We asked 1000 British men and women a variety of questions about conflicts currently featuring in world news to see how well people in the UK understand some of the issues. Many people acknowledged that they don’t know much at all about the topics in our survey, but it turns out some people may not know as much as they think…

Who’s who?

13% of Brits incorrectly identified Sharm el-Sheikh, the popular Egyptian holiday destination, as a terrorist group they had heard of.

Hamas have been responsible for a number of suicide bombings that have been heavily reported on in the media. They are an elected Palestinian Islamic organisation, whose military wing is designated as a terrorist organisation by several countries, including the UK.

However, just 40% of the people we asked knew that Hamas are a group fighting against government forces in Israel.

The activities of Boko Haram have been widely reported on ever since they placed a bomb in a shopping mall in Nigeria. Since then they have claimed responsibility for several kidnappings of Nigerian schoolgirls.

Despite this, a mere 33% knew Boko Haram are a group fighting against government forces in Nigeria.

What action should the UK take?

When asked what action they thought the UK should take against terrorists in Israel and Palestine, people were most likely to opt for “Encourage peaceful negotiation” (42%). The next most popular course of action regarding Israel and Palestine was “None – I think it’s a bad idea for us to take any action” (21%).

When asked the same question about pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, 39% chose “Encourage peaceful negotiation”, while “imposing economic sanctions / trade embargoes against Russia” was the second most popular option at 28%. These people believe that Russia is involved in pro-Russian rebel activity, despite Russia’s denial.

Somewhat fewer people (29%) suggested “Encourage peaceful negotiation” as a course of action in response to the Islamic State militant group, but this was still the most popular option. However, “military action – we should launch air strikes” was very close behind as the second most popular option (27%).

Very few people chose “None – I don’t care about it” (4% about the Islamic State; 4% about the Israel-Palestine conflict; 5% about the Crimean crisis). Some people added that we should “just protect our own land and borders,” or “spend more time and money on home security and target Islamic militant groups within our own country”.

What’s going on?

62% correctly identified Israel and Palestine as the countries that have recently been fighting over the Gaza strip. Slightly fewer (58%) were able to correctly identify Russia and Ukraine as the countries that have recently been fighting over the Crimean peninsula.

Many people said they understand very little or nothing at all about the Israel-Palestine conflict (46%) and Russia-Ukraine crisis (51%), and even more (66%) said the same of the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Only 6% said they understood the ongoing Syrian civil war very well, while 14% felt this way about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and 12% about the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

However, of the 14% that claimed to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict very well, 20% had never even heard of Hamas. A surprising 21% of the people that said they understood the conflict very well were even unable to correctly identify the countries that have recently been fighting over the Gaza strip.

Similarly, of the 12% that claimed they understood the Russia-Ukraine crisis very well, 14% of them were unable to identify the countries fighting over the Crimean peninsula.

Interestingly, those that said they understood the Israel-Palestine conflict very well were more likely to pick “military action – we should send troops in on the ground” as a UK course of action (10%) than others (4%). Similarly, those that said they understood the Russia-Ukraine crisis very well were more likely to opt for sending ground troops in as a course of action (8%) than others (3%).

Religious differences

The majority of people that completed our survey self-identified as Christian (51%) or Atheist (21%). Christian respondents were more likely to recommend taking military action in the form of air strikes against the Islamic State militant group (32%) than Atheists (24%), though the percentage of each group suggesting military action in the form of sending troops on the ground was very similar (13% and 12% respectively).

Political (in)differences

26% of respondents said that they do not support any UK political party – surpassing the numbers that favour the Conservatives (21%) and Labour (21%). UKIP supporters were the fourth largest group, coming in at 13%.

Of the respondents that told us about their political affiliation, people that said they do not support any UK political party were most likely to say they understood very little or nothing at all about the Syrian civil war (78%, compared to 57% of people that said they do support a political party), the Israel-Palestine conflict (63%, compared to 36%) and the Russia-Ukraine crisis (66%, compared to 43%).

When it came to military action against the Islamic State, people that identified themselves as UKIP or Conservative supporters were most likely to choose military action in the form of air strikes (both 35%), with 28% of Labour supporters and 20% of people with no political affiliation agreeing with them.

Opinions

Our respondents had a huge range of views regarding the issues featured in this survey.

Some people commented that the whole topic was “awful”, “worrying”, “quite distressing” or made them “scared”.

A few people thought the UN should be more involved in resolving these issues.

Some said we should help countries at war, while others merely commented that the UK should “let each country do what they gotta do”.

A couple of people said they thought the UK should not allow any jihadists to enter the UK, or deport any UK citizen that joins the IS, along with their family and dependents.

Some wished we could all just live peacefully, or simply asked that, “everybody love everybody.”

Several people said they found it all confusing and didn’t feel they knew enough to comment, or felt they should find out more about the issues raised.

It was pointed out by one person that “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” Another said, “ordinary people are always the ones who suffer most,” while one despondent respondent asked, “Where is it all going to end?”

Surprisingly, only one respondent suggested that ninjas could help to resolve international conflicts.