Swedish and British Public Opinion of the Armed Forces after a Decade of War

Abstract

This article analyzes public opinion of the armed forces, focusing on Sweden and the United Kingdom. The cases offer interesting similarities, such as their institutions of parliamentary monarchies and, most recently, their reliance on all-volunteer force, as well as differences especially with regard to their experience of international defence missions. The discussion considers the extent to which the public has been supportive of recent missions conducted by Swedish and UK armed forces, and whether such support is also accompanied by support for the armed forces as an institution. Levels of opinion and trust in the military are quite different in both cases, and public opinion of international missions reflects the contrasting historical engagements of both states. In both cases, we also find a divergence between what publics are willing to support and what national governments wish to pursue as missions for their armed forces.