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.

Will North Korea Lash Out Over State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation?

New Atlanticist
Jul 29, 2025

The Russia pressure menu: Options to convince Putin to negotiate on Ukraine

As the US president cuts his deadline for Russia to ten days, there are several options for him to increase pressure on Moscow to pursue peace.

New Atlanticist
Jul 24, 2025

Dispatch from Manila: A lesson in calling out Chinese maritime aggression

By
Markus Garlauskas, Philip W. Yu

As the Philippines has focused more on Chinese threats to itself, Manila also seems increasingly inclined to see its own security as connected to that of the broader region.

China
Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist
Jul 1, 2025

The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

By
Kimberly Donovan

To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.

Economic Sanctions
Iran

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New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2017

Will North Korea Lash Out Over State Sponsor of Terrorism Designation?

By Rachel Ansley

The decision by US President Donald J. Trump’s administration to designate North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, while of questionable efficacy, marks a justified increase of pressure from Washington on Pyongyang, according to Atlantic Council analysts. In the latest move in an ongoing diplomatic crisis between the United States and North Korea over the […]

Korea

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2017

Mugabe’s Exit Opens the Door to Hope in Zimbabwe

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Robert Mugabe’s decision to resign in the face of pressure from the military, his party, and the Zimbabwean people paves the way for a new chapter in Zimbabwe’s history, said the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham. Mugabe, a liberation struggle hero who led Zimbabwe since 1980, saw his star eventually tarnished by corruption, cronyism, and […]

Africa South & Central Africa

New Atlanticist

Nov 20, 2017

The Importance of Being Angela Merkel

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Chancellor is vital for European solidarity on Russia sanctions, says Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell If German Chancellor Angela Merkel were to step down from her role it would create uncertainty over the fate of sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine, according to Fran Burwell, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic […]

European Union Germany

New Atlanticist

Nov 20, 2017

With Mugabe’s Exit, Zimbabwe Will Need All the Help It Can Get

By Ashish Kumar Sen

In light of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s resignation, the United States should be prepared to work with his likely successor, a man who is subject to US sanctions, said the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham. Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose ouster from the vice presidency by Mugabe early in November triggered the current political crisis in the […]

Africa South & Central Africa

New Atlanticist

Nov 17, 2017

Long History and Long Border with Russia Make Finland the Perfect ‘Hybrid’ Hub

By Teri Schultz

The new European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (CoE) in Helsinki is, according to US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, an “institution fit for our times.” With membership from eleven European Union (EU) nations and the United States, the CoE is one of the most tangible examples of the pledge by NATO and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Nov 17, 2017

What Plague in Madagascar Tells Us About the Global Health System

By Samuel Jeffrey and Alex Paul

New and existing diseases tend to emerge and re-emerge in rural regions with limited public health systems. A disease jumps the species barrier, moving from animal to human host. Historically, these outbreaks would fizzle out close to where they began, as patient zero infected his community but the combination of death, immunity, and lack of […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 16, 2017

Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier

By Joe Bryan

While the twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23) was beginning in Bonn, the US House and Senate Armed Services Committees were wrapping up negotiations on the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act. The bipartisan conference report that emerged from those negotiations calls climate change “a direct threat to the national security of the United […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 16, 2017

Building Transatlantic Common Ground in Combating Global Warming

By Sonja Thielges

As the world gathered in Bonn for its twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23), the newly published Emissions Gap Report 2017 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) helped to underline the mantra of the conference: all countries need to raise their climate protection efforts quickly and substantially. The report shows that even if fully […]

Germany United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Nov 16, 2017

Bonn as the Waystation Between Ambition and Implementation

By Ellen Scholl

The climate conference in Bonn has served as an important bellwether of the international communities’ continuing commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions and of the impact of US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. As the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP) comes to a close, […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 16, 2017

Fiji’s COP23 presidency highlights climate struggles of small island nations

By Gray Johnson, Becca Hunziker

Despite all eyes on the United States in the wake of US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, Fiji, the host of the twenty-third Conference of the Parties (COP23), framed the conversation in Bonn around the challenges climate change poses to small island nations and how larger, wealthier nations can help.

Climate Change & Climate Action Geopolitics & Energy Security

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