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.

NAFTA’s successor is about to take effect. Here’s why it will be good for North America—and bad for the WTO

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

Jun 29, 2020

NAFTA’s successor is about to take effect. Here’s why it will be good for North America—and bad for the WTO

By Hung Tran

While the USMCA preserves free-trade flows among the three member countries, its use by the United States as a template for future trade negotiations, starting with the EU and the United Kingdom, would have a far-reaching effect on future developments of world trade.

Mexico Trade and tariffs

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2020

What’s behind Russia’s decision to ditch its ban on Telegram?

By Justin Sherman

For years, the Kremlin was involved in cat-and-mouse efforts to block the use of Telegram, the encrypted messaging app, within Russia. Concerns about Telegram stem from the Kremlin’s concerns about the internet in general. The app enables the free flow of information, and especially when that information is encrypted, as Telegram’s is, the Kremlin sees the state’s narratives, its law enforcement surveillance capabilities, and Russia’s culture and public sphere as under threat. On June 18, however, Russia’s internet and media regulator Roskomnadzor said that it’s ending requirements to restrict Telegram access.

Cybersecurity Internet

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2020

Germany may not like the American messenger. But it should heed his message.

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

The US president and the German government have given up on one another and withdrawn to their own camps, ignoring the growing structural issues in their bilateral ties that promise to linger no matter who wins the US presidential elections this fall.

Defense Policy Germany

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2020

What’s at stake in Trump’s plans to withdraw troops from Germany

By Katherine Golden

On June 15, US President Donald J. Trump confirmed press reports that he is planning to pull 9,500 US troops out of Germany, leaving 25,000 in the country. Here’s how the Atlantic Council’s experts are assessing the decision and its significance.

Defense Policy Germany

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2020

Can Pakistan handle the double crisis of COVID-19 and a struggling economy?

By South Asia Center

While critics argue that the 2020-2021 budget released by Prime Minister Imran Khan’s administration will result in a greater deficit and allocates excessive funding to the defense sector, supporters have defended the budget and praised its introduction of the rationalization of custom duties as well as the advance ruling system, which would ease trade and minimize costs associated with cross border trade—a domain that Pakistan has historically struggled to contend in.

Economy & Business Pakistan

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Jun 24, 2020

German defense minister responds to US plans for a troop drawdown

By Larry Luxner

German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has warned that the US President Donald J. Trump administration's planned withdrawal of 9,500 American troops from her country—a move announced by the US president earlier this month—must not send Russia the signal “that the US is less interested in Europe.”

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Jun 24, 2020

Top European digital official: US and EU must make better use of their shared values and history

By Larry Luxner

Europe’s powerful competition and digital chief Margrethe Vestager is calling for better relations between the United States and the European Union, at a time when economic chaos triggered by the worsening coronavirus pandemic threatens recovery on both sides of the Atlantic.

Digital Policy Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jun 23, 2020

US government broadcasters have long advanced the cause of freedom. Now they’re under threat.

By Josh Lipsky, Daniel Fried

One of the most effective tools for explaining America and its best values to the world may vanish. But you don’t advance freedom by dismantling free institutions or a free press. You advance it by empowering them.

Europe & Eurasia Media

New Atlanticist

Jun 23, 2020

Putin and the ‘real lessons’ of World War II

By Mark N. Katz

Putin pins the blame for Moscow’s most notorious foreign-policy action—signing a 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact—on the West and distorts the historical record. Even if some of Putin’s criticisms of Western behavior are justified, his failure to acknowledge the USSR’s World War II-era misbehavior makes it impossible to trust him.

Disinformation Russia

New Atlanticist

Jun 22, 2020

The 5×5—Baseball and cybersecurity: Stealing insights from America’s pastime

By Simon Handler

Whether you have played, watched, hated, or never heard of baseball, lessons from the sport can be applied to many things in life—including cybersecurity. Cyber Statecraft Initiative experts go 5×5 to draw parallels between America’s pastime and today’s cybersecurity issues.

Cybersecurity Technology & Innovation

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