ABSTRACT
Within the context of the relationship between the two militarily strongest states in the “Atlantic community”—or more accurately, the relationship between the Western superpower and the strongest of her allies-it is not at all clear that the idea of an Atlantic community was a defi ning idea for the policy makers of either side. The objection could be made that ideas may not be expressed but may still be infl uential. The only possible response is yes, of course. But the concept of an Atlantic community is as slippery as an eel, and the linking of rhetoric and reality is equally problematic. Fundamentally, does it mean anything more than that the US was, or the US and Canada were, involved with Europe?
