Graeme Davies: Why the British public doesn't want our troops to fight America's battles

Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth has suggested that the UK should become less self-reliant in military matters, and should instead involve itself more in coalitions – a perhaps startling suggestion, but one which accords with the findings of some new research.

Along with Dr Robert Johns at the University of Strathclyde, I conducted a project using YouGov and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to gain some clear insights into public thinking on Britain's role in the world, how we want to fight wars – and who we want to fight them alongside.

This major new project, the first of its kind in the UK, used surveys, experiments and simulations to assess British public attitudes towards war, under what conditions they

will support military action and their reactions to civilian and military casualties during a conflict. We were keen to know how the public views Britain's role in the world and whether they support fighting wars in coalitions or whether they would rather "go it alone".

The preliminary findings, out this week, are interesting – and show a marked preference for Britain's armed forces working as part of major multi-national coalitions, such as a UN or Nato-led force, rather than going it alone or being part of a US-led "coalition of the willing".

The figures are very clear: 70 per cent of respondents find it acceptable for Britain to take part in military action as part of a UN operation; 69 per cent of them are supportive of us joining a Nato-led force. They are fundamentally against going it alone, with only 31 per cent of the population finding such unilateral action acceptable; and even fewer supported being part of a US coalition.

It's not that the British public is against fighting alongside the United States – the US is by far the most powerful country in Nato – rather it is looking for the military action to be legitimised by the support of international organisations, itself a key bone of contention for the ongoing Chilcot inquiry.

After its experiences of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the British public is clearly nervous about joining forces with the United States without wider backing from the international community.

Our findings went further – and what we found surprising is that 45 per cent of the British public would find it acceptable to undertake military action alongside other member states of the European Union, far greater than the support expressed for a US coalition.

It's remarkable that a significant minority of the British public sees the much-unloved EU as a legitimate and preferable organisation for conducting military operations.

The UK now finds itself at a foreign policy crossroads – and public opinion clearly reflects that. The British public wants us to be involved in international affairs, but it believes that we have to engage with the world in conjunction with other states and not alone.

A significant proportion of the British public are strongly multilateralist who want us to work with others to solve problems around the world.

Not just in military matters – more than three quarters of those we surveyed thought it was essential to work with other nations to tackle issues such as hunger and climate change.

There was clear recognition that while Britain should be involved in international affairs, we are not the great power we used to be and will have to work with others to achieve our foreign policy goals.

While only a little over a third of respondents believed Britain should simply concentrate on problems at home, rather than concerning itself with world affairs, more than half agreed that Britain is too small a country to be out "policing the world".

And when it comes to spending, there are some clear messages to the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and to the Treasury in our report.

Some 68 per cent of the British public believe we have spent too much money supporting the US's military activities – in stark contrast to the 74 per cent who feel that we have spent too little equipping our armed forces. The British public clearly feels that the government has not equipped our troops properly – a recurring theme during media coverage of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Chilcot inquiry.

So what are the key messages which the British public is sending to our political elites?

It seems clear that for defence policy to win public approval in future, our Government must engage with the whole global community, rather than simply with our one biggest ally.

And, if a future Prime Minister is going to take us to war, then we must be committed to spending whatever it takes to equip, protect and support our troops.