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How public opinion constrains Britain’s military interventions
Author of a new Forces Watch report PAUL DIXON talks to the Star about how campaigners can shape the narrative about the impact of British foreign policy

THE idea that public opinion has little or no impact on British foreign policy is a common view, even held by some on the left. 

For example, writing on the New Left Project website in 2012, University of Westminster academic John Brissenden concluded:

“The idea of public opinion … having any influence over” Afghan policy and other British military interventions is “a convenient myth.”

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