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.

The Munich Security Conference and Transatlantic Security

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

Feb 16, 2018

The Munich Security Conference and Transatlantic Security

By Magnus Nordenman

The annual Munich Security Conference (MSC) which kicks off today may be a veritable who’s who in global security, but the conference is far more than just hobnobbing among the nearly five hundred senior security and defense officials in attendance. Frequently the MSC has been a bellwether for things to come in the global security […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 16, 2018

Is the Democratic Order Doomed?

By Ash Jain

The order is holding for now, but the trends are worrisome The state of the global order one year into Donald Trump’s presidency will be at the top of the agenda when global security experts meet in Munich from February 16-18. The outlook was bleak even before the 2016 US election. The rules-based, democratic order, […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 15, 2018

Raising the Curtain on MSC: 5 Things to Watch

By Barry Pavel and Lauren Speranza

February 16 marks the start of the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC)—the “Davos of international security”—in Germany. A Rolodex of top defense and foreign affairs leaders from Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and elsewhere will convene to take on a wide array of pressing global security issues. While the issues on the 2018 […]

EnergySource

Feb 15, 2018

Intelligence community continues to see threat from climate change

By Ellen Scholl and David Livingston

The 2018 Worldwide Threat Assessment, released on February 13, includes climate change among the identified threats to global stability. While many have pointed to the gap between this assessment and the rhetoric of US President Donald J. Trump—and the noticeable absence of climate change from his administration’s 2017 National Security Strategy—the worldwide threat assessment underscores […]

Climate Change & Climate Action Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Feb 15, 2018

Timeline: How Libya’s Revolution Came Undone

By Erin A. Neale

An unusual protest erupted in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi on February 15, 2011. Enraged by the arrest of a human rights activist, protestors clashed with police and supporters of Libya’s longtime ruler, Moammar Gadhafi, who responded with brute force. Two days later, activists called for a “day of rage.” The protests spread like wildfire […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Feb 15, 2018

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Steps Down

By Bronwyn Bruton

On February 15, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following months of sustained protests and pressure from the country’s aggrieved and marginalized ethnic groups. The country’s ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), now faces a crisis of leadership as it determines Ethiopia’s next prime minister. This author predicted the imminent ouster of […]

Ethiopia

New Atlanticist

Feb 14, 2018

The United States and Turkey: NATO Allies at an Impasse

By Rachel Ansley

The US military continues to support a Kurdish militia in Syria that Turkey considers a terrorist organization, and Ankara has had enough. Now, as the Turkish military threatens to advance on Manbij, a town in northeastern Syria held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that includes the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Ankara is “going […]

Turkey United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Feb 13, 2018

Russian Casualties and Moscow’s Intent

By Frederic C. Hof

Reporting out of Moscow suggests that some number of armed Russians—up to 200—were killed by the US-led, anti-ISIS coalition after crossing the Euphrates River deconfliction line in eastern Syria on February 7. If the reports are true, this was by far the bloodiest incident for Russian personnel since Moscow’s military intervention in Syria at the […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Feb 13, 2018

Tillerson’s Endgame in Turkey

By Ross Wilson

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s current trip to the Middle East reportedly seeks to attempt to restore stability in the region following the virtual destruction of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) by US and coalition forces. What is his way forward with the Turks and how should Washington manage its differences […]

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Feb 13, 2018

Total Recall: South Africa’s President Zuma Told to Quit. Will He?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Will he go? That’s the big question on the minds of South Africans this week as their president, Jacob Zuma, was asked to step down by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party’s National Executive Committee (NEC). The NEC’s decision followed a marathon thirteen-hour meeting on February 12 to decide the fate of Zuma, who […]

Africa South Africa

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