New Atlanticist

Sharp insights and bold ideas from across the Council

From climate change to the China challenge and the contest between democracy and dictatorship, the New Atlanticist is where top experts and policymakers at the Atlantic Council and beyond offer exclusive insight on the most pressing global challenges—and the US role in addressing them alongside allies and partners.

The Council’s flagship section features big ideas, groundbreaking research, lightning-fast expert reactions, in-depth analyses, and thought-provoking commentary to shape public policy.

Emmanuel Macron’s plan to rebuild US-Europe relations

New Atlanticist Mar 6, 2025

How European leaders are responding to Trump’s approach to Ukraine and Europe

From London and Berlin to Paris and Brussels, European leaders have taken several notable steps this week on security. This follows the blow-up between the Ukrainian and US presidents on February 28.

New Atlanticist Feb 26, 2025

Why the US should not lift sanctions against Russia

By Charles Lichfield

Sanctions are having an unmistakable effect, albeit below the inflated expectations of many in the West in early 2022. Lifting them now would be a mistake.

Conflict Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist Mar 5, 2025

The Egyptian plan for postwar Gaza is a good starting point—but it needs changes

By Thomas S. Warrick

While many obstacles remain, the Egyptian proposal could form the starting point for negotiations over a workable plan for postwar Gaza.

Conflict Crisis Management

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Dive deep into developing stories, guided by continually updated expert analysis that leaves you better informed about the most pressing global issues behind the headlines.

Markup

Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2021

Emmanuel Macron’s plan to rebuild US-Europe relations

By Katherine Golden

For French President Emmanuel Macron, "the number-one priority in relations with the new US administration” is clear: to boost “results-oriented multilateralism.”

China European Union

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2021

Developing countries are sinking in a world awash in cash. Here’s what the US can do.

By Jeremy Mark and Vasuki Shastry

Economic policy built on hope is bound to disappoint. What is needed is grant aid that does not increase debt burdens—and leadership based on a clear understanding of the problems facing countries rich and poor. That is where the Biden administration is positioned to make a difference.

Africa Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2021

The big takeaways from Biden’s first foreign-policy speech

By Atlantic Council

President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise of renewed American engagement with the world after the era of “America First”—and the president’s remarks were designed to show that this shift is already underway.

China Cybersecurity

Seizing the advantage

Feb 4, 2021

Elevating ‘deterrence by denial’ in US defense strategy

By Erica D. Borghard, Benjamin Jensen, and Mark Montgomery

As the Biden administration reshapes foreign policy and makes decisions about how to invest in US military capabilities for the future, it should acknowledge the value of a denial-based approach to deterrence.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Seizing the advantage

Feb 3, 2021

How the US can regain the advantage in its next National Defense Strategy

By Clementine G. Starling-Daniels, Matthew R. Crouch

To seize the advantage, the next US National Defense Strategy needs a paradigm adjustment, not a shift. In the next NDS, the Biden defense team must take a broader definition of competition if the United States is to succeed in deterring, defending, and shaping the strategic environment in its favor.

Conflict Defense Industry

New Atlanticist

Feb 3, 2021

How the US can build on its success with AFRICOM

By James L. Jones, Jr.

AFRICOM has been a key component of US strategy—and promises to be more essential than ever as the United States recalibrates its international priorities. Africa’s total population will eclipse China’s in the relatively near future and its economic potential is without peer, all of which explains why now is the time to make AFRICOM even better.

Africa Defense Policy

Fast Thinking

Feb 2, 2021

FAST THINKING: What to do about Navalny

By Atlantic Council

On Tuesday a Moscow court sentenced Navalny to more than two and a half years in prison, just months after he was poisoned by a nerve agent at the suspected direction of the Kremlin. How should the United States and its allies respond?

Politics & Diplomacy Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2021

Three possible futures for the Biden presidency

By Mathew Burrows, Robert A. Manning

Biden’s successes or failures will be determined by how the paradoxes of his presidency play out. The president is pursuing an extraordinarily ambitious social, economic, and foreign-policy agenda amid an exceptionally dire pandemic and recession—and with a razor-thin congressional majority, no less. He hopes to restore comity and bipartisan compromise to Congress, but his legislative skills will be tested by an obstinate Republican Party and worsening political tribalism.

Crisis Management Elections

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2021

Free speech and online content: What can the US learn from Europe?

By Frances Burwell

Congress will certainly take on reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but it should not just focus on the companies and their responsibilities. Legislators should take a good, hard look in the mirror. They must provide the guidelines that are central to reducing violent extremist content online: rules on acceptable versus forbidden online speech.

Digital Policy Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2021

Speech moderation and militant democracy: Should the United States regulate like Europe does?

By Kenneth Propp

Many Americans’ sunny faith in a robust media “marketplace of idea”’ is being tested. The European historical experience that informs “militant democracy” and speech-invasive privacy laws remains largely alien here. But adjustments at the margins, particularly in the areas of process, are possible and desirable.

Digital Policy Europe & Eurasia

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