Willingness to fight across NATO

Over the past few years, the willingness to fight has drawn greater attention, especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This war underscored the importance of citizen morale in resisting an invader. Ukrainians mounted a strong resistance against the invading force.

But what about readiness to fight for NATO member states? To find this, the willingness-to-fight question was asked, for the first time, in a single poll across all NATO member states. A poll commissioned by Riga Stradins University, in cooperation with the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga, was conducted in September and October 2025. With more than 31,000 respondents, the survey was nationally representative in each country.

Should you wish to cite this infographic: Andžāns, M., Pupčenoks, J., & Ģērmanis, K. (2026). Willingness to fight across NATO. Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga. https://www.geopolitics.center/outputs/willingness-to-fight-across-nato

A PDF version of the infographic is downloadable here.

The first of the publication based on the NATO-wide data is available here:

Andžāns, M. (2026). "Would You Fight For Your Country? The Most and Least Willing Among NATO Allies," Foreign Policy Research Institute

Our earlier publications on the willingness to fight:

Schulte, F., Pupcenoks, J., & Andžāns, M. (2025). Cultural memory and the minority effect in (un-)willingness to fight for the country: Evidence from Russian speakers in Latvia. European Journal of International Security, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2025.10026

Andžāns, M. (2024). Societal Perceptions in Transition from a Borderland to a Frontline: Latvia’s Latgale During the War in Ukraine. European Foreign Affairs Review, 29(Spec. issue), 53-70. https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/European+Foreign+Affairs+Review/29.5/EERR2024021

Andžāns, M. (2021). Multi-ethnic societies and willingness to defend one’s own country: Russian-speakers in the Baltic states. Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review, (19), 1, p. 47-68. https://journals.lka.lt/journal/lasr/article/1928/info

Andžāns, M., Gajauskaitė, I., Juurvee, I., Palkova, A., Yeh, Y-Y., & Vargulis, M. (2021). Willingness to Defend Own Country in the Baltic States: Implications for National Security and NATO’s Collective Defence. Rīga Stradiņš University. https://doi.org/10.25143/willingness_to_defend_2021_ISBN_9789934563997

Andžāns, M., & Sprūds, A. (2020). Three-Decade Evolution of the Willingness to Defend One’s Own Country: the Case of the Baltic States. Lithuanian Annual Strategic Review, 18(1), 195-220. https://doi.org/10.47459/lasr.2020.18.9

Andžāns, M., & Sprūds, A. (2020). Willingness to defend one's own country and to resist in the Baltic states. Security and Defence Quarterly, 30(3), 15-30. https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/124712

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