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.

US Airstrikes in Libya May Produce an Anti-Western Backlash

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

Feb 19, 2016

US Airstrikes in Libya May Produce an Anti-Western Backlash

By Ashish Kumar Sen

International community must focus on restoring stability to Libya, says Atlantic Council’s Karim Mezran US airstrikes that are neither invited by the Libyan authorities nor coordinated with Libyan armed forces may produce a dangerous backlash against the West, according to the Atlantic Council’s Karim Mezran. US warplanes conducted airstrikes on an Islamic State of Iraq […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Feb 18, 2016

Obama’s Cuba Trip Exposes Cruz, Rubio as ‘Outdated’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Most Americans, including Cuban-Americans, favor normalization of ties between the United States and Cuba, say Atlantic Council analysts US President Barack Obama’s decision to make an historic visit to Cuba in March will have a negligible impact on the presidential election in the United States; if anything, it has succeeded in exposing just how out […]

Cuba

New Atlanticist

Feb 18, 2016

Saudi-Iran Rivalry Keeps Oil Prices Down

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Gulf states seen eager to put ‘fiscal squeeze’ on Iran The regional rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran—the two main producers in a global oil cartel—has become a significant factor behind the sharp decline in oil prices that has also kept rates at historic lows. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil-producing countries have watched with […]

Energy & Environment Iran

New Atlanticist

Feb 17, 2016

Iran, Syria, Russia Seen as Top Challenges in the Middle East

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Iran, Syria, and Russia together pose the biggest challenge in the Middle East today, and any notion that there can be an alignment of the interests of Tehran and Washington is unrealistic, three former US officials said at the Atlantic Council on February 16. “We have an Iran-Syria-Russia problem right now in the Middle East,” […]

Iran Iraq

New Atlanticist

Feb 16, 2016

Raising the Price for Putin

By Evelyn Farkas

Russia poses a geostrategic threat to the United States and our interests. Indeed, earlier this month Defense Secretary Ash Carter listed it first among the threats faced by our nation. It is unfortunate that in the twenty-first century Russia and the United States remain opposed to one another on most foreign policy issues. The reality […]

National Security Russia

New Atlanticist

Feb 12, 2016

A Mosquito Adds to Brazilian President’s Woes

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Zika epidemic seen as one of a ‘litany of problems’ on President Dilma Rousseff’s lap There is never a good time for an epidemic, but Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will agree that the outbreak of mosquito-borne Zika in her country could not have come at a worse time. Rousseff, who is facing impeachment charges, has […]

Brazil

New Atlanticist

Feb 12, 2016

Report Finds More than a Million Civilians Under Siege in Syria

By Mitch Hulse

More than a million civilians are currently suffering under siege from both pro-government and rebel-allied forces across Syria, according to a new report from PAX and the Syria Institute. Last month, the international community was shocked to learn about Madaya—a besieged Syrian town where up to 300,000 civilians have been essentially cut off from the […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Feb 12, 2016

Obama’s Sunnylands Summit: Does ASEAN Really Matter?

By Robert A. Manning

OK, OK, I get the symbolism, but it is a measure of how devalued the language of diplomacy can be that US President Barack Obama would hold an unprecedented summit at Sunnylands in California with ten heads of state whose countries comprise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to talk of a “strategic partnership.” […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 11, 2016

Libya Remains a Weak Link in Effort to Curb Migrant Flow into Europe

By Ashish Kumar Sen

NATO deploys ships to Aegean Sea to counter human trafficking between Turkey and Greece NATO’s decision to deploy ships to the Aegean Sea in an attempt to deter the smuggling of migrants from Turkey into Greece focuses on just one aspect of the problem; to Europe’s south, in Libya, a well-established human-trafficking network continues to […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 11, 2016

President Hassan Rouhani’s Defense Policy

By Abbas Qaidaari

A study of the tensions between the United States and its allies in the region with Iran shows that both sides have misunderstood and miscalculated their defense policies and strategies in the Middle East. Many Western critics do not understand the basis and distinguishing features of the Rouhani government’s strategy. Based on general policies of […]

Iran

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