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.

Europe’s economic emergency is also a geopolitical one

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

Mar 31, 2020

Europe’s economic emergency is also a geopolitical one

By Benjamin Haddad and Josh Lipsky

European leaders are deciding the future of European power on the world stage. If Europeans can’t ensure solidarity with each other after so much pain and sacrifice, it will not only be a devastating loss for Europe. It will also be a blow to a world looking for the political shape of a post-coronavirus world.

Coronavirus European Union

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2020

China’s ineffective coronavirus response could create its own Black Swan

By Chang-Ching Tu

At this time of increasing uncertainty, the Chinese Communist Party is facing a severe test of its ability to prevent coronavirus from becoming a “black swan” that severely impacts its political stability and security.

China Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2020

South Asia’s economic outlook in the era of COVID-19

By South Asia Center

Experts from the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center analyze the current efforts of these governments and the potential economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on South Asia:

Bangladesh Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2020

Gulf partners could give Iran and the US a way out of their collision course

By Kirsten Fontenrose

With interests on both sides of the conflict and much to lose if it worsens, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the one organization that could be a hero here, kickstarting a chain reaction that arrives at de-escalation without any party losing face.

Conflict Iran

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2020

Coronavirus hits Pakistan’s already-strained economy, and its most vulnerable

By Uzair Younus

During every major economic crisis in Pakistan—and there have been several of them—the wheels of the informal economy have chugged along. Today, the informal sector stands to lose the most, particularly the tens of millions of workers who rely on this cash-based sector to provide them with the bare-minimum income required to meet their daily needs.

Coronavirus Inclusive Growth

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2020

Defusing Bangladesh’s COVID-19 time bomb

By Irfan Nooruddin and Rudabeh Shahid

Bangladesh has a health crisis in the making. The lack of preparation in the United States and Europe that has spawned the ongoing crisis there still exceeds the preparedness of developing countries such as Bangladesh, which will have to battle the COVID-19 pandemic with limited financial resources and a legacy of poor healthcare infrastructure, especially for the urban poor.

Bangladesh Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2020

Coronavirus and transatlantic security: Implications for defense planning

By Christopher Skaluba and Ian Brzezinski

Once the West gains control over the coronavirus, NATO and its national defense establishments will have to conduct a hard-nosed assessment of the longer-term military implications and requirements that flow from the current reality—that pandemics can, within weeks, debilitate populations, sink economies, shutter borders, degrade military operations, and fragment unity among the closest of allies.

Coronavirus Crisis Management

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2020

What COVID-19 means for the United States’ economic and financial statecraft

By Michael Greenwald

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, monetary authorities at the US Federal Reserve have undertaken unprecedented actions to support liquidity in global markets. These steps have included support for domestic debt markets, including a recent expansion in the corporate bond market, as well as swap lines targeting the global dollar shortage. Beyond these moves, the broader policy response during and after the COVID-19 outbreak may drive longer-term changes in the global trading system.

Coronavirus International Markets

New Atlanticist

Mar 27, 2020

US coronavirus stimulus package offers some relief, but economic pain will remain

By David A. Wemer

US lawmakers are near final passage of an unprecedented stimulus package to help the US economy weather the storm of the coronavirus crisis, but that does not mean that all of the economic damage can be prevented. Jason Furman said he was “impressed by how much Washington has done, how quickly it has done it, how comprehensively it has done it,” but added that he is “worried that all of that won’t be enough for…an economy that is shutting down in such an unprecedented way.”

Coronavirus International Financial Institutions

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Mar 27, 2020

Women’s activism in Pakistan: Limits on freedom of choice, speech, and visibility in the public sphere

By Zainab Alam

The crux of this contentious debate does not just hang on freedom of choice. It demands a broader conversation about societal acceptance of women’s visibility in the public sphere and role in politics more broadly. Until Pakistani women are seen as full citizens of the state, and not just national subjects, such seemingly apolitical visual expression will continue to provoke much needed rights-based deliberation.

Pakistan Women

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