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

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New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2013

End of the Military Strongman?

By Kathryn Alexeeff

The success of Pakistan’s democratic elections in May and the outcome of the recent protests in Egypt point to a shift in both countries’ military participation in politics – while they will support or depose governments, they no longer seem interested in ruling the countries themselves.

Economy & Business Elections

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2013

TTIP: A Ray of Hope for European Defense?

By Leo Michel

It’s been two years since then defense secretary Robert Gates, noting that the US share of NATO defense spending had risen from 50 to 75 percent since the end of the Cold War, sent this blunt message to Europe: “(I)f current trends in the decline of European defense capabilities are not halted and reversed, future […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2013

How France ‘Set the Standard’ for Crisis Intervention

By Julian Lindley-French

A very senior British general said of Operation Serval in Mali that France had “set the standard” for crisis military interventions. Praise indeed and not easily given. One can always tell when a crisis is being managed to effect as the press lose interest.

France Sahel

New Atlanticist

Jul 10, 2013

Mr. President Missing in Action?

By Harlan Ullman

Regional crises abound. Massive protests in Egypt that ended the flailing Morsi government to continued bloodshed from Afghanistan to Syria are representative of these crises.

Intelligence National Security

New Atlanticist

Jul 10, 2013

Chancellor Merkel’s Strategic Opportunity

By Ulrich Speck

If a European leader these days can be called assertive, it’s Angela Merkel. The trouble is, assertiveness is not a foreign policy. Germany is still not thinking strategically—but that is what it needs to do. Receiving Barack Obama in Berlin on June 19, the German chancellor’s bold approach was on full display. She lectured the […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jul 9, 2013

The US Should Give Egypt’s Military 48 Hours to Restore Civilian Rule

By Sarwar Kashmeri

It is a truth universally acknowledged (my apologies to Jane Austen) that the removal of a country’s elected leader by its military is deemed a military coup. So while I agree with President Obama’s pragmatic refusal to so label the recent overthrow of Egypt’s President Morsi, this finesse of terminology had better be a temporary […]

North Africa United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jul 9, 2013

Scanning Cargo Containers Is More Important than Scanning Emails

By Joerg Wolf

The United States has built huge internet surveillance infrastructures, but failed to implement its own 9/11 law about maritime cargo security.

Cybersecurity Maritime Security

New Atlanticist

Jul 8, 2013

Egyptian Democracy 2.0?

By Julian Lindley-French

In a master-class of under-stated British diplomatic fudgery Foreign Secretary (and fellow Yorkshireman) William Hague said of the Egyptian Army’s ‘soft coup,’ “It’s happened, so we will have to recognize the situation will move on.” Implicit in that statement is recognition that if Egypt is to create Egyptian democracy 2.0 one would not ideally start from […]

North Africa Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jul 8, 2013

Egypt: A Coup Is What it Is

By Rajan Menon

On Wednesday, Egypt’s military, long the country’s most powerful political institution and an outfit with a massive economic empire, deposed Mohamed Morsi, the only Egyptian president ever to attain office by winning an election in which all political parties could compete on an equal footing.

Elections North Africa

New Atlanticist

Jul 8, 2013

Islam Is Not the Solution to What Ails the Middle East

By Barbara Slavin

During the decades when Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood was a barely tolerated opposition party, it campaigned against the reigning secular autocrats under the banner, “Islam is the solution.” With the military’s removal on Jul. 3 of the Brotherhood president, Mohamed Morsi, the region’s oldest exemplar of political Islam has lost its best and perhaps only chance […]

North Africa

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