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.

For WTO reform, most roads lead to China. But do the solutions lead away?

New Atlanticist Sep 4, 2025

Dispatches from Damascus: The state of Syria’s postwar transition nine months after Assad’s fall

On a recent trip to the Syrian capital, Atlantic Council experts took note of how far the country has come since the Assad regime’s fall and what still needs to happen to secure peace and prosperity.

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For WTO reform, most roads lead to China. But do the solutions lead away?

New Atlanticist Aug 29, 2025

Twenty questions (and expert answers) about the negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine

By Atlantic Council experts

August saw a flurry of diplomatic activity to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As September nears, Atlantic Council experts share their insights on what to expect next.
Conflict Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
For WTO reform, most roads lead to China. But do the solutions lead away?

New Atlanticist Aug 28, 2025

Germany wants to double its defense spending. Where should the money go?

By Atlantic Council experts

After decades of Berlin underinvesting in its defense, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has plans to transform the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest military. 
Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

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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.

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

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Content

New Atlanticist

Mar 17, 2021

For WTO reform, most roads lead to China. But do the solutions lead away?

By Mark Linscott

As US President Joe Biden moves quickly in his first one hundred days to address key priorities, one issue is crying out for urgent action: the precarious state of the World Trade Organization, which is confronting a variety of immediate and long-term crises.

China
Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Mar 16, 2021

A mom’s guide to coercion and deterrence

By Emma Ashford, Erica Borghard

There’s a silver lining to parenting in a pandemic: It’s an education in the core concepts of international relations, as well as a useful reminder that we’re all operating in a condition of anarchy. Here's a mom’s primer on deterrence, coercion, credibility, and reassurance.

Conflict
Crisis Management

Seizing the advantage

Mar 15, 2021

What the US can learn from the UK about strategic reviews

By Peter Watkins, Will Jessett CBE

The Biden administration has begun work on a slew of strategies—including a new National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy, and Nuclear Posture Review—that will form the framework for its approach to security challenges. There’s a lot that it can learn from the British experience of conducting strategic reviews.

China
Defense Industry

New Atlanticist

Mar 10, 2021

‘This is the best time in publishing ever,’ says Markus Dohle

By Larry Luxner

Books are now enjoying their biggest renaissance since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the fifteenth century, says the CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle.

Resilience
Resilience & Society

Fast Thinking

Mar 10, 2021

FAST THINKING: The geoeconomics of Biden’s stimulus

By Atlantic Council

Congress just passed Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Don’t be fooled by the bill’s name, though; this legislation has huge implications not just for the United States but also for the pandemic-plagued world.

Economy & Business
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Mar 9, 2021

Why NATO should adopt a feminist foreign policy

By Gabriela R. A. Doyle, Madeline Olden, Leah Sheunemann, and Christopher Skaluba

As an alliance, NATO plays an important role in advancing equity within foreign policy. When NATO foreign ministers meet later in March, they should take the natural next steps toward adopting a feminist foreign policy.

NATO
Resilience

New Atlanticist

Mar 8, 2021

Lessons from women in leadership: A celebration of International Women’s Day

By Mary Prakas and Will O'Brien

In celebration of International Women’s Day and in continuation of our mission to foster the next generation of global leaders and change agents, the Atlantic Council’s Millennium Leadership Program asked women leaders in politics, finance, energy, non-profit management, and philanthropy to highlight the importance of women in leadership roles and share the lessons they have learned over the course of their careers.

Resilience
Resilience & Society

New Atlanticist

Mar 8, 2021

Why women must be at the center of the G20 agenda

By Nicole Goldin

The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially damaging to the economic well-being of women—worsening gender inequality by crippling women’s employment and earning opportunities while exacerbating household challenges such as violence against women.

Economy & Business
Education

New Atlanticist

Mar 8, 2021

It’s time to change the way we talk about women in conflicts

By Aude Darnal

There's a disconnect between rhetoric and reality when it comes to women's roles in peacebuilding and development projects because the discussion about women overwhelmingly focuses on them as victims of conflict and political violence without also recognizing them as participants in it. That’s a problem.

Conflict
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2021

Malala Yousafzai: The pandemic is endangering long-term education for millions of girls

By Larry Luxner

There were already 130 million girls out of school worldwide before the COVID-19 crisis, and an estimated twenty million more may never return to their classrooms once the pandemic is over, warned female-education activist Malala Yousafzai.

Education
Pakistan
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