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.

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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New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

The Trump-Merkel Showdown

By Mark Fischer and Mark Simakovsky

Managing a growing rift within NATO US President Donald J. Trump traveled to Europe this week with his rhetorical guns loaded, taking aim at NATO allies for failing to adequately pay for their own defense. The primary target of Trump’s ire is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Despite positive trajectories in both German and NATO allies’ […]

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

NATO’s Jamie Shea Signs Off On a Positive Note… And With Some Advice

By Ashish Kumar Sen

At a time where there are so many doubts about NATO at the political level, the paradox is that the Alliance on July 11 came out with a communique—agreed to by all member states—that is “the most substantive… the most complete, the most consensual,” notes Jamie Shea, NATO’s outgoing deputy assistant secretary general for emerging […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

NATO Engages: Shoring Up the Alliance

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The opening day of NATO Engages: The Brussels Summit Dialogue was marked by passionate endorsements of the transatlantic military alliance that has been credited with giving the West its longest period of peace without a major power conflict in centuries. It also produced an attempt by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to ease the Alliance’s […]

Cybersecurity European Union

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

Macedonian Prime Minister Celebrates NATO Invitation

By David Wemer

Zoran Zaev, the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), celebrated his country’s potential NATO membership in Brussels on July 11 just minutes after it was announced that the bloc would invite FYROM to begin accession talks.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

NATO Ministers Preach Unity, But Divisions Persist

By David Wemer

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen stressed the importance of unity in the Alliance during a panel discussion in Brussels on July 11. Although each of the ministers implored the Alliance to find common ground on the challenges facing the bloc, divergent views […]

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

NATO’s Stoltenberg Credits Trump as Allies Increase Defense Spending

By David Wemer

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on July 11 credited US President Donald J. Trump for pushing a “clear message” that allies need to invest more in their national defense, and argued that real increases in spending have been a direct result of this push. Stoltenberg spoke at NATO Engages: The Brussels Summit Dialogue, the official […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2018

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Stands Up for NATO

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on July 11 delivered a resounding defense of NATO—the transatlantic military alliance that today grapples with external as well as internal challenges—and sought to address questions of burden sharing noting that it is the quality of the output rather than the quantity of the input that actually matters. “A lot […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 10, 2018

The United States Should ‘Recommit to NATO’

By Atlantic Council

Interview with Daniel Fried, a distinguished senior fellow at the Atlantic Council On the eve of the NATO Summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12, Daniel Fried, a distinguished senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and Eurasia Center, laid out what he wants from the meeting: “I want to see [the […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 10, 2018

The Reckoning South Sudan Needs

By J. Peter Pham

The seventh anniversary of South Sudan’s independence on July 11 is, at best, a bittersweet occasion. Seldom has a country come into being with such promise and good will. Dozens of heads of state, including Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, came to Juba to witness the birth of the world’s newest state. Messages poured in from […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

Jul 10, 2018

A Waning US-UK ‘Special Relationship’

By David Wemer

A week Theresa May was dreading got a whole lot worse on July 9. The British prime minister is set to host US President Donald J. Trump on July 13, while also trying to save her government from collapse. May’s recent troubles are due to the lasting divisions within her Conservative Party on the proper […]

United Kingdom

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