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.

Iran Nuclear Talks in Geneva Get Down to Details

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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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 16, 2013

Iran Nuclear Talks in Geneva Get Down to Details

By Barbara Slavin

From the European venue to the power point presentation in English, this week’s nuclear negotiations with Iran showed a new seriousness that bodes well for a future agreement, even if it does not guarantee one. Iranian officials from US-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on down spoke in English, dispensing with time-consuming translations, and outlined […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2013

What Next for Syria – Breakdown, Breakthrough, or Botched Opportunity?

By Harlan Ullman

The Obama administration is on the verge of botching an unprecedented opportunity. Prior to the remarkable joint US-Russian initiative that established a process to dispose of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, the outlook for the region was grim. The only certainty was continuing violence that will kill tens of thousands and displace many more hundreds of […]

Iran Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2013

No Hollywood Ending to Piracy off Somalia

By J. Peter Pham

The Tom Hanks movie “Captain Phillips,” which opens Friday, will focus attention — again — on piracy off the coast of Somalia. The movie, in which (spoiler alert) the bad guys get caught, unfortunately might lead you to think that this is a problem that’s been solved. After all, since the April 2009 seizure of the cargo […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2013

US-China: A New Model of Great Power Relations

By Stephen J. Hadley

This week Atlantic Council board director Stephen J. Hadley, principal at RiceHadleyGates and former national security adviser to President George W. Bush, delivered a lecture at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy on the future of the US-China relationship. The full text of his remarks are below.

China United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2013

Iran Nuclear Talks Return to Geneva with Better Prospects

By Barbara Slavin

There’s an element of déjà vu about next week’s planned talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program. Four years ago, the United States and Iran reached a tentative agreement on a confidence building measure that would have sent out most of Iran’s stockpile of lightly enriched uranium in return for fuel for a reactor […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2013

The Bosnian Census and the Future of the Dayton Peace Agreement

By Sarah Bedenbaugh

For the first time since Bosnia and Herzegovina gained independence from Yugoslavia, the country is conducting a national census. In most countries, census-taking is an automatic, rather tedious method of record-keeping carried out at varying intervals. In Bosnia, however, the census has stirred up deep-rooted ethnic tensions once more, and brings up fundamental questions about […]

The Balkans

New Atlanticist

Oct 10, 2013

Shutdown Diminishes US as a Global Power

By Nicholas Burns

The federal government shutdown has done serious harm to the public and threatens to create even more havoc as it veers toward a once unthinkable US default next week. Its effects have also been felt around the globe, as America’s allies and adversaries wonder how in the world we got ourselves into this mess.

New Atlanticist

Oct 10, 2013

Five More Years: On the Challenges Facing Azerbaijan’s President

By Sabine Freizer

President Ilham Aliyev is about to start his third mandate in Azerbaijan. Despite some hefty criticism by the main European elections observation mission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the elections on 9 October were the easy part. Azerbaijan has made impressive economic progress in recent years, Baku’s sparking skyline standing as […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 10, 2013

Regional Aligned Forces vs. Air-Sea Battle

By Derek S. Reveron

While Secretary of State John Kerry is representing the United States in Asia this week, there is a growing chorus dismissing the sincerity and depth of the planned rebalance to Asia. “For countries not closely allied with the US, Obama’s no-show [at the APEC summit] will reinforce their policy of bandwagoning with China,” wrote Carl […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 9, 2013

US State Dept Releases Details of Suspension of Some Aid to Egypt

A State Department press release Wednesday evening confirmed that the Obama administration would be suspending portions of US aid to Egypt.

North Africa

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