, we can begin to understand the factors leading up to it.
