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.

Panama’s coronavirus response must not affect constitutional order

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

New Atlanticist

Apr 7, 2020

Panama’s coronavirus response must not affect constitutional order

By Cristina Guevara

The outbreak will have severe economic consequences for Panama, which is experiencing its weakest economic expansion since the global recession of 2009, but the shock does not end there: from a constitutional perspective, there will certainly be implications for a country characterized by corruption, impunity, and inequality.

Coronavirus Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Apr 7, 2020

Six reasons NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre is important for our future security

By Lauren Speranza

Even as the Alliance continues to focus on its core defense and deterrence efforts—and rightly so—it should not dismiss capabilities like the EADRCC as bureaucratic side projects. Instead, with an eye to the future, transatlantic policymakers should rethink how to empower and reinforce these types of capabilities to meet different types of threats.

Coronavirus Crisis Management

New Atlanticist

Apr 7, 2020

Lessons from Taiwan’s experience with COVID-19

By Chang-Ching Tu

Early intervention, a flexible command structure, a comprehensive epidemic prevention strategy, integrated medical big data, and proactive information disclosure allowed Taiwan—which at its closest point is only eighty-one miles (130 kilometers) away from China and has a very high population density—to record only a few confirmed cases in recent months. There are a number of lessons to be learned from the Taiwanese government’s effective response to COVID-19 that should be shared with other parts of the world fighting the ongoing pandemic.

Coronavirus Taiwan

New Atlanticist

Apr 7, 2020

New British carriers can transform Europe’s NATO naval capabilities

By Michael John Williams

In the wake of economic calamity, now is the perfect time for European militaries to work together to maximize their resources and military readiness. No better opportunity exists than to use HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales as hubs for a European carrier strike group.

Maritime Security NATO

New Atlanticist

Apr 6, 2020

The case for public health sanctions

By Michael Greenwald

Public health sanctions should be deemed just as significant of a national security priority as sanctions against Iran and North Korea. In a globalized world, a territory’s poor public health standards or purposeful concealment of information about pandemic activity is practically an act of war against the rest of the world. As such, it makes sense that this negligence warrants economic sanctions consequences on par with those used to punish terror finance violations.

Coronavirus Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist

Apr 6, 2020

Strict measures—including compulsory face masks—help Czechs get grip on COVID-19

By Ian Willoughby

There is a growing sense that the Czech government has already succeeded in more or less containing the coronavirus pandemic and cabinet members have signaled that some of the strictest measures will be loosened in the coming weeks, unless infection rates take an unexpected turn for the worse. Face masks will no doubt be worn for quite some time to come—but many in the Czech Republic are already cautiously looking forward to the day when they can finally take them off.

Central Europe Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Apr 6, 2020

Lift Iran sanctions, but hit back hard if necessary

By Frederic C. Hof

Only by suspending sanctions explicitly and across-the-board can the United States make a critical point directly to the people of Iran: Americans care about your health and well-being, even as your rulers suffocate you with breathtaking incompetence, bottomless corruption, and an appetite for violent aggression that wastes vital resources for the benefit of the lowest political lifeforms in the Arab world.

Coronavirus Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist

Apr 4, 2020

A new “Asian drama”: Will COVID-19 destroy the progress against poverty eradication and human development in South and East Asia?

By Ajay Chhibber

With weak health systems and crowded living conditions, the chances of wide-spread pandemic is very high. If COVID-19 is not brought under control quickly, despite all the progress in medicine and healthcare since 1918, the number of deaths may rise rapidly. Governments are responding with lockdowns, more health spending, and fiscal and monetary packages for economic life-support—but with weak social safety nets millions will have fallen back into poverty

Coronavirus Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Apr 3, 2020

COVID-19 in the Western Balkans

By Dimitar Bechev

COVID-19 overshadowed two major developments in the region: the EU decision to open membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, as well as North Macedonia’s formal accession to NATO on March 27. In normal circumstances, this would have been huge news. Yet now the pandemic leaves little bandwidth for other matters, even in the Western Balkans.

Coronavirus Democratic Transitions

New Atlanticist

Apr 3, 2020

China’s failing coronavirus strategy

By Joe Bodnar

While it is too early to understand the impact of the coronavirus on geopolitics, it is not too early to recognize China as a rising power that is aggressive, opportunistic, and susceptible to mistakes.

China Coronavirus

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