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.

Moldova’s Prime Minister Committed to a Pro-Europe Path

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

Sep 13, 2016

Moldova’s Prime Minister Committed to a Pro-Europe Path

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip said his government is committed to European integration and expressed the hope that the country’s next president will share that same commitment. Moldova will hold its first direct presidential elections on October 30. Like in past elections, this one has split voters between pro-Europe and pro-Russia candidates. “I hope that […]

Moldova Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2016

President Rahmon Takes Tajikistan Down a Dangerous Path

By Jeanne Fréchède

Faced with a weak economy and a resurgent Taliban across the border in Afghanistan, Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, has employed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s counterterrorism rhetoric to justify repressive political and religious policies that he is using to silence his opponents. Frequently portrayed by commentators and analysts as being at risk of imminent collapse, Rahmon’s […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2016

Iran Seen Abiding by Terms of Nuclear Deal

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Iran is living up to the commitments it made as part of a nuclear agreement reached with six world powers in 2015, a senior State Department official said on September 9. “On the nuclear side, so far, Iran has lived up to its commitments, and that’s a good thing,” said Chris Backemeyer, deputy assistant secretary […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 6, 2016

It’s Too Soon to Write Off Angela Merkel

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Angela Merkel has acknowledged that the setback her party suffered in elections in an eastern state this past weekend was a repudiation of her welcome to Syrian migrants, but the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell said backing away from this controversial policy will only hurt the German chancellor further. “The voters would be more skeptical of […]

European Union Germany

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2016

Obama Makes Final Asia Trip Amid Questions About US Reliability

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Barack Obama’s final official trip to Asia comes amid uncertainty over the future of a signature trade pact aimed at preventing China from setting the rules of global trade and at a time when Beijing has shown an increasing willingness to challenge US power. Obama, who has described himself as the first Pacific […]

China

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2016

What Does Dilma Rousseff’s Impeachment Mean for Brazil?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Brazil’s Senate on August 31 impeached President Dilma Rousseff, the country’s first female president, on the grounds that she had manipulated the budget to conceal growing economic problems. Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, discussed the implications of the impeachment for Brazil’s […]

Brazil

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2016

The UN Goes to South Sudan. Here’s What to Expect.

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Divided Security Council diplomats will likely deliver mixed messages on a rare visit to Juba, said Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham A sharply divided United Nations Security Council will likely end up delivering mixed messages this week on a rare visit to South Sudan—a nation that is once more on the brink of full-blown civil […]

East Africa International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Aug 31, 2016

Future Tense: Karimov’s Bitter Legacy in Uzbekistan

By Sabine Freizer

On September 1, Uzbekistan will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary of independence, but for the first time without its long-time president, Islam Abduganievich Karimov leading the dancing and music-filled celebrations in the capital Tashkent. Karimov suffered a stroke on August 27 and it is most likely that the seventy-eight-year-old, who was already in poor health, has […]

Central Asia

New Atlanticist

Aug 29, 2016

Lessons from Colombia’s Peace Process

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Colombia’s government and the leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on August 25 finalized a deal that ends fifty-two years of conflict. A bilateral ceasefire went into effect on August 29. More than 220,000 people have been killed and six million displaced by the armed conflict. The deal will be put […]

Colombia

New Atlanticist

Aug 26, 2016

Submarine Data Leak Puts Spotlight on European Defense Industry’s Role in Asia

By John Watts

The leak this week of sensitive technical data on India’s French-designed Scorpene-class submarines has sent ripples across Asia. India and France have launched investigations and both have implied that the source of the leak was at the other end. The leak was initially blamed on a “hack” and concerns were raised about whether this information […]

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