New Atlanticist

An Atlantic Council Roadmap for State Department Reform

A new Atlantic Council report that seeks to enhance the US State Department’s effectiveness recommends, among other things, a more results-oriented budget and streamlined foreign aid.  A key recommendation is to use the US Agency for International Development (USAID) as “the platform to build a more robust, effective civilian assistance capacity, empowering it with an […]

Iran, Turkey Key to Turkmenistan Realizing its Energy Potential

By Masoud Mostajabi

Turkmenistan must invest in new infrastructure to export its vast energy resources if it is to become a substantial player in the global energy market. Achieving this objective would reduce Turkey and the European Union (EU)’s dependence on Russian gas. Turkmenistan boasts the sixth-largest natural gas reserves in the world, an estimated 617 trillion cubic […]

The United States’ ‘Horrible Options’ for Dealing with North Korea

By Ashish Kumar Sen

With Kim Jong-un ratcheting up tensions on the Korean Peninsula, US President Donald J. Trump is left with two “horrible” options to deal with the threat posed by the North Korean regime, according to Atlantic Council board member and a former acting and deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Michael Morell. Acknowledging that […]

Guatemala Averts Political Crisis, But Damage is Done for Jimmy Morales

By Juan Felipe Celia

Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales shocked Guatemalans and the international community last week when he ordered the expulsion of Iván Velásquez, commissioner of the United Nations International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), the organization leading the investigation into the illegal financing of Morales’ presidential campaign. Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has blocked the expulsion order, which was […]

Hurricane Resilience and the Role of Oil Product Reserves

By Philip Cornell

Hurricane Harvey, which has devastated the city of Houston and the surrounding areas, has struck at the heart of the US energy sector. The consequences will outlive the rainfall, and raise questions about the utility and design of strategic product storage in a rapidly changing domestic energy landscape. Since making landfall on August 25, Harvey […]

European Bureaucracy, Not Russia’s Military Exercises, Seen as a Bigger Challenge

By Teri Schultz

Top US military commander in Europe, Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, calls for a ‘military Schengen zone’ As Zapad 2017 looms, the top US military commander worries more about Europe’s sluggish bureaucracy than Russia’s snap military exercises. One word is dominating transatlantic security and defense discussions heading into September: Zapad. The word, which means “west” […]

Here’s Why Latin America Matters

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Interview with Jason Marczak, newly appointed director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Jason Marczak, the newly appointed director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, discussed his vision for the Center and approaches to regional challenges in an interview with the New Atlanticist’s Ashish Kumar Sen. Here are excerpts […]

North Korea Tests Donald Trump

By Ashish Kumar Sen

North Korea’s missile test over Japan on August 29 came “perilously close” to being an act of war; the question now is how will US President Donald J. Trump react, said the Atlantic Council’s Robert A. Manning. In response to past North Korean missile tests, Trump vowed to rain down “fire and fury”  on the […]

Trump’s Afghanistan Strategy Turns Up the Heat on Pakistan

US President Donald J. Trump’s new strategy for Afghanistan effectively puts the onus on Pakistan to end its support for terrorists. If this strategy is to succeed, the United States must “adopt a very serious policy toward Pakistan,” said C. Christine Fair, the provost’s distinguished associate professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. […]

Trump Misses an Opportunity in Afghanistan

By Shuja Nawaz

US President Donald J. Trump should have stuck to his original line of questioning of his national security team before sharing his new “strategy” on Afghanistan and South Asia: what outcome are we seeking, and how will we get there? Trump’s August 21 speech, in which he outlined his policy on Afghanistan, exemplified the truth […]