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.

Intelligence community continues to see threat from climate change

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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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

New Atlanticist

Feb 12, 2018

A Ticking Clock

By Teri Schultz

Rose Gottemoeller, deputy secretary general of NATO, discusses arms control When the Doomsday Clock took its last big leap, moving from five minutes to three minutes to midnight in 2015, Rose Gottemoeller took it personally. She was then US under secretary of state for arms control and had spent her entire career negotiating with first […]

Missile Defense NATO

New Atlanticist

Feb 12, 2018

Talking Turkey

By Carmen Gentile

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to the Middle East this week comes amid escalating tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the United States as their forces stare down one another in war-ravaged northern Syria. While Tillerson’s agenda is notably missing a stop in Israel, the secretary will meet with leaders in Turkey, as […]

Syria Turkey

New Atlanticist

Feb 8, 2018

What’s the Deal?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council analysts discuss agreement that could end political uncertainty in Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 7 moved a step closer to forming a coalition government that would include her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). But first, more than 460,000 members of the SPD will need to approve […]

Germany

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