New Atlanticist

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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.

A Ukraine Secessionist from Moscow Builds Greater Russia, One Province at a Time

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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Aleksandr Borodai, a Russian nationalist militant from Moscow, speaks to reporters last week as the "prime minister" of the secessionist republic he wants to establish in Ukraine's Donetsk province.

New Atlanticist

May 22, 2014

A Ukraine Secessionist from Moscow Builds Greater Russia, One Province at a Time

By Irena Chalupa

Alexander Borodai Helped the Kremlin Seize Crimea; Now He’s ‘Prime Minister’ of Donetsk As leaders of the secessionist uprising in Ukraine’s Donetsk province go public this month, they turn out to be from Moscow, not Donetsk. Alexander Borodai, named last week as the “prime minister” of the Donetsk People’s Republic, is not only Muscovite, he’s […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 20, 2014

For Crimea’s Tatars, Russia’s Occupation is a ‘Third Tragedy’

By Idil Izmirli

Note to Western Allies: ‘Tatars Understand That They Now Face a Long, New Struggle’ In the dark first hours of May 18, 1944, Soviet army convoys rumbled into the villages of Crimea’s native Tatars and began forcing 230,000 of them into exile. Soldiers packed the Tatars into rail cars, typically without food or water, to […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2014

Ukraine News Roundup | May 19

By Irena Chalupa

A Paradigm Shift in Russia’s Foreign Policy from The Moscow Times Ukraine’s Vigilante Peacemakers from The Daily Beast Loved and Hated: Can Tymoshenko Still Lead Ukraine? From Der Spiegel Behind Putin’s Cynicism and Hypocrisy from the Wall Street Journal Back to Balancing? Ukraine, the Status Quo, and American Grand Strategy in 2014 from The National […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2014

Journalism is a Crime In Crimea

By Volodymyr Prytula

Under Russian Control, Vigilantes and Police Detain, Beat, Threaten Reporters Osman Pashaev, 37, is one of the most popular television reporters in Crimea. Pashaev, an ethnic Tatar, worked for years for the region’s Tatar channel ATR and recently founded his own internet channel. Yesterday, Pashaev joined other Crimea journalists in covering the Tatar community’s public […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2014

Russian Separatist Commander Appeals for Volunteers, Says He is Short of Fighters

By Irena Chalupa

Colonel Igor Girkin, in Video, Laments Failure of Ukrainians to Rally to His Secessionist Uprising The Russian armed forces colonel commanding eastern Ukraine’s secessionist militias can’t recruit enough local men as fighters, and that doesn’t make him happy. Igor Girkin has been away from his family and his apartment in Moscow for months now, leading […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2014

Russian Campaign in Eastern Ukraine is Losing Steam, ex-US Ambassador Says

By James Rupert

Atlantic Council’s John Herbst Cites Putin Pullbacks, Statements by Russian Leaders in Ukraine Insurgency Today’s announcement by Russia’s government that President Vladimir Putin has ordered a pullback of Russian troops from Ukraine’s border is the latest of a half-dozen signals that “the Russian effort to destabilize eastern Ukraine is losing steam,” according to the director […]

Russia Ukraine

As chief minister of Gujarat, a state as populous as Italy, Narendra Modi caught the attention of economists and investors with economic growth rates that reached 9 percent annually. What can he do for a country that has more people living in poverty than all of sub-Saharan Africa? (Photo: Wikimedia Commons/CC License)

New Atlanticist

May 18, 2014

India’s Revolution-by-Ballot Offers Economic Hope, Communal Fear

By James Rupert

Prime Minister Modi’s Cabinet Choices May Signal How Risky His Rule Could Be The people of India may have just earned themselves a status as the world’s most decisive electorate. They did not simply dismiss their country’s ruling Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, they humiliated it. In electing the country’s historically Hindu nationalist party to a massive majority […]

India

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2014

Ukraine Magnate’s Steelworkers Confront Secessionist Militias

By Irena Chalupa and James Rupert

Rinat Akhmetov’s Intervention Means Kyiv Government Will Have to Negotiate With Him What does it mean? Thousands of steelworkers and other employees of Ukraine’s biggest business empire are now patrolling several cities in southeastern Ukraine, working with local police to oppose further violence by Russian-backed secessionist militias. However effective this initiative turns out to be, […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

Ukraine’s May 25 Vote May Be Its Freest Yet, Despite Crisis, Election Official Says

By Irena Chalupa

Ukraine’s May 25 election, an event critical to strengthening the legitimacy of Ukraine’s government as it confronts attacks by Russia, may in some ways be the freest vote for a Ukrainian president since the country became independent 22 year ago, says Andriy Mahera, the deputy chairman of the country’s election commission. That’s because, for the […]

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2014

In Ukraine’s East, the Cautious Middle Path of Oligarch-in-Chief Rinat Akhmetov

By Irena Chalupa and James Rupert

Business Magnate Speaks Out for Ukraine’s Unity, but Does Not Condemn Separatism What is Rinat Akhmetov’s vision for the future of his home region, the Donbas (Donetsk Basin) of southeastern Ukraine? As Ukraine’s wealthiest business magnate (worth $12 billion according to Forbes) and owner of mining, steel, and energy companies that form a pillar of […]

Russia Ukraine

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