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.

A Threat to May’s Unrealistic Brexit Stance

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.

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A Threat to May’s Unrealistic Brexit Stance

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

A Threat to May’s Unrealistic Brexit Stance

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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Content

New Atlanticist

Feb 28, 2018

A Threat to May’s Unrealistic Brexit Stance

By Reginald Dale

British Prime Minister Theresa May is entrapped in a maze of blind alleys, self-delusion, and bitter divisions over the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the rest of the European Union (EU) after Britain is due to leave the EU in just over a year’s time—at precisely 11:00 p.m. on March 29, 2019. She will try […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Feb 28, 2018

Is Peace Possible in Afghanistan?

By Carmen Gentile

Amid ongoing, deadly attacks in the Afghan capital and elsewhere, the Taliban has reached out to the United States to begin peace talks aimed at ending more than seventeen years of conflict between US-led forces and the once-ruling extremist group. At least, that’s what the group’s open letter in February reads. In it, the Taliban […]

Afghanistan Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Feb 27, 2018

Wanted: Even-Handed US Engagement in Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Zeljana Zovko

The United States’ engagement is needed in many trouble spots around the world, but in few places is the need as urgent as in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Many Americans will recall vivid TV images from the 1990s of massacres in Sarajevo, the ferocious siege of Bihac, and the genocide at Srebrenica. Since those days of […]

The Balkans

New Atlanticist

Feb 27, 2018

‘They Killed the Strongest One’

By Rachel Ansley

Boris Nemtsov: A life remembered, a legacy celebrated Three years have passed since the murder of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, but his legacy continues to inspire those who challenge Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian government in Russia. Describing Nemtsov’s life and legacy, his close friend and fellow dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza said: “Every country, every nation has […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 26, 2018

In China, the Dawn of the Xi Dynasty?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Chinese President Xi Jinping was nine years old when his father, a prominent communist revolutionary and vice premier of China, had a falling out with Mao Zedong. The year was 1962. Xi Zhongxun was accused of supporting a novel that Mao opposed. For this crime he was stripped of his titles, demoted, and sent to […]

China

New Atlanticist

Feb 26, 2018

Deconstructing PESCO: Washington’s Apparent, Actual, and Misplaced Fears About European Defense Plans

By Brooks Tigner

Washington has recently revived concerns about the ultimate purpose of the European Union (EU)’s nascent defense plans, avowing these could undermine NATO and transatlantic solidarity if US officials don’t keep a “close eye” on them. This is bombast. Officially, such concern may appear to rest on political, strategic, or military imperatives about NATO’s cohesion, but […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 23, 2018

The Curious Case of Latvia’s Banking Scandal

By Bart Oosterveld and Graham Brookie

Two developments have rocked the Latvian banking system in recent days. Last week, the country’s third-largest bank, ABLV Bank, was accused by the United States Treasury Department of systematic money laundering and aiding in the circumvention of the sanctions imposed on North Korea. Separately, Latvian Central Bank Governor Ilmars Rimsevics, one of the longest-serving central […]

Northern Europe

New Atlanticist

Feb 23, 2018

Trump’s New Sanctions Hit North Korea Where it Hurts Most

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump on February 23 announced that his administration has imposed what he described as the “largest-ever” set of new sanctions on North Korea. The US Treasury Department later announced measures to cut off sources of revenue and fuel that have helped North Korea advance its nuclear program. Treasury said the action […]

Korea

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2018

US Army’s ‘Teacher Corps’ Faces an Uphill Battle Providing Instruction to Foreign Troops

By Elisabeth Braw

Supply teachers are not to be envied. While they may be highly qualified in a particular subject, they re often sent in to teach classes they are not familiar with and doing so without the necessary training. Over the past several years, similar scenes have been repeating themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Western troops […]

Afghanistan Iraq

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2018

Nicolás Maduro is About to Steal Venezuela’s Election

By Rachel Ansley

Jorge Quiroga does not believe that the presidential elections scheduled to be held in Venezuela on April 22 will be free or fair. In fact, he contends, “they’re not elections.” The former president of Bolivia is not alone in that opinion.

Venezuela
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