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.

Trump puts America first at the United Nations

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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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

Sep 25, 2018

Trump puts America first at the United Nations

By Ashish Kumar Sen and David A. Wemer

“The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship,” US President Donald J. Trump told the assembled leaders, but “we only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”

International Organizations Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2018

GCA 2018 highlights: Crushing on Christine Lagarde, Chobani’s Ulukaya is more than just a yogurt maker, and more

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The award was presented to Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg; Argentine President Mauricio Macri; Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Chobani; and the late Arizona Republican Sen. John S. McCain.

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2018

Europe unlikely to avoid Trump’s Iran sanctions

By Samantha Sultoon

The establishment of a sanctions evasion tool would undermine the EU’s own sanctions enforcement by creating a domestic workaround that could to be applied to any other sanctions program now or in the future.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion France

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2018

The United Nations is in session. Here’s what to expect.

By David A. Wemer

With a litany of speeches, meetings, and the high-profile chairing of a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting by US President Donald J. Trump, what can we expect from the world body this week?

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2018

Atlantic Council honors global citizens

By David A. Wemer and Ashish Kumar Sen

The Atlantic Council presented its Global Citizen Award to Solberg, Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Hamdi Ulukaya, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Chobani, and the late Sen. John S. McCain.

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2018

Atlantic Council bestows posthumous Global Citizen Award on John McCain

By Ashish Kumar Sen

“There was just a man—an American senator, an American patriot—who cared so much that he was not going to miss an opportunity to make a case for US leadership as he saw it,” said Samantha Power, former ambassador to the United Nations. “He was an American original, one we will not see again.”

New Atlanticist

Sep 24, 2018

9 Facts you should know about the United Nations

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The UN Charter states that the main purpose of the world body is to—“maintain international peace and security,” “develop friendly relations among nations,” “achieve international co-operation in solving international problems,” and “be a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.”

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2018

The New Atlanticist Quiz: September 21, 2018

By Atlantic Council

Think you know what was going on in the world this week? Take the New Atlanticist Quiz to find out! Check back at the New Atlanticist homepage for future quizzes and the latest analysis and opinion on international news from our experts. Need to improve your score? Make sure you are signed up for our […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2018

Fifth anniversary of Westgate Mall attack: Fighting Al-Shabaab in Africa

By Ashish Kumar Sen

By the end of a four-day siege—the worst attack on Kenyan soil since the 1998 US Embassy bombing by al Qaeda—sixty-seven people were dead and more than two hundred wounded.

East Africa Somalia

New Atlanticist

Sep 20, 2018

Ukrainian patriarch warns Russia will exploit split in Orthodox Church

By David A. Wemer

In remarks at the Atlantic Council in Washington on September 19, he warned that to stop further aggression by Moscow, “we need to stop [Russian President Vladimir] Putin at Ukraine.”

Conflict Russia

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