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.

US Imposes Sanctions on Russia Over Election Meddling

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

Mar 15, 2018

US Imposes Sanctions on Russia Over Election Meddling

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump’s administration on March 15 announced new sanctions on Russian individuals and organizations in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 US election and cyberattacks, including attempts to the hack the US energy grid. This is the most significant action by the Trump administration against Russia to date. The sanctions target […]

Russia United States and Canada

US President Donald J. Trump has nominated Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo (pictured) to serve as the next US Secretary of State. Pompeo, whose parents came to the United States from Italy, is being greeted in Europe with caution and concern. (Reuters/Eric Thayer)

New Atlanticist

Mar 15, 2018

A Storm is Brewing in Transatlantic Relations

By Louis Golino

Recent events in Washington, especially the nomination by US President Donald J. Trump of Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of state and US imposition of tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, combined with a Europe that is politically weakened and internally focused, are helping create what may become the worst divergence in the […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Mar 15, 2018

7 Things to Know About the Past 7 Years of War in Syria

By Rachel Ansley

When protests erupted against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria in 2011, no one could have anticipated the level of violence, trauma, and devastation that would result from that uprising over the next seven years. The Syrian civil war began on March 15, 2011. The conflict has been fought by a constellation of rebel groups and […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 15, 2018

Bashar al-Assad: A Profile of a Mass Murderer

By Carmen Gentile

March 15 marks the seventh year of the Syrian uprising, which at its start resembled other protests across the Middle East known then as the Arab Spring. A harsh crackdown by the Syrian regime transformed those student-led demonstrations into an armed uprising that has left hundreds of thousands dead, with some estimates as high as […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 14, 2018

Britain Expels Russian Diplomats Over Attempted Assassination. Is that Enough?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

British Prime Minister Theresa May on March 14 expelled twenty-three Russian diplomats and suspended high-level contacts with Moscow after blaming Russia for poisoning a former Russian spy and his daughter in the United Kingdom. The expulsion, which May described as the largest in more than thirty years, will add further strain to an already tense […]

Russia United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

The Other Firing At State And What That Means

By Graham Lampa

The firing of Steve Goldstein, the suddenly former under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, will have a three-fold negative impact on the United States’ pursuit of its strategic foreign policy interests overseas, in addition to and distinct from the effects of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s firing earlier the same day. […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

From Russia With Hate

By Stephen Blank

The poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal, his daughter, and twenty-one other British citizens in Salisbury is the most recent of too many such examples. On March 12, days after the attempted assassination of Skripal, Nikolai Glushkov, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his home in […]

Russia United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

A State of Mind: Tillerson vs. Pompeo on the Issues, and What that Means for US Foreign Policy

By Atlantic Council

Newly former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and his replacement, former Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, do not necessarily see eye to eye on every major foreign policy issue. Their divergent views raise serious questions as to how the shake-up in leadership at Foggy Bottom will alter the course of US foreign policy […]

Iran Korea

New Atlanticist

Mar 13, 2018

State of Upheaval: Trump Fires Tillerson

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Rex Tillerson is out and Mike Pompeo is in. On March 13, US President Donald J. Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after a little more than a year on the job. Trump announced in a tweet that he is nominating Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo as Tillerson’s replacement. The position requires […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 12, 2018

A Tribute to Wolfgang Ischinger

By James L. Jones

US Marine Corps retired Gen. James L. Jones, Jr., interim chairman of the Atlantic Council board of directors, delivered this speech on March 1, 2018. Distinguished guests, your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Ambassador and Mrs. Ischinger. It is a great honor for me to be with you in city of Berlin, which holds such historical significance […]

Germany

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