Anglo-American cooperation rested on interests rather than automatic friendship. A sudden American attack across the Atlantic would also require Congress to finance naval expansion when it had shown little appetite for doing so. Shared interests in trade, China, and the existing world order reduced the value of direct naval conflict even when each state exploited the other's weakness. Britain's economic and imperial limits came from the combined strain of the First World War, the Depression, and the Second World War rather than the first conflict alone.
Notable Point · 40:50-46:51
Anglo-American interests, empire, and economic strain
A wider diplomatic passage argues that British-American cooperation rested on mutual interests, while Britain's later economic break came from repeated shocks.