The US decision not to work through NATO after 9/11 left many European members of the alliance feeling deflated. This decision reflected the frustrations and belief that US operational freedom and flexibility had been hampered during NATOs two Balkans interventions.

This book examines US attitudes to, and perspectives on, the transatlantic alliance, with a particular focus on US-NATO relations since 9/11.  Hallams demonstrates that following the US decision to bypass NATO after 9/11, there was something of a shift in US perceptions of the alliance, and a belated recognition that NATO did indeed have much to offer the US. Hallams explores how these events galvanised NATO into undertaking an accelerated program of transformation and offers an optimistic assessment of the transatlantic alliance, counter-balanced by realistic reflections on the problems the transatlantic alliance faces.

Arguing that NATO is far from irrelevant and that the prospects for the alliance remain fundamentally positive, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of US Foreign Policy, American politics, international relations, security studies and transatlantic studies.