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 3, 2013

When Governments Become Destructive

By Harlan Ullman

July Fourth marks the United States’ Independence Day. The central celebrated document, the Declaration of Independence, that rejected British rule, was the masterpiece of democratic expression written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. The most profound lines aren’t the more famous “When in the course of human events” or “all men are created equal” but rather […]

Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jul 3, 2013

The Future of US Cyber Command

By Jason Healey

For months it has been an entertaining parlor game in the nation’s capital: guessing what will happen next with U.S. Cyber Command, the military organization designed to defend the country’s networks and attack its adversaries. The topic will increasingly be in the spotlight as the head of that command, General Keith Alexander, is also the […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2013

US Rebalancing Asia, Not Containing China

By Robert A. Manning

A widely held belief among many in China is that every US policy move affecting the country is part of a concerted strategy of containment aimed at preventing its reemergence. Thus, the US “rebalancing” in Asia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the US alliances with Japan, South Korea and Australia are all components of a US […]

China Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2013

Snowden: Why France is Angry

By Julian Lindley-French

It was as predictable, subtle and French as a first tasting of a Chassagne Montrachet Premier Cru – full of hidden complexity and fascinating ‘notes’. French President Hollande’s condemnation of Edward Snowden-alleged American spying in Europe was dramatically shrill. “We cannot accept”, the President thundered, “…this kind of behaviour between allies and partners”, before going […]

Economy & Business France

New Atlanticist

Jul 1, 2013

Want to Save Dodd-Frank? Consider TTIP

By Chris Brummer

Perhaps the last thing Democrats want to do, after all the hard work of getting Dodd-Frank through Congress, is to consider including financial services in upcoming trade talks with Europe. But it might be the best way to preserve the effectiveness of financial reforms.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jun 28, 2013

Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey Proceed Slowly on Energy Cooperation

By Ross Wilson & David Koranyi

Overshadowed by the Syrian civil war, rising violence in Iraq, and recent turmoil in Turkey, another problem is simmering in the Middle East. Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recently reported that a long-mooted new oil pipeline to Turkey should be completed within months. By making possible oil not controlled by the Iraqi central government, this […]

Iraq Turkey

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2013

Ich Bin Ein Westerner

By Julian Lindley-French

“Ich bin ein Berliner.” Fifty years ago this week President Kennedy made his famous defiant assertion of Western solidarity at the strategic fault line of the Berlin Wall. What today is the state of the West? Kennedy’s moment has passed into strategic folklore. However, perhaps more enduring was a speech he made the next day in Frankfurt. Responding […]

Central Europe European Union

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2013

Hope for Peace in Syria, But Don’t Expect It

By Rajan Menon

The statistics surrounding the slaughter in Syria sound surreal. In the 27 months since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s government erupted in March 2011, 100,000 people have been killed, the overwhelming majority by Assad’s army and paramilitary goons. If you’re into grisly math, that works out to an average of 122 war-related deaths each day. […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2013

The Return of Spanish Terrorism?

By Alexander Ward

Conventional wisdom holds that terrorism in Spain has finally dissipated. However, political and economic trends might intersect with rising separatist extremism in Spain, leading to a return to the terroristic history that has plagued the country for years.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2013

Too Many Archdukes, Too Many Bullets

By Harlan Ullman

Ninety-nine years ago this Friday, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife Sofia were gunned down in Sarajevo by a 19-year old Bosnian Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. The assassinations quickly provoked a crisis that more quickly erupted into world war. Ironically, many of the elites in Europe believed that an early 20th-century version of […]

Afghanistan Cybersecurity

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