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.

Poland’s President Seeks Stronger NATO Presence in Europe’s East

New Atlanticist
Mar 6, 2025

How European leaders are responding to Trump’s approach to Ukraine and Europe

From London and Berlin to Paris and Brussels, European leaders have taken several notable steps this week on security. This follows the blow-up between the Ukrainian and US presidents on February 28.

New Atlanticist
Feb 26, 2025

Why the US should not lift sanctions against Russia

By
Charles Lichfield

Sanctions are having an unmistakable effect, albeit below the inflated expectations of many in the West in early 2022. Lifting them now would be a mistake.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist
Mar 5, 2025

The Egyptian plan for postwar Gaza is a good starting point—but it needs changes

By
Thomas S. Warrick

While many obstacles remain, the Egyptian proposal could form the starting point for negotiations over a workable plan for postwar Gaza.

Conflict
Crisis Management

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New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2016

Poland’s President Seeks Stronger NATO Presence in Europe’s East

By Ashish Kumar Sen

‘Real deterrence means real presence,’ says Polish President Andrzej Duda Poland’s President, Andrzej Duda, wants an enhanced NATO presence—in the form of troops as well as infrastructure—in Central and Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression, but said his government does not want to isolate Russia or return to the Cold War. Noting Russia’s military buildup […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2016

South Sudan: ‘A Problem Child’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Years of conflict, a dysfunctional government, and the international community’s failure to impose tough and meaningful sanctions have contributed to the crippling food insecurity that has caused tens of thousands of people to flee South Sudan, according to the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham. “No rational farmer anywhere in the world is going to plant […]

East Africa Sudan

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2016

Trump’s ‘Sopranos’ Worldview Would Undo Asian Alliances

By Robert A. Manning

In a series of recent comments—most notably in extensive interviews with the New York Times— Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has sketched a worldview and policies toward US allies that could unravel the entire post-World War II order. Among other things, Trump says he would renegotiate all existing trade agreements, and […]

East Asia Japan

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2016

Curtain call for the Nuclear Security Summit?

By Matthew Kroenig

The fourth biennial Nuclear Security Summit, to be held in Washington from March 31 to April 1, may well be the last as its chief champion—US President Barack Obama—nears the end of his presidency. The Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) traces its origins to Obama’s spring 2009 speech in Prague in which he vowed to secure […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation Security & Defense

Bremain vs Brexit

Mar 28, 2016

Belgium Seeks More Action on Intelligence Shared Among European Nations

By Ashish Kumar Sen

‘That is a weak spot for some,’ says Johan Verbeke, Belgium’s Ambassador to the United States European nations need to do a better job of working together to detect, share, and act on intelligence related to terrorist plots, according to Johan Verbeke, Belgium’s Ambassador to the United States. “There is information that we share with […]

European Union International Organizations

Bremain vs Brexit

Mar 25, 2016

A Terrorist Attack on NATO’s Doorstep

By Stefano Stefanini

The March 22 terrorist attacks on Brussels—in the heart of the European Union’s citadel—are an attack on all of Europe. Belgium has become a frontline state in a war about which Europe is in denial. The European Union, established to prevent war from ever again breaking out in Europe, is loath to call the terrorist […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2016

An American Perspective on Europe

By Marten van Heuven

This approach comes in the form of a thought experiment designed to illuminate, but not predict, possible outcomes. It sketches three scenarios and asks whether they would serve US interests. In scenario one, Europe achieves all it wants: A robust economy, security, an orderly flow of immigrants, the harmonious evolution of new political parties, and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2016

United States and Canada Must Jointly Develop North American Energy Market

By Ariel Cohen

Falling oil prices are a major challenge for oil revenue-dependent markets, including Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. But closer to the United States, Canada, which is heavily dependent on oil exports, is also suffering. Estimated Canadian oil reserves sit at 172 billion barrels. Russia, in comparison, only has approximately eighty billion barrels in reserves. Most of […]

Energy & Environment United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2016

Slovyansk Recovers from Russian Occupation

By John E. Herbst

The fast train travels the nearly 700 kilometers from Kyiv to Slovyansk in just under six hours. It stops a few times before arriving at the train station in the suburbs of Slovyansk, the small city of 125,000 that Moscow’s agents seized and held for nearly three months shortly after its hybrid war in Ukraine’s […]

Russia Ukraine

Bremain vs Brexit

Mar 24, 2016

Europe’s Big Challenge: Alienated Populations + ISIS

By Mitch Hulse

Terrorist attacks against the West will continue as long as Europe fails to integrate Muslim communities into its fold and organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham maintain their ideological stranglehold over these disaffected communities, according to senior fellows at the Atlantic Council. “These attacks are going to continue as long as two […]

Syria Western Europe

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