French President Emmanuel Macron insists France’s new voluntary national service program, announced last week, is not about “sending our youth to Ukraine.” The plan “stops short” of full conscription and will involve recruiting paid volunteers to sign up for 10 months of military service, said France. But the growing realization that Russian aggression could “easily spill into Europe” has put “intense pressure” on countries across the continent to “quickly expand the ranks of full-time soldiers and reservists that shrank during the post-Cold War peace,” said The New York Times.

What did the commentators say?
The countries “closest to Russian borders,” such as Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania, already practice forms of conscription, said The Times. But the war in Ukraine and recent Russian drone incursions into NATO airspace have “reignited the debate across the continent.” 

In Poland, plans are “underway for every man to go through military training,” said The New York Times. Denmark recently expanded its military conscription lottery to include women, while Croatia has gone further, voting in October to reintroduce compulsory military service. 

Last month, Germany opted for a “new military service” that does not reinstate conscription, which ended in 2011, but does “include the potential for that,” said DW. It marks the “first unmistakable shift in German security policy for a generation,” said The Spectator. This is the “minimum a serious country does when confronted with the concrete possibility of war on its own continent.”

What next?
Measures to boost voluntary enlistment cannot get around the central problem that fewer than a third of EU citizens say they would fight for their country in a war, according to a 2024 Gallup poll. France’s armed forces chief, General Fabien Mandon, warned last month that while France has the resources to defeat Moscow, it lacks the “spirit.” If “our country falters because it’s not prepared to accept — let’s be honest — to lose its children, to suffer economically because defense production will take precedence, then we are at risk.”

The Gen Z workforce has long been called entitled and lazy, but the generation’s method of career movement may be a response to the unfavorable job market. Younger workers are embracing career minimalism, in which they move between job opportunities rather than strive for upward mobility. The method could provide more security, flexibility and fulfillment.

What’s career minimalism?
We have “traded the rigid career ladder for the career lily pad,” said Morgan Sanner, a Gen Z career expert, at Glassdoor. Instead of climbing the rungs of a ladder, people are “moving toward opportunities that fit their needs in the moment,” said Forbes. 

This is especially the case among younger workers. Instead of being ambitious to move their way up in the workplace, 68% of Gen Z workers “wouldn’t pursue management if it weren’t for the paycheck or title,” said a survey by Glassdoor. With career minimalism, workers are “prioritizing security and expansion over elevation” as a result of a “landscape of mass layoffs, AI disruption and widespread burnout.”

Several factors have encouraged the shift toward career minimalism, but the largest is the job market’s volatility. The “traditional career ladder promised workers pensions, stability and prestige markers as a reward for their long-term commitment,” said Chris Martin, a lead researcher at Glassdoor, to Fast Company. The “past few generations of workers have seen these promises broken or hollowed out, and Gen Z’s views have changed accordingly.” Increasing the breadth of work rather than focusing on moving up also combats skill obsolescence as industries are rapidly changing due to technological advances.

How is it changing the workplace?
Gen Z has embraced the side hustle. Having a secondary job allows people to “diversify income streams without abandoning job security,” said Glassdoor. They have become “central to Gen Z’s identity, offering creative, entrepreneurial or activist outlets that main jobs cannot supply,” said Fortune. 

While Gen Z has become a kind of poster child for career minimalism, millennials, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are “adopting it for their own reasons,” said Forbes. Career minimalism “addresses challenges that affect professionals in every generation,” including “broken advancement systems, burnout, shifting career paths, and the desire for autonomy.” The “future of work is becoming less about relentless climbing and more about choosing roles that reflect a person’s values, energy and goals.”

The 112-year-old Imperial Winter Egg is displayed at Christie’s auction house in London before selling for a record-breaking $30.6 million. Featuring intricate engravings and more than 4,500 diamonds, it’s one of 43 surviving eggs made by the House of Fabergé for the Russian royal family. 
Wiktor Szymanowicz / Future Publishing / Getty Images

It has been more than 200 years since “Emma,” “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility” were published, yet the words and wit of Jane Austen remain enthralling as ever. And this is a big year for Austen fans. Dec. 16 marks the author's 250th birthday, and boutique hotels on both sides of the Atlantic are celebrating her life and legacy through special programming and events.

The Queensberry Hotel, Bath, UK
Austen called Bath home from 1801 to 1806, and the city still celebrates its most famous resident with events like the annual Grand Regency Costumed Promenade through the streets. The Queensberry Hotel, just down the road from the Jane Austen Center, is in the middle of the action. Comprising four Georgian townhouses, the property is “full of personality, without ever laying it on too thick,” said the Michelin Guide.

One Aldwych, Covent Garden, London
Covent Garden was one of Austen’s haunts, where she attended the theater and stopped by her brother’s home at 10 Henrietta Street. Around the corner at One Aldwych, guests can learn more about the author’s time in the area through the hotel’s Curators program.

Deer Path Inn, Lake Forest, Illinois
Stepping into the Deer Path Inn feels like being “transported back in time to an English countryside estate,” said Travel and Leisure. The Austen Escape package ties in perfectly with the storybook setting and includes an English-themed welcome gift, English breakfast in bed, candlelit dinner with a Regency-inspired menu, and nighttime turndown service with tea and sweets.