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

Apr 26, 2018

The Coming of Emmanuel Macron

By Nicholas Dungan

Whatever the policy outcomes on individual issues, Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to Washington, from April 23 to April 25, will have succeeded in one goal which is surely at the top of the French president’s agenda: to “Make France Great Again.” He did so by assuming the mantle of the leadership of the West, […]

France Germany

New Atlanticist

Apr 25, 2018

Macron’s Challenge to Trump

By Rachel Ansley

French President Emmanuel Macron on April 25 delivered a rallying cry for Western world leaders to reject isolationism and stand together in defense of democracy. The remarks appeared to be directed at US President Donald J. Trump who has embraced an America first worldview. “It is a critical moment,” Macron said in his address to […]

Economy & Business France

New Atlanticist

Apr 25, 2018

Emmanuel Macron’s Balancing Act

By Rachel Brandenburg

French President Emmanuel Macron appears to be performing a delicate balancing act of addressing US President Donald J. Trump’s dissatisfaction with the Iran nuclear deal while seeking to keep the multilateral agreement intact. Trump has been crystal clear since his presidential campaign that he views the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the Iran nuclear […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2018

Macron pitches a new Iran deal

By Ashish Kumar Sen

French President Emmanuel Macron said on April 24 that he wants to work on a “new deal” with Iran that would retain the 2015 nuclear agreement as a primary pillar. The nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was negotiated by the P5+1 countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, […]

France Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2018

The Iran Nuclear Deal: To Leave or Not to Leave

By Rachel Brandenburg

The future of the Iran nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—hangs in the balance as the May 12 deadline set by US President Donald J. Trump to “fix” the deal or to walk away from it approaches. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have preserving the JCPOA at the top […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2018

Treasury Throws Russian Aluminum Giant a Lifeline

By Brian O'Toole

The US Treasury Department signaled on April 23 that the Russian aluminum giant, RUSAL, could have US sanctions lifted if the Kremlin-linked oligarch Oleg Deripaska divests his holdings in the firm. The April 23 decision by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to extend the deadline for investors to exit RUSAL is neither surprising nor […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2018

Mr. Macron Goes to Washington: Risks And Rewards of This Week’s State Visit

By Nicholas Dungan

Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Washington this week brings with it two significant risks and two singular opportunities. By now the French president is well recognized as being the world leader most esteemed by, and in closest contact with, the US President Donald J. Trump. Here lie the risks.

France United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2018

Europe Needs To Persuade Iran, Not Just Trump, To Save The Nuclear Deal

By Barbara Slavin

As French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in Washington, a top priority will be convincing his American counterpart to stay within the landmark nuclear agreement with Iran. But judging from this analyst’s conversations with Iranian diplomats in Europe and New York over the past week, Macron and his colleagues in Germany and Britain may have an […]

France Germany

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2018

Macron And Merkel Come to Washington. Lend Them Your Ear

By Daniel Fried

The free world (to put it in Washington wonk speak: the “rules-based, liberal global order”), the product of American leadership, which generated relative peace, prosperity, and democracy after 1945 and even more after 1989, faces aggression from without, most acutely from Russia; a long-range challenge from the rise of China; and, most alarming, doubts from […]

France Germany

New Atlanticist

Apr 20, 2018

What Fueled Trump’s Tweet on Oil Prices?

By Bina Hussein

An increase in gas prices in the United States may have pushed US President Donald J. Trump to criticize the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in a tweet on April 20. “Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!” Trump tweeted as OPEC and non-OPEC members met in […]

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