WASHINGTON (Realist English). The Pew Research Center has published the results of a survey examining how well US residents are informed about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The survey was conducted in March 2026 among 3,507 American adults.
It found that citizens’ knowledge of the alliance leaves much to be desired: on average, respondents correctly answered only half of the questions, and on some key topics — such as Ukraine’s membership and the increase in allied defense spending — fewer than half gave correct answers.
Quiz Results: What Americans Know
Participants were asked five questions about NATO and related topics. The correct response rates were as follows:
- 63% of adults correctly identified Greenland as a territory of Denmark.
- 57% correctly answered that the majority of NATO member states are concentrated in Europe and North America.
- 55% know that NATO’s central focus is to promote the security of its members.
- 45% correctly said that Ukraine is not a NATO member.
- 34% correctly answered that America’s European NATO allies have increased their defense spending in recent years.
On the questions that proved more difficult, a significant proportion of respondents answered “not sure.”
Average Score and Demographic Differences
On average, Americans answered 2.5 of the five questions correctly (the median score was 3).
- By gender: Men gave more correct answers than women. Researchers note that men are more likely than women to guess rather than say “not sure.”
- By education: Respondents with a bachelor’s degree or higher performed better than those with less education.
- By age: People aged 50 and older scored higher on average than younger adults.
- By party affiliation: No significant differences were found between Republicans and Democrats (2.6 vs. 2.7 correct answers on average).
The Link Between NATO Knowledge and Attitudes Toward the Alliance
The study also revealed a clear correlation: the more a person knows about NATO, the more favorably they view it. Among those who answered four or five questions correctly, 63% expressed a favorable opinion of the alliance. Among those who answered none or only one question correctly, only 47% did so.
More knowledgeable Americans were also more likely to agree that the United States benefits from NATO membership.
How Knowledge Has Changed Over Two Years
Three of the five questions were also asked in a similar 2024 survey. Since then:
- The share of those who know that NATO’s membership is concentrated in Europe and North America has remained virtually unchanged (57% vs. 56%).
- The share of those who know that Ukraine is not a NATO member has increased from 41% to 45%.
- The share of those who know that NATO’s central focus is to promote the security of its members has increased from 51% to 55%.
Thus, over two years, Americans have become slightly better at grasping basic facts about NATO, but significant knowledge gaps remain, particularly regarding allied spending and Ukraine’s membership status.
