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.

Antagonistic Political Climate Seen Endangering America’s Role on the World Stage

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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Art of Future Warfare

May 4, 2016

Antagonistic Political Climate Seen Endangering America’s Role on the World Stage

By Mitch Hulse

The political climate in the United States today is fueled by a voter base that feeds off of antagonistic behavior, misinformation, and isolation from global politics, panelists said in a discussion at the Atlantic Council on May 2. “This is the problem that we are facing today: The American voter has been so insulated and […]

Distinguished Leadership Awards

May 3, 2016

Former Defense Secretary Gates to America: ‘Reject Isolationism’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

More than 750 guests from fifty countries, including former heads of state and government, legislators, Obama administration officials, nearly forty Ambassadors, business executives, media, and civil society leaders attended the awards ceremony.

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2016

US LNG Seen as Fuel for US-EU Energy Security Relationship

By Mitch Hulse and Mikaila Altenbern

The United States will be a reliable supplier of liquefied natural gas to global markets because it is “not only good for our energy security, it is good for the security of our energy partners and allies around the world,” said Robin Dunnigan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy at the US State […]

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2016

Zimbabwe in ‘Grave Danger’ of Political Violence

By Kelsey Lilley

Former opposition Member of Parliament cites ‘serious political vacuum’ in the country Zimbabwe is in “grave danger” of political violence and its fractured opposition is “poisoned” because of an undemocratic culture, according to David Coltart, a founding member of the country’s main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). “There is a very serious […]

Africa

New Atlanticist

Apr 28, 2016

Donald Trump: A ‘Dangerous’ Man

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Former US diplomat, R. Nicholas Burns, discusses GOP frontrunner’s foreign policy speech R. Nicholas Burns, an Atlantic Council board director who served as the State Department’s number three official in the George W. Bush administration, offered a searing critique of Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s April 27 foreign policy speech in an interview with the […]

China European Union

Congressional Relations

Apr 28, 2016

US Lawmaker Urges ‘Path to EU Accession’ for Turkey

By Mitch Hulse

Turkey will be critical to any US or NATO effort to shape Russia’s behavior in the Middle East and it should be put on the path to joining the European Union, said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA). “If we want to stabilize a volatile region with a strategic ally we are going to have to put […]

European Union International Organizations

Congressional Relations

Apr 26, 2016

US-India Relationship: Playing Defense

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Deeper defense cooperation seen as key to boosting a trade relationship that has ‘plateaued’ As the United States and India set out to realize their goal of elevating annual bilateral trade to $500 billion over the next decade, deeper defense cooperation will be key to energizing a trade relationship that has “plateaued,” two senior US […]

India Pakistan

Bremain vs Brexit

Apr 25, 2016

Putting TTIP on Hold Would be a ‘Mistake’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council’s Andrea Montanino and Earl Anthony Wayne on the prospects of a US-EU trade agreement A transatlantic trade deal, currently being negotiated by the United States and the European Union, is critical to improving existing standards on issues such as public health, environmental regulations, and labor and safety issues, according to a new Atlantic […]

Economy & Business European Union

Bremain vs Brexit

Apr 22, 2016

To B or Not to B? Obama Steps into Brexit Debate

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Barack Obama’s forceful, and unusual, call for the United Kingdom not to leave the European Union reflects a combination of Washington’s unease over the possibility of a Brexit and its big stake in the outcome of the vote, according to the Atlantic Council’s Fran Burwell. It is “natural for friends to want to […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Apr 22, 2016

US-GCC Ties Need to Expand Beyond Oil

By Jean-François Seznec

As the perceived notion of oil-for-security diminishes with the United States’ declining demand for oil from the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Council states must develop their militaries, fight threatening ideologies, and decrease their economies’ dependence on oil without waiting for the United States to lead the way. However, even as the United States and […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

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