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

New Atlanticist

Apr 18, 2013

Tilting the Future in America’s Favor

By Damon Wilson

Standing before both houses of Congress, President Obama announced he would launch talks on a comprehensive Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement with the European Union in his State of the Union address in February.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Apr 18, 2013

Chinese Cyber Espionage: US Must Shout but Also Listen

By Jason Healey

After years of silence, the United States has finally had enough of Chinese cyber-theft of trade secrets. American officials have repeatedly raised the issue with their Chinese counterparts in language that is increasingly frank.

China Cybersecurity

New Atlanticist

Apr 18, 2013

How to End the War in Syria

By Rajan Menon

There have been persistent rumors that Jabhat al-Nusra, among the most effective militias fighting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is linked to Al Qaeda. That connection has now been confirmed. The head of al-Nusra’s Syrian branch, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, has declared his organization’s “allegiance” to Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s leader.

Russia Syria

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2013

Stuxnet and the Dawn of Algorithmic Warfare

By Jason Healey

Though autonomous, destructive robots are a long-time, hackneyed science fiction plot, for some time, this new kind of warfare has been shifting from yesterday’s movie to today’s reality. But unforeseen by the imaginations of both headline and science fiction writers, it was not a missile-laden drone or humanoid Terminator that introduced this new kind of […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Apr 17, 2013

Coming Soon: the Un-Pivot to Asia

By Sarwar Kashmeri

The re-balancing of United States interests in the Far East, the so called “pivot to Asia” that was announced two years ago by the Obama administration, is now stuck in neutral. That is because what the world is witnessing on the Korean Peninsula is good old-fashioned power politics: A move by China to re-balance its […]

China Japan

New Atlanticist

Apr 16, 2013

To Stop North Korean Cyber Attacks, Start in Beijing

By Jason Healey

The recent cyber attacks on South Korea highlight four truths of cyber conflicts as they have actually been fought. The implications of three of them are obvious, the fourth not yet so. Such conflicts are disruptive, but far from warfare. And cyber conflicts are both easier to predict than popular myth has it and the […]

China Cybersecurity

New Atlanticist

Apr 16, 2013

Seeking to Avert Cyber War

By Frederick Kempe

Amid the buzz in Washington about new North Korean nuclear threats, President Barack Obama late last week summoned 15 of America’s top financial leaders to the White House to discuss what his administration considers to be threats that are more pervasive, more persistent and less manageable ‑ cyber risks. “The president scared the hell out […]

Cybersecurity Korea

New Atlanticist

Apr 15, 2013

Euro-Realism: A British-German Axis?

By Julian Lindley-French

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder once said, “They have it wrong if they ask if Schroeder favors Britain over France or France over Britain. Schroeder favors Germany.” Watching David Cameron with family enjoying a German weekend break with Angela Merkel one could be forgiven for thinking all is well in the British-German relationship.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Apr 15, 2013

How to Handle North Korea: The Pageant of Proposals

By Rajan Menon

By now, those of you who have been following the Korean crisis have encountered plenty of proposals from pundits. Let’s consider some of them.

China Korea

New Atlanticist

Apr 12, 2013

There’s No North Korea Crisis

By Robert A. Manning

From the hysterical TV portrayals of goose-stepping North Korean troops, breathless news reports of North Korean warnings of war, and maps depicting the range of imminent missile launches (complete with retired U.S. generals explaining the targets), you might think there is a crisis on the Korean Peninsula. But there is no crisis, only a farce.This […]

Korea

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