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.

Ukrainian Voices: A Dangerous Game Change

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

New Atlanticist

Jan 20, 2014

Ukrainian Voices: A Dangerous Game Change

By Jim Rupert

The political conflict in Ukraine has deepened since January 16, when the government of President Viktor Yanukovych pushed new laws through parliament to outlaw the public protests that have challenged Yanukovych’s rule since November. The laws also criminalize “extremist” criticism of the government and tighten rules on independent organizations of the country’s vibrant civil society.

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Jan 20, 2014

Swapping Sovereignty

By Bilal Y. Saab

Iran and UAE Make a Deal? On January 15, Defense News, an online and print military newspaper, reported that Iran and the United Arab Emirates had reached an agreement on the disputed islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs. The report quoted an unnamed high-level UAE source, who said that although a deal on Abu […]

Iran The Gulf

New Atlanticist

Jan 17, 2014

Egypt’s Constitutional Vote: Not a Free Pass for Army Rule

By New Atlanticist

Last week’s constitutional referendum in Egypt yielded a lop-sided result that recalls the non-democratic elections of the decades before the Arab Spring of 2011. Election officials say 98 percent of voters approved the constitution proposed by the military-backed government. Egyptian lawyer Hafsa Halawa cautions against a conventional wisdom that sees this result as a success […]

North Africa Political Reform

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2014

To Solve Syria, First Get Assad to Accept UN Aid Workers

By James Rupert

The US and its allies must address their Syria policies to the humanitarian catastrophe of millions of Syrians uprooted or brutalized by the civil war there – and must do it for reasons of realpolitik as well as humanitarianism, according to Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Frederic Hof, a former State Department advisor on Syria. As […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2014

The Trouble with China

By Nicholas Burns

It’s the Responsibility of the US to Prevent War Over East China Sea Islands As the White House struggles to cope with a burning Middle East, another vital challenge is arising on the far horizon — China is flexing its muscles with real consequences for America’s future in Asia. In the East China Sea, the […]

China

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2014

How the Voters of Catalonia May Change Europe

By Paul R. Williams and Roushani Mansoor

Today’s vote by the legislature of the Spanish region of Catalonia to formally petition Spain’s government to authorize a referendum on Catalonian independence is a reminder that Europe will face a challenge this year for which it seems unready. Even though Spain has firmly opposed the referendum, the Catalonians are sure to press ahead. This […]

Europe & Eurasia European Union

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2014

Keep Onus on Iran to Implement Nuclear Accord

By Barbara Slavin

This week’s announcement that the nuclear deal reached with Iran in late November is going to be implemented starting January 20 is welcome news on a number of fronts. It marks the first time in a decade that Iran will pause its progress toward a nuclear weapons capability. In return for modest sanctions relief, the Islamic […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2014

Overblown Rhetoric Exaggerates Proliferation Risks of Japan-Turkey Nuclear Cooperation

By Jessica Varnum

The international community faces many grave nuclear proliferation challenges. Possible nuclear energy cooperation between Japan and Turkey is not one of them, although a January 8th editorial in Japan’s second most widely read newspaper, the Asahi Shimbun, suggested otherwise. It called for an “urgent rethink” of the bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement currently under consideration by […]

Japan Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2014

Ariel Sharon: Influential in Death

By New Atlanticist

“Written on every page of Israel’s history, in ink and in blood, is the name Ariel Sharon,” notes Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States. Even following Sharon’s death January 11, the former soldier and prime minister “will influence the future, as Israelis consider their options” in the event that US-led diplomacy fails […]

Israel

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2014

Egyptians, Divided Again, Vote on a Constitution

By New Atlanticist

Millions of Egyptians voted this week on a new constitution, a referendum that may help decide whether the country of 80 million people – for centuries a fulcrum of the Arab world – might return soon to a semblance of political stability. Several parties boycotted the poll, the first nationwide vote of any kind since the […]

North Africa Political Reform

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