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.

May’s Humiliation Could Make Brexit Easier

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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New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2017

May’s Humiliation Could Make Brexit Easier

By Reginald Dale

The Conservative government’s surprise loss of its parliamentary majority in the United Kingdom’s June 8 general election will greatly complicate the task of withdrawing the country from the European Union (EU), on which negotiations are due to start June 19. But it might conceivably lead to a better outcome in the end. Prime Minister Theresa […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2017

Theresa May’s Failed Election Gamble

By Ashish Kumar Sen

British Prime Minister Theresa May made a gamble when she decided to call early elections with the hope of shoring up political support ahead of difficult Brexit negotiations. That gamble did not pay off. May’s Conservative Party, while still the largest in Parliament following the June 8 election, failed to secure the 326 seats necessary […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 9, 2017

From Huguenots to Gay Refugees: The Cost of Expulsion

By Philip Cornell

With the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Louis XIV famously empowered national prejudice, initiating widespread persecution and driving the mass exodus of French protestants. Many of those within this highly skilled and industrious group fled to London, where they had no small part in the blossoming of English economic life which would […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 8, 2017

Trump Will Need to Deepen US Engagement in Afghanistan

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump’s America First approach will have to take a back seat when it comes to Afghanistan. As the Trump administration wrestles with a decision on whether to send several thousand additional US troops to Afghanistan in an effort to end a fifteen-year-old war and make peace with the Taliban, there is […]

Afghanistan Pakistan

A rainbow U.S. flag is held up during a vigil for the Pulse night club victims in Orlando, Florida, U.S. on June 19, 2016. (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo)

New Atlanticist

Jun 8, 2017

The Last Three Feet: Advancing LGBTI Rights Absent a Clear Presidential Mandate

By Erin Clancy

“The real crucial link in the international exchange is the last three feet, which is bridged by personal contact, one person talking to another.” – Edward R. Murrow US diplomats serving at embassies and consulates abroad are gearing up for June Pride celebrations with local LGBTI communities and their allies at a time of uncertainty […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 8, 2017

The 2017 UK General Election and the Future of US-UK Relations

By Claire Yorke

On June 8, the United Kingdom will vote in its second general election in just over two years. Six major parties are contesting these elections, with the Conservative and Labour Parties holding the largest share of seats.[…]The last election in May 2015 resulted in a Conservative government, and led to the June 2016 national referendum […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jun 8, 2017

The UK and EU Must Moderate Brexit and the US Must Get Smart About What is Unfolding

By Ilana Bet-El

To use an old Thatcherite adage, the United States, United Kingdom and European Union are all living in cloud cuckoo land, seemingly vastly underestimating the medium- to long-term effects of Brexit: a dramatically weakened UK, an undermined EU, and fragmented transatlantic relations. Put another way: the transatlantic rift that has clearly already opened over NATO […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jun 8, 2017

British Election: Can Data Science See Through the Fog of Terror Attacks?

By Brent M. Eastwood

Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, the front-runners in the British general election, have endured a volatile race punctuated by two terror attacks that have rocked Britain. With campaigning suspended twice after each incident and British pollsters’ failure to predict Brexit, FutureSource queried a data science firm to get its reading […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2017

The United States Cannot Afford to Scale Back its Efforts to Advance LGBTI Rights Around the World

By James "Wally" Brewster

In recent years, the protection and advancement of the human rights of LGBTI people has become a hallmark of US foreign policy. In 2011, former President Barack Obama issued a presidential memorandum that, among other things, directed government departments and agencies working overseas to “combat discrimination, homophobia, and intolerance on the basis of LGBTI status […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2017

The Need for American Leadership in the World

By David N. Cicilline

For eight years, the United States led the world in the fight to advance LGBTI equality and ensure that all people could live free from the fear of discrimination, bigotry, and violence. More than any president before him, former President Barack Obama set the standard to inspire many around the world to follow. On Obama’s […]

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