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.

Defining Success at NATO’s Summit: Political Unity and Military Readiness

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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New Atlanticist

Jul 3, 2018

Defining Success at NATO’s Summit: Political Unity and Military Readiness

By Ian Brzezinski

NATO’s July 11-12 summit in Brussels will be defined by two basic objectives: demonstrating political unity and resolve and advancing military readiness. The latter provides the means necessary to deter and defeat adversaries. Only with the former can this community of democracies fully leverage those capabilities. Both are critical to the effectiveness and long-viability of […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jul 3, 2018

NATO Must Meet Russia’s Hybrid Warfare Challenge

By Rihards Kols

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s use of military force and hybrid warfare tactics in his country’s immediate neighborhood and beyond has brought into question NATO’s ability to defend its eastern border. Russian hybrid warfare, with an increased focus on asymmetric and nontraditional military capabilities, has made it considerably more difficult for NATO to counter destabilization efforts, […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2018

NATO Must Adopt Readiness Initiative to Deter Russia

By Hans Binnendijk

NATO defense ministers agreed on June 7 to support a new “Four Thirties” military readiness plan designed to enhance deterrence by creating a new “culture of readiness” in the Alliance. It is one of four related initiatives suggested by the United States to ensure that Moscow does not believe it can exploit the Alliance’s slow […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2018

AMLO’s Turn: Challenges for the Next Mexican President

By David Wemer

After overturning the Mexican political establishment and capturing an astounding fifty-three percent of the vote, President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador must face his next challenge: governing.

Mexico

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2018

Europe’s Season of Anxiety

By Stephen Blank

Two summits this month—NATO’s in Brussels and US President Donald J. Trump’s first one with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki—are causing much anxiety in Europe. While in public, NATO and European officials are at pains to put on the best possible face, in private they have abundant and good reasons to be apprehensive about […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2018

President-Elect AMLO: A Seismic Shift in Mexico

By Ashish Kumar Sen

For Andrés Manuel López Obrador it was third time lucky. The new president-elect, popularly known as AMLO, won Mexico’s July 1 presidential election by a landslide picking up more than 50 percent of the vote. A self-described nationalist leader who hails from the southern state of Tabasco and is a former mayor of Mexico City, […]

Mexico

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2018

Mexico’s Energy Reforms: The Prospects Under an AMLO Administration

By David L. Goldwyn

The election of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) augurs great uncertainty over the direction of Mexico’s seminal 2013 energy reforms. As a candidate, AMLO spoke in favor of pausing new offerings for oil and gas investment acreage, building more refining capacity within Mexico, and developing the nation’s gas supplies. Changes in Mexico’s energy framework will […]

Energy & Environment Latin America

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2018

Giving Peace a Chance in Eastern Ukraine

By Teri Schultz

OSCE monitor calls for withdrawal of heavy weapons, troops as ceasefire agreed All sides in the conflict in eastern Ukraine must withdraw heavy weapons and troops and remove landmines if a new ceasefire, expected to go into effect on July 1, is to have any chance of success, according to Alexander Hug who oversees what […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2018

Now is Not the Time for a US-Russia Summit

By Mark Simakovsky

The US-Russia summit on July 16, which will take place several days after President Trump issues a broadside against NATO Allies July 11-12 for their lack of burden sharing, will undermine US and NATO interests vis-à-vis Russia. Although a summit between the US and Russian Presidents can be productive at the right time and with the right approach, […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2018

Saudi Arabia Puts Women in the Driver’s Seat

By Phoebe Amend

On June 4, Saudi Arabia issued driver’s licenses to ten women for the first times in their lives. This followed a repeal—announced by royal decree last September—of the female driving ban, which officially ended on June 24. In what is one among a number of ambitious socioeconomic reforms driven by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin […]

Saudi Arabia

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