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.

How Shinzo Abe Could Win the Nobel Peace Prize

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

Jun 4, 2013

How Shinzo Abe Could Win the Nobel Peace Prize

By James Clad and Robert A. Manning

Shinzo Abe has summoned the ghosts of nationalism in the Pacific. Neighbouring countries are worried by the Japanese prime minister’s revisionism concerning the historical behaviour of his country. The impact of this on Sino-Japanese relations tends to receive most attention in the western media. But there is also an increasingly fractious relationship between Japan and […]

China Japan

New Atlanticist

Jun 3, 2013

Erdogan’s Self-Inflicted Wounds

By Ross Wilson

In soccer, an “own goal” is scored when a player accidentally hits the ball into his own net. The poor handling by Turkish authorities of demonstrations in Istanbul’s Taksim Square that spilled over to Ankara, Izmir and cities all over the country constitutes an own goal that now undermines the political prospects of Prime Minister […]

Politics & Diplomacy Turkey

New Atlanticist

Jun 3, 2013

What’s Russia Doing in Syria and Why

By Rajan Menon

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has killed some 80,000 of his citizens and driven another 1.7 million into neighboring countries. Unsurprisingly, he has few foreign friends these days. But two have played a pivotal part in his survival: Iran and Russia.

Missile Defense National Security

New Atlanticist

Jun 3, 2013

Social Media: A Revolution in Military Affairs

By William Edwards

With the two year anniversary of the “Arab Awakening” recently behind us, the emergence of social media as a tool of social change in modern conflict became clear. The use of Facebook, Twitter, and now YouTube has shown revolutionary thought. In particular it demonstrated that anyone could arrange military support in an encrypted communications environment […]

Cybersecurity Intelligence

New Atlanticist

May 31, 2013

EU’s Foreign Policy of the Willing

By Vivien Pertusot

The EU’s foreign policy is in disarray after clear disagreements on the lifting of the arms embargo on Syria, many say. Is it really? This reading of events is skewed, because it assumes that every EU foreign policy action requires a consensus and an active participation of each member state. But this has seldom been the […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 31, 2013

Influencing the World or Organizing Europe?

By Julian Lindley-French

As I was about to board a plane at Oslo Airport yesterday I found myself confronted by a dilemma. Do I read the latest Dan Brown novel, based at it is on Dante Alighieri’s fourteenth century classic “The Inferno,” or do I read the new “Towards a European Global Strategy,” Europe’s eternal infernal? Push came to […]

European Union Germany

New Atlanticist

May 30, 2013

Syrian Supernova?

By Harlan Ullman

Syria is dying. A further tragedy is that there is little the outside world can do to end that war.

Syria

New Atlanticist

May 30, 2013

The Digital Iron Curtain

By Andrew Ellis

While international hacking episodes linked to the governments of Iran, Syria, North Korea, and China have received widespread attention, media outlets often underreport government use of these tools against their own citizens.

China Cybersecurity

New Atlanticist

May 29, 2013

The Rise of Hate

By R. Nicholas Burns

In Athens, a popular far-right party condemns Jews as a source of the country’s misfortune and recycles the ancient lie depicting them as “Christ killers.” In Hungary, the prime minister fails to disassociate himself convincingly from an anti-Semitic and increasingly powerful fascist group. Scenes from Europe in the 1930s? No. Both examples, sadly, of European […]

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

May 29, 2013

The Battle of the Atlantic

By Julian Lindley-French

Winston Churchill said “The only thing that ever frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril”. Last Friday in Moscow’s Victory Park I had the honor of an escorted visit to the Hall of Memory and Sorrow in which 2650 ‘teardrops’ commemorate the 26.5 million Russian war dead. It was a truly moving experience. Here in Oslo […]

Maritime Security Security & Defense

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