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.

Can Beijing export its manipulation of information?

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

Stay updated

Explore our unique analysis

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.

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2019

Can Beijing export its manipulation of information?

By David A. Wemer

While censorship and propaganda have long been features of Chinese domestic politics, Beijing is ramping up its information operations abroad.

China
Disinformation

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2019

Tsars and pharaohs: Leadership in the next era of great power competition

By Will O'Brien

The first Russia-Africa Summit will be cohosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi; a strategic choice by Putin that should concern advocates for democratic values around the world. Putin’s gesture to Sisi is his attempt to reinstate this alignment and show support for Sisi’s style of leadership.

Democratic Transitions
Middle East

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2019

October 23, 1983: Then and now

By Frederic C. Hof

The needless deaths of 241 Americans in October 1983 and the ill-considered expectation of a “cake walk” in Iraq nearly twenty years later would combine, in the minds of many Americans, to create the belief that the United States can do nothing right in the Middle East; that it is a place of “sand and death” best left to its inhabitants and their neighbors.

Iran
Middle East

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2019

Brexit hits another snag as Parliament blocks Johnson’s fast track

By John M. Roberts

It is hard to escape the conclusion that the bill was not only being rushed because Boris Johnson wanted to deliver on his promise that Britain will quit the European Union on October 31 but in very large part because the Government did not want the bill to undergo any detailed examination.

European Union
United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2019

With nuclear stakes, the world cannot afford Russian obfuscation

By Doug Klain

Purposeful misinformation and obfuscation of the truth puts the world at risk of dangerous miscalculation from policy makers, and the Russian government’s response to its most recent nuclear accident does not inspire confidence.

Crisis Management
International Norms

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2019

The US-Japan trade deal could undermine the WTO

By Mark Linscott

If the United States were to complete additional tariff-cutting deals with such limited scope and other countries were to follow this model in their bilateral trade negotiations, the WTO might confront a gradual erosion of one its central tenets—most favored nation, or “MFN,” treatment.

Japan
Trade and tariffs

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2019

The emerging EU regulatory landscape for digital platform liability

By Kenneth Propp

As concern skyrockets over political disinformation, hate speech, and terrorist incitement on the Internet, legislators across Europe are scrambling for regulatory answers.

Digital Policy
European Union

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2019

The rebirth of internationalism?

By Paul D. Miller

As the United States enters another presidential election season, its political class should make the case to the American people that internationalism is not an exercise in utopianism or charity; rather, it is the best and cheapest way to keep the United States safe and, indeed, put America first.

International Norms
United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2019

Poland, America, and a new West

By Daniel Fried

To keep the “good times” in Poland, and the good times in US-Polish relations which helped lead the good times generally, Americans and Poles alike need to make efforts and show wisdom.

Democratic Transitions
Nationalism

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2019

Bipartisanship on Syria: Episode or enduring?

By Frederic C. Hof

Donald Trump has, quite unintentionally, made bipartisanship on Syria possible. He alone will determine whether this is a brief, passing episode or an enduring reality. He alone will determine whether bipartisanship will facilitate a sensible policy in Syria.

Syria

Share

Issue briefs and reports