New Atlanticist

The Arctic’s Changing Frontier

By Peter Engelke

Our world is changing, and quickly. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Arctic region. For decades, Arctic sea ice has been shrinking, the result of higher temperatures driven by climate change. So too has Greenland’s ice sheet, for the same reason. While each new winter has brought with it evidence of deterioration in […]

America is Not an Ethno-State

By Daniel Fried

My forty years in the Foreign Service—and the careers of many of my friends—became associated with the fall of the Soviet Empire and the putting in order of what came after:  the building of a Europe whole, free and at peace.  It is hard to recall today how improbable victory in the Cold War appeared.  […]

Here’s Why Mexico Matters

If the current tension in the US-Mexico relationship gets out of hand it could disrupt crucial cooperation between the two countries on checking the flow of unauthorized migrants into the United States, said an Atlantic Council analyst. “The great danger here is that, in all of this tension, something is going to boil over,” said […]

Don’t Expect a New NATO Strategic Concept Any Time Soon

By Stanley Sloan

The uncertainty created by US President Donald Trump’s questioning of whether the Alliance remains in the US’ interest has stalled the production of a new NATO strategic concept. The last NATO strategic concept—the Alliance’s consensus statement on the threats and intended responses—was agreed in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2010. In 2016, some astute observers suggested that […]

NAFTA in Need of an Update

Former US, Canadian, and Mexican officials make pitch to keep strategic trade deal US President Donald Trump has called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “the worst trade deal,” but former US, Canadian, and Mexican officials, speaking at the Atlantic Council on February 22, warned against abandoning the strategic deal that binds their three […]

China Taking Clean Energy Leadership from the United States

By Madison Freeman

With commitments to clean energy and combatting climate change wavering under the new US administration, leadership in renewable energy is quietly shifting away from the United States across the Pacific, where China is rapidly building its dominance. US President Donald Trump has been clear about his support for fossil fuels. Though his stance on renewable […]

Here’s How to Keep TTIP Alive

By Marie Kasperek

After fifteen rounds of negotiations with the United States on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) since 2013, European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said that the free-trade deal is likely to be “in the freezer” until the new US administration has figured out its position on transatlantic trade. US President Donald Trump’s […]

A Reality Check for Russian Propaganda

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America launch a Russian-language news network The flurries of disinformation and fake news obfuscating the current state of affairs in Russia, and the Kremlin’s activity worldwide, have not created a post-truth world, but one in which some find truth increasingly difficult to promote. “I think we’ve given up […]

Lessons from a Regional Approach to Solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

By Richard LeBaron

Towards the end of their press conference on February 15, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald J. Trump hinted at their evolving strategy to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict and broader Arab-Israeli differences through a regional approach.  Netanyahu: And I believe that the great opportunity for peace comes from a regional approach from […]

Opposition Leader Katumbi to Return to the DRC

Moïse Katumbi, a prominent opposition leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will return to the country to continue the fight for the first peaceful, democratic transition in its history. “My heart is with the Congolese people,” Katumbi said on February 16 at a meeting hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. “I […]