Based on new and existing research by a world‐class scholar, this is the first book in twenty years to examine the dynamics of the entire American–Western European relationship since 1945. The relationship between the US and Western Europe has always been crucial, and current events dictate that it is becoming ever more so. In this book, the author analyses the balance between the cooperation and conflict that has characterized this relationship in the post‐war period. He examines talk of transatlantic drift, and the strain now apparent between the US and the nation states of Western Europe. The first nine chapters are, for the most part, arranged as a chronological account of the relationship. In the concluding Ch. 10 section, the author offers a topical view of the future of transatlantic interaction. Throughout the work, the author's much cited ‘“Empire” by invitation’ thesis is both put into practice and extended in time and scope. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in one of the most important and enduring international relationships of the last sixty years.