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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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.

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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

Aug 12, 2013

Is China Doomed?

By Rajan Menon

Between 1978, the year Deng Xiaoping’s sweeping economic reforms were launched, and 2011, China’s GDP increased by an average of 10 percent annually, three times that of the global economy. Now the boom times may be over.

China
Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Aug 9, 2013

US and Iran Cautious about Direct Talks

By Barbara Slavin

Iran’s president may have changed, but the leadership’s reticence about talking one-on-one with the United States continues – along with U.S. reluctance to recognize Iran’s quasi-representative government as legitimate.

Iran
United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Aug 9, 2013

A Better AGOA for Africa

By Adrienne Chuck

The twelfth African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum opens on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, bringing together senior US and African policymakers to discuss the extension of the trade legislation ahead of its September 2015 expiration date.

Africa
Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Aug 9, 2013

Hassan Rouhani: The Immoderate Moderate

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a new president: Hassan Rouhani. There has been a lot of talk about Rouhani’s supposed political moderation and pragmatism, just as in 1982, there was talk that Yuri Andropov’s supposed fondness for jazz indicated a liking for the West in general, and the possibility that there would be a […]

Elections
Iran

New Atlanticist

Aug 8, 2013

All-American Agenda: A Financially Realistic Defense

By Harlan Ullman

Perhaps the best thing that happened to the United States last week was Congress abandoning Washington for a 5-week break deferring all the major issues and problems. Will anything improve when Congress returns? The answer isn’t reassuring.

Economy & Business
National Security

New Atlanticist

Aug 8, 2013

The EU’s Future: I Would Not Start from Here

By Julian Lindley-French

There is a hoary old Irish joke that gets quoted far too often at conferences I attend. An American tourist is lost in the Irish countryside (the lost Yank is always in Ireland) and asks a farmer directions to Dublin. “Well,” says the farmer. “I would not start from here.” Much the same can be […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2013

John Kerry’s Pakistan Deja Vu

By Shuja Nawaz

“Time is running out” to help nuclear-armed Pakistan’s civilian government survive. That is what then-Senator John Kerry (D-MA) said in support of the recommendations of an Atlantic Council report that was released in February 2009. The report, which provided a comprehensive look at Western relations with Pakistan, estimated that, at that point, then-President Asif Ali Zardari’s government […]

Pakistan
South Asia

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2013

Ergekenon–the Movie

By Ross Wilson

Turkey’s long-running case against alleged plotters to overthrow the government reached another milestone on August 5 when an Istanbul court handed down sentences in the so-called Ergenekon affair. The results were astounding. According to lists published in the Turkish media, recapped below, the court handed out 22 life sentences plus 1267 years, 11 months, and […]

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Aug 6, 2013

Obama’s Bad Bet on the Egyptian Military

By Rajan Menon

Egypt’s political chasm continues to widen following the military’s ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi, who, despite his many flaws and blunders, was the only democratically elected president in the country’s history.

North Africa
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Aug 5, 2013

John Kerry’s Six-Month Report Card

By R. Nicholas Burns

Until a few weeks ago, a small army of critics and armchair quarterbacks took aim at Secretary of State John Kerry’s first months in office in roughly similar fashion — too much globe-trotting, too many meetings, and too singular a focus on the lost cause of diplomacy — the 65-year search for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement. […]

Iran
National Security

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