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
Mar 6, 2025

How European leaders are responding to Trump’s approach to Ukraine and Europe

From London and Berlin to Paris and Brussels, European leaders have taken several notable steps this week on security. This follows the blow-up between the Ukrainian and US presidents on February 28.

New Atlanticist
Feb 26, 2025

Why the US should not lift sanctions against Russia

By
Charles Lichfield

Sanctions are having an unmistakable effect, albeit below the inflated expectations of many in the West in early 2022. Lifting them now would be a mistake.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist
Mar 5, 2025

The Egyptian plan for postwar Gaza is a good starting point—but it needs changes

By
Thomas S. Warrick

While many obstacles remain, the Egyptian proposal could form the starting point for negotiations over a workable plan for postwar Gaza.

Conflict
Crisis Management

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New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2013

Obama’s Afghan Test

By Frederick Kempe

For America’s friends and allies, who will welcome Vice President Joe Biden to the annual Munich Security Conference this weekend, President Obama’s second inaugural address was notable for its single-minded focus on U.S. domestic issues even as global challenges proliferate. It was the clearest sign yet that Obama intends to build his historic legacy at […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2013

Mali: Mission (pas) accomplie

By J. Peter Pham

The triumphalism of French President François Hollande’s visit over the weekend to the fabled desert city of Timbuktu less than a week after French forces pushed out al-Qaeda-linked militants had more than a passing whiff of George W. Bush’s “mission accomplished” landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln ten years ago. Hopefully, both France and the […]

Democratic Transitions France

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2013

Hagel Hearings: Garbage In, Garbage Out

By James Joyner

The Senate confirmation hearings over Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be the next secretary of defense were a classic case of garbage in, garbage out. Sadly, they were par for the course in the American national security debate.

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2013

Ankara Embassy Bombing: Not Another Benghazi

By Ross Wilson

Once again, hearts and prayers go out to a victim of a terrorist assault on a US diplomatic establishment. The February 1 suicide attack on the American embassy in Ankara claimed one wounded, a visiting Turkish journalist, and two dead–embassy security guard Mustafa Akarsu and the bomber himself.

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2013

Turkey Needs NATO Just as Much as NATO Needs Turkey

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Dr. Soner Cagaptay from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy talks about the “New Turkey,” and its pivot to NATO with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and adjunct professor, Norwich University. (8 ½ minutes)

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2013

Mali: Now What?

By Julian Lindley-French

Oscar Wilde once wrote “One of the many lessons that one learns in prison is that things are what they are and will be what they will be.” As I witness the French, British, and other Europeans rush to offer their very little militaries in support of an expanding Mali mission I am reminded of that […]

Sahel United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2013

For a Better Nuclear Future, Move Beyond Global Zero

By Robert Manning

More than four years after President Barack Obama’s 2009 Prague speech declared the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide, the nuclear landscape has become more complex and precarious and shows little sign of movement toward abolition. The so-called global zero initiative has arguably been overtaken by countervailing nuclear realities. Yet the administration remains mired in […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2013

Descent into Hell: The Demise of Amerian Politics

By Harlan Ullman

The Irish bon vivant Oscar Wilde naughtily observed that the reason the politics of academic life were so sharp was because the stakes were so small. In the United States today, politics are growing even sharper and nastier because the stakes are so huge.

National Security Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2013

Hands Across the Atlantic

By Chris Brummer and Frederick Kempe

Like Don Quixote’s pining for his princess Dulcinea, the generation-long quest for a U.S.-EU free trade agreement has been mostly an affair of fit and fantasy — that is, until now. In the last year, leaders across Europe have increasingly pushed for a new trade pact with the United States, their top trading partner, and […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jan 30, 2013

Chuck Hagel, a Leader for All

By Damon Wilson

Some people are seeking to block Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as defense secretary on the basis that he is out of the mainstream on national security policy and intolerant of gays. These charges don’t stand up to either his public record or his personal relationships.

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