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.

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

Stay updated

Explore our unique analysis

Fast Thinking

When major global news breaks, the Atlantic Council’s experts have you covered—delivering their sharpest rapid insight and forward-looking analysis direct to your inbox.

Experts React

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

Mar 6, 2014

Is Crimea Preparing to Exit Ukraine?

By Rajan Menon

The Crimean parliament has voted to organize a referendum on March 16 if the Russian government — basically Putin — agrees that the territory is eligible to become part of the Russian Federation and to secede from Ukraine. But here’s the problem:

Russia Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2014

Break Up in the Gulf

By Bilal Y. Saab

On March 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain announced that they had withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar, claiming that Doha had been violating a clause in the Gulf Cooperation Council charter banning interference in the domestic affairs of fellow GCC members. The decision, unprecedented in the GCC’s history, hints at significant […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2014

What Ukraine’s Crisis Means for the Syrian War

By New Atlanticist

Edward Joseph, at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, notes the uncertainty over Russian intentions in Syria, and over the effect of of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis on Moscow’s role in Syria. He writes that now is the time for US diplomacy to test Russia on Syria with a new diplomatic effort there. An excerpt […]

Syria Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2014

How to Save the Shale Revolution

By Robert A. Manning

Enlightened state regulators, a coalition of the willing, and continued improvements in technology together hold promise for elevating best practices around fracking to the status of new norms. “We’re in the first inning of a nine-inning game on the shale revolution in the United States,” Conoco CEO Ryan Lance recently boldly predicted. Given the dramatic impact […]

Energy & Environment Oil and Gas

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2014

Moldova’s Prime Minister: We Still Must Build Domestic Consensus for Our European Future

By New Atlanticist

As Moldova prepares (along with Georgia) to sign trade and cooperation agreements with the European Union by September, both countries face military and economic pressure from Russia to reverse course and instead join the Russian-led Customs Union that Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to establish among states of the former Soviet Union. In an interview […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2014

Judy Asks: Will Putin Finally Wake Up Europe?

By Judy Dempsey

Every week a selection of leading experts answer a new question from Judy Dempsey, nonresident senior associate at Carnegie Europe and editor-on-chief of Strategic Europe, on the foreign and security policy challenges shaping Europe’s role in the world. This week the roster of experts included the Council’s Ian Brzezinski and Damon Wilson.

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 3, 2014

US Must Pull Germany Into Helping Lead NATO Against Russia

By Erik Brattberg

If Russia pursues and consolidates its armed seizure of Ukrainian territory in Crimea, the US and NATO have no politically viable option for reversing that advance by military force. What the West can do, however, is too modify Moscow’s calculations, making it more costly for Putin to sustain his aggressive effort to hold Ukraine within […]

Germany Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 3, 2014

Four Steps NATO can Take to Support Ukraine

By Ian Brzezinski

NATO’s governing body, the North Atlantic Council, met Sunday to discuss Russia’s invasion of Crimea and its threat to take military action elsewhere in Ukraine. Immediately afterwards, the Alliance convened a session of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, which brought Kyiv to the table. The meetings yielded a strong statement from NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rassmussen who […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 3, 2014

How to Beat a Russian Cyber Assault on Ukraine

By Jason Healey

Ukraine and its friends in the United States, NATO, and European Union need to prepare now for a probably inevitable (but just possibly preventable) cyber conflict with Russian-backed proxies. Russian government behavior is clear when its perceived interests in its “near abroad” are at risk. The trend started most obviously in 1999 when the Kremlin turned […]

Cybersecurity Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 2, 2014

Nicholas Burns: Five Steps Obama Should Take Now Against Russia

By New Atlanticist

President Obama can quickly take five concrete steps to blunt Russia’s military seizure of control in the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, former Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said in an Atlantic Council conference call today with journalists and Council members. “President Obama faces the most difficult international crisis of his presidency,” Burns said, and the […]

NATO Russia

Share

Issue briefs and reports