But few Europeans think they can effectively defend themselves from attack
This week sees the 80th anniversary of VE Day, marking the end of World War 2 in Europe.
Eight decades after the last great war, the prospect of another global conflict haunts the continent once again, with a new YouGov survey conducted in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain showing that between 41% and 55% in each country think that another world war is likely to occur within the next 5-10 years.
Across the Atlantic in the USA, 45% of Americans share this view.
In the event that a new world war did occur, the large majority (68-76%) expect that the conflict would involve the use of nuclear weapons.
For this reason, it is no surprise to see that most people (57-73%) think that a further world war would have a higher casualty count than the previous incarnations. Indeed, this includes sizeable numbers (25-44%) who believe this another global conflict in the next 5-10 years would result in the deaths of most people in the world.
Europeans lack confidence in their militaries’ ability to defend their countries
In the event that another world war did break out, the large majority of people in each of our surveyed countries expect that their nation would be involved, ranging from 66% in Italy to 89% in Great Britain.
Yet there is also a clear sense that European militaries are not prepared for a global conflict. Only a minority of Western Europeans believe their national militaries could effectively defend their countries in the event of a third world war, ranging from a low of 16% in Italy to a high of 44% in France.
By contrast, fully 71% of Americans have confidence that the armed forces could defend their country.
But where might the next threat to European countries come from? Russia continues to top the list, with 72-82% of Western Europeans seeing it as a major or moderate threat to peace in Europe, as well as 69% of Americans.
But many now say the same of Europe’s supposed ally, the United States. With Donald Trump making threats against Greenland, Canada and Panama, as well as his stance on Ukraine, a majority of people in Spain (58%), Germany (55%) and France (53%) see tensions between Europe and the US as a major or moderate threat to continental peace. Americans are less likely to say so, although a third (34%) still agree with their Western European counterparts.
While conflict between continental powers formed much of the basis for conflict in the early 20th century (and the centuries preceding it), Europeans and Americans are far less likely to see that tensions between European countries (excluding Russia) are a cause for concern (26-37%).
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Photo: Getty
