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
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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Dive deep into developing stories, guided by continually updated expert analysis that leaves you better informed about the most pressing global issues behind the headlines.

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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

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

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2018

I Spy A North Korean at the Olympics

By Ashish Kumar Sen

North Korean Gen. Kim Yong-chol is believed to have orchestrated a deadly attack on a South Korean warship, the bombardment of a South Korean island, and, possibly, the cyberattack on Sony Pictures. Now, the former North Korean spy chief is on a different mission. Kim Yong-chol will lead his country’s delegation to the closing ceremony […]

Korea

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2018

Future Tense: Putin’s Re-Election a Given, But What Comes Next?

By Stephen Blank

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s re-election on March 18 is a foregone conclusion. Why, then, does this elaborately staged charade garner such attention abroad? Perhaps that is because the election is not important in itself as much as for the question it poses of what comes next. This election’s importance resides not in its occurrence or […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

Boko Haram’s latest version relies on its old terror toolkit in Nigeria

By Rachel Ansley

More than ninety missing school girls in Nigeria—thought to have been abducted by Boko Haram—show that while the militants may have largely been defeated militarily, Boko Haram remains alive and well in Nigeria, according to an Atlantic Council analyst.

Nigeria

New Atlanticist

Feb 21, 2018

Why Sobchak is Wrong and Navalny is Right

By Daniel Vajdich

Ksenia Sobchak sees a “big double standard” in fellow Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s criticism of her decision to stand in the presidential elections in Russia on March 18. In December of 2017, Russia’s Central Electoral Commission determined that Navalny was ineligible to participate in the presidential election citing a sham corruption conviction.

Russia

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