This book is about how social cohesion can be established and demolished. The US and UK, where social cohesion declined in the latter part of the 20th century, and Sweden and Denmark, where social cohesion increased in the latter part of the 20th century, will serve as examples of this. This book defines social cohesion as the belief—held by citizens in a given nation state—that they share a moral community, which enables them to trust each other. Thus, more concretely, this book will try to answer why Americans and Britons less- ened their trust in each other, while Swedes and Danes developed more trust in the citizens of their countries.