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Slovakia looks towards an end to COVID-19’s painful isolation

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.

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Slovakia looks towards an end to COVID-19’s painful isolation

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
Slovakia looks towards an end to COVID-19’s painful isolation

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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New Atlanticist

Apr 8, 2020

Slovakia looks towards an end to COVID-19’s painful isolation

By Alena Kudzko

Slovakia now needs to find ways to prepare for a post-COVID-19 world. Borders and national solutions can only provide necessary relief during an emergency. Looking ahead, the country will be tasked with finding ways to resolve the tension between attaining a false sense of security through national measures and walls, on the one hand, and the need to restore economic prosperity, on the other, through common European solutions.

Central Europe
Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Apr 7, 2020

Addressing Hungary’s coronavirus emergency legislation

By Denise Forsthuber and Daniel Fried

Many in Europe and the United States who consider themselves friends of Hungary have struggled over what to do with what can be increasingly interpreted as an authoritarian drift in that country. Hungary was one of the early leaders of Central Europe’s democratic transformation after its overthrow of communist rule in 1989; this is the tradition we would prefer to be celebrating today. Instead, we struggle to find a way forward.

Coronavirus
European Union

New Atlanticist

Apr 7, 2020

While he stems the spread of the coronavirus, Orban is spreading the virus of illiberalism.

By András Simonyi

Viktor Orban had the opportunity in the last weeks to choose between becoming a statesman or a general. He opted for the latter. One wishes him well in dealing with the crisis. But this last decision is not really about handling the crisis.

Coronavirus
European Union

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
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