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.

FAST THINKING: There’s finally a Brexit deal. Now what?

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

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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.

Fast Thinking

Dec 24, 2020

FAST THINKING: There’s finally a Brexit deal. Now what?

By Atlantic Council

Four years of negotiations. Much political acrimony. The fall and rise (and fall and rise) of British premiers. Through it all, a British public wondering what their future would look like and when they could finally move on from their limbo. A Brexit trade deal is here at last. How should we feel?

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Dec 24, 2020

What the Brexit deal solves—and what it doesn’t

By Hung Tran

After more than four years of contentious negotiations, last-minute compromises by the United Kingdom and European Union have finally pushed a post-Brexit trade agreement over the finish line. But the agreement leaves many details open for future disputes.

Economy & Business
European Union

Fast Thinking

Dec 23, 2020

FAST THINKING: Will a Brexit deal be home for Christmas?

By Atlantic Council

The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator said yesterday that a trade deal could come before Christmas. That would be quite the gift for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who faces the prospect of his country "crashing out" of its old trading arrangements with the EU.

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2020

The 5×5—A cyber wish list at a ‘moment of reckoning’

By Simon Handler

The recent SUNBURST compromise of numerous government and private sector company networks has led some, including Microsoft President Brad Smith, to dub the incident a “moment of reckoning.” Here's what our experts are wishing for this holiday season.

Cybersecurity
Disinformation

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2020

What Biden’s election means for Central Europe

By Petr Tůma

While Western Europe is looking forward to the next four years, the reaction is more mixed as one moves east. The reason is simple: The Trump administration—despite (and perhaps because of) its confrontational rhetoric towards Europe and the EU in general—intensified cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe.

Central Europe
Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2020

The global economy in 2020, by the numbers

By GeoEconomics Center

The pandemic has made this a historic year for the global economy, now beset by a recession the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Great Depression. To make sense of it all, our GeoEconomics staff and senior fellows have selected the numbers behind the headlines, organized around our three pillars of work, that best capture the global economy’s journey in 2020—and what lies in store for 2021.

Economy & Business
Inclusive Growth

New Atlanticist

Dec 22, 2020

An EU-China investment deal is near—but is it ‘worth having?’

By Hung Tran

If signed, the CAI represents another major achievement for China in carving out an economic space for itself in the face of acrimonious contention with the United States, following last month’s signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with other Asian nations.

China
Economy & Business

Fast Thinking

Dec 21, 2020

Can Bibi and Biden get along?

By Shalom Lipner and Katherine Wolff

Few world leaders have been as close to Donald Trump as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has pushed policies—from suspected covert attacks against Iran to expanded settlements in the West Bank—that will likely antagonize the US president-elect.

Defense Policy
Iran

New Atlanticist

Dec 21, 2020

To defend US elections, we must recognize that the fault is in ourselves

By Nina Kollars and Michael Rodriguez

It is time to put money toward state information infrastructure, to align public expectations with the pace of the democratic process, and to hold elected leaders accountable for lighting fires in information dumpsters.

Cybersecurity
Disinformation

New Atlanticist

Dec 17, 2020

How the US and Europe should rethink their economic relationship in the Biden years

By Elmar Hellendoorn

If the Biden administration chooses a conventional approach to trade policy, it will not only deprive itself of a powerful instrument to shape international relations but also put US interests and the Western liberal order at a disadvantage.

Economy & Business
Europe & Eurasia

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