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.

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

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.

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

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

Stay updated

Explore our unique analysis

Fast Thinking

When major global news breaks, the Atlantic Council’s experts have you covered—delivering their sharpest rapid insight and forward-looking analysis direct to your inbox.

Experts React

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 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

Fast Thinking

Feb 1, 2021

FAST THINKING: A coup in Myanmar

By Atlantic Council

The military is back in control after detaining Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto civilian leader, and senior members of her ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party. Civil-rights activists have been detained as well. How did this happen?

Indo-Pacific
Politics & Diplomacy

Global Energy Forum

Jan 28, 2021

As the aviation industry recovers from one crisis, it is looking to the next: climate change

By Katherine Golden

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated “the most severe crisis for aviation ever,” said Marc Hamy, vice president of corporate affairs, sustainability, and environment at Airbus. But there's another crisis on the horizon for the aviation industry: “increasing pressure coming from climate change. So we absolutely need to recover from this crisis in aviation, and at the same time we’ll have to manage the most important transition in the history of our sector: decarbonized aviation.” Hamy added.

Energy & Environment
Energy Markets & Governance

Share

Issue briefs and reports