Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support across the British political spectrum. So why is it so hard to fund compared to military options? Teresa Dumasy shares the findings of some recent polling on public opinion in Britain about preventing conflict and building peace.
People in the UK support peacebuilding and feel positive about the UK playing a role in stopping violent conflict in the world.
These are findings from a UK public opinion poll conducted in July 2026 by More in Common on behalf of Conciliation Resources. The poll explored whether, and why people support peacebuilding and their views on the government’s investment and role in it.
The results are useful data at a time of rising global conflict, the effects of which affect the UK economically and socially. If politicians and policymakers want to adopt policies that turn the tide on conflict trends, they need to know whether the public backs them.
While investment in defence may deter and counter security threats, only diplomatic and civilian-led efforts can address the underlying political, economic and social factors driving and exacerbating conflict.
People understand peacebuilding
The results show that most people in Britain have a good understanding of what peacebuilding involves. Presented with eight possible descriptions of peacebuilding, the three most commonly selected represent the basic tenets of peacebuilding (tackling causes, long-term and inclusive):
- Understanding and addressing the underlying causes of conflict, not its symptoms (32%);
- The long-term process of rebuilding relationships, changing attitudes and establishing fairer institutions (32%); and
- Everyone from communities to governments working to end fighting and prevent the recurrence of violence (31%).
The second most commonly selected descriptions were activities that relate indirectly to the building of peace, such as deal-making by diplomats to end violent conflict (21%), and justice for and protecting human rights (21%), which can be part of restoring accountability and trust in societies following violent conflict.
The results also show there is scope for more public education about peacebuilding. Peacebuilding is commonly misunderstood as ‘peacekeeping’ (‘military intervention to stop fighting between conflict parties’ (13% in the poll findings)) and humanitarian assistance (‘providing aid to those displaced and harmed’ (16% in the poll findings)). A proportion of Britons say they ‘don’t know’ what peacebuilding involves (25%).
People support investment in peacebuilding Presented with a description of peacebuilding as a ‘long-term process of encouraging people to talk, repairing relationships, and reforming institutions to prevent violent conflict’, 65% of the British public agree that it is very (23%) or fairly important (42%) that the UK invests more resources into peacebuilding around the world.
Support is particularly high amongst those under 35 – 73% of those between 25-34 believe it is important (‘very’: 34%; ‘fairly’: 39%) that the UK invests more resources in peacebuilding. Across all age groups, only 14% feel it is not very important and 7% think it is not at all important. 14% of Britons don’t know.
Labour, Liberal Democrats and Green Party voters are the most supportive; Reform voters the least, but still 53% agreed that it is very (14%) or fairly important (39%).
Presented separately with an estimated figure of UK investment in civilian peacebuilding in 2023 (approximately £100m, or 0.005% of GDP), Labour and Green party voters, and those aged between 25-34 were more likely to say the UK should invest more. Results were mixed over other categories, and around a fifth of respondents said they didn’t know.
Support on moral grounds
People are most likely to back the UK’s involvement in peacebuilding for moral reasons. Respondents were presented with nine potential arguments to justify why the UK should invest more into peacebuilding, and asked whether they support or oppose them. The most popular responses were because:
- ‘human beings have the right to live in peace, free from the threat of conflict (35% strongly support, 34% tend to support); and
- ‘because conflict creates so much suffering in the world, but when peace is achieved people’s lives can flourish’ (27% strongly support, 36% tend to support).
The poll shows that people are also conscious of the cost of conflict to UK security, economic and trade interests and a number also selected this as a justification for UK involvement: 21% strongly support; 38% tend to support.
Peacebuilding makes people ‘proud’ and ‘hopeful’
The majority of Britons would feel proud and hopeful if they knew that the UK Government had played a key role in stopping a conflict somewhere in the world.
Responses to this question were overwhelmingly positive, and similar across age groups, although those over 65 years in particular would feel hopeful and proud.
The results are consistent with a survey that Conciliation Resources commissioned in 2017, which found that 60% of people agreed that the UK Government should invest more in peacebuilding.
Together the survey results suggest that there is public support for the UK Government to prioritise, promote and invest in long-term and inclusive civilian-led peacebuilding. Communicating more and more effectively about the UK’s contributions to peace are likely to further strengthen this support.
Survey note:
Sample size: 2,061 adults in Great Britain (excl. Northern Ireland)
Date conducted: 24-27 July 2026
A version of this article appeared first on the Conciliation Resources website on 18 September 2026.
A new report developed and endorsed by a coalition of UK-based organisations working to prevent violent conflict around the world, including Conciliation Resources and Rethinking Security, is a rallying cry for collaboration and action. Peace Works highlights the costs of conflict globally and to the UK, shows how conflict is changing, and gives examples of where and how peacebuilders have made decisive contributions to the prevention and resolution of violent conflict. The report sets out how the UK Government can work with others, including a range of civil society partners, to shift the global trajectory on conflict.
Dr Teresa Dumasy leads Conciliation Resources’ work to generate and share evidence and lessons with international policymakers in order to improve policy and programming approaches to the prevention and resolution of conflict. She also plays a lead role in NGO efforts to address the impact of counter-terrorism regulations and sanctions on humanitarian and peacebuilding work. Prior to joining Conciliation Resources, Teresa worked for over 10 years for the UK Government, in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development. She has a PhD in History and an MPhil in International Relations and speaks French and Russian. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Conflict Analysis and Research Centre at the University of Kent.
The views and opinions expressed in posts on the Rethinking Security blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the network and its broader membership.
Image Credit: NTB.
