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.

Time to Split the Cyber ‘Deep State’ of NSA and Cyber Command

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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Dive deep into developing stories, guided by continually updated expert analysis that leaves you better informed about the most pressing global issues behind the headlines.

Markup

Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Oct 2, 2013

Time to Split the Cyber ‘Deep State’ of NSA and Cyber Command

By Jason Healey

Imagine if the commander of US Pacific Command were the leading source of information on the Chinese military threat, had the ear of Congress on China policy, ran covert military operations against China, and could decide what information on China was classified.

New Atlanticist

Oct 1, 2013

Al Shabab Mainly a Local Problem in Somalia

By Bronwyn Bruton

With Al Qaeda on the back foot in the Middle East, Africa is widely regarded as the next frontier in the war on terrorism and the next source of terrorism in the United States. But across Africa — in Addis Ababa, Kampala, Lagos and Nairobi — Christians and Muslims cheerfully rub shoulders. And Islamist militant […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 1, 2013

Iran: Speak Softly BUT…Mr President

By Julian Lindley-French

On 26 January, 1900 US President Theodore Roosevelt sent a letter to Henry L. Sprague of the Union Club of New York in which he wrote, “Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far.” The US press seized on the phrase and a new foreign policy doctrine was born – ‘Big […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 1, 2013

Italy: Back on the Brink

By Jordan Smith

Italy’s troubled coalition, a product of last February’s inconclusive elections, is on the brink of another collapse following the decision of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to pull his party out of the ruling coalition government. Italy’s chronic instability could lead to further downgrading of the country’s credit rating, raising its borrowing costs, adding to […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 30, 2013

Defense Strategy and the Turing Test

By Julian Lindley-French

Speaking on the European Union’s Common Security and Defense Policy is the strategy equivalent of talking paint dry. Europeans need a test—similar to Alan Turing’s for determining whether artificial intelligence can successfully mimic human thought and action or not—for the many EU, NATO, and national defense strategies which plaster the walls of Europe’s rickety and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 27, 2013

Russian Policies towards Ukraine are Illogically Consistent

By Taras Kuzio

The European Parliament on September 12 called on Russia to respect the right of EU Eastern Partnership members such as Ukraine to enter Association Agreements. The resolution, which received overwhelming support across the parliament’s political groups, called on Russia to not use trade sanctions to force Ukraine to choose the Eurasian over the European Union.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 26, 2013

Why Nairobi

By Bronwyn Bruton

The attack on Nairobi’s Westgate mall is a vicious development in the war on terrorism: It signals the evolution of an unpopular splinter faction of a radical Somali group into a truly transnational terrorist organization. It also marks a major failure for the United States’ counterterrorism strategy in Somalia.

New Atlanticist

Sep 26, 2013

An Opportunity for Breakthrough Diplomacy

By R. Nicholas Burns

Something important, rare, and very positive happened in the Middle East this week: Iran and the United States agreed to negotiate for the first time in three decades. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama signaled in back-to-back UN speeches that they are ready for diplomacy. This doesn’t mean they will succeed or even make […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2013

Rouhani Charts Cautious Course in UN Debut

By Barbara Slavin

Midway through Hassan Rouhani’s debut on the international stage, his American reviews are mixed. The Iranian president bypassed a chance to shake hands and chat with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly despite anticipation in both Iran and the United States that such an encounter would happen. “Too complicated” for the […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2013

The Rule of Ten, US Military Power, and 2020 Hindsight

By Harlan Ullman

Legitimate yelps of pain along with klaxons sounding alarms are reverberating throughout the Pentagon. The cause is sequestration and annual cuts of $50 billion for ten years to defense spending mandated by last year’s Budget Control Act. While $50 billion a year against an annual budget of $500-600 billion may not seem draconic, the simple […]

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