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

Jun 12, 2013

Through the PRISM of Hypocrisy

By Julian Lindley-French

A young British soldier is mown down in a London street and then hacked to death. Mosques and Islamic centers across England are attacked. The liberal elite in London mouth their concerns and trot out the usual reality-defying, free speech quenching politically correct nonsense. And then it is alleged that the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain’s […]

Intelligence Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jun 11, 2013

Who Decides What’s Secret?

By James Joyner

Glenn Greenwald, the civil-liberties columnist who broke the story about the National Security Agency’s massive collection of metadata on U.S. phone and Internet usage patterns, contends that, despite its being classified Top Secret, “There’s not a single revelation that we’ve provided to the world that even remotely jeopardizes national security.”

Intelligence National Security

New Atlanticist

Jun 11, 2013

Will the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty Be Effective?

By Alex Ward and Morgan Timme

Earlier this month, states that participated in the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty last March were allowed to sign the document. The ATT—designed to curb the sale of small arms and ammunition to terrorists, criminal gangs, and organizations committing human rights violations or genocide—passed a UN General Assembly vote with 154 in favor, […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jun 11, 2013

US and China Explore New Relationship

By Robert Manning

It will be some time before the full consequences of the California summit meeting between US President Barack Obama and China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, are revealed. Nixon-Mao it was not. Nevertheless, the well-timed and much-needed unscripted discussion focused on fundamental questions about the US-China relationship which has reached a new level of tension because […]

China Cybersecurity

New Atlanticist

Jun 10, 2013

Baltic Spirit

By Julian Lindley-French

Having dinner with the Lithuanian Chief of Defense Staff Lieutenant General Pocius was a moving experience. Listening to the story of his family’s struggle for freedom left with me with the profound sense that every NATO and EU leader should visit the Baltic States at least once a year to remind themselves of the importance of […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 10, 2013

‘Engineered’ Iranian Elections Provide an Opening for Criticizing Status Quo

By Barbara Slavin

Iranian elections are hardly free or fair by Western standards. But even with limited choices and a heavily securitized environment, the brief presidential campaign is providing an outlet for harsh criticism of the status quo, including topics — such as the nuclear file — that are usually banished from public discourse.The last-minute decision by nuclear […]

Elections Iran

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2013

Turkey’s Unique Democracy

By Matthew Bryza

As a resident of Istanbul, it is clear to me that Turkey’s unique form of democracy has reached a defining moment. A quiet protest by a handful of environmentalists has exploded into a nationwide outcry by the half of Turkey’s electorate that did not vote for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Politics & Diplomacy Turkey

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2013

US Is Syria’s Only Hope

By R. Nicholas Burns

Syria’s savage civil war may have just entered a new and darker phase. During the past few weeks, momentum has shifted sharply away from the rebels in favor of the Syrian dictator Bashar Assad. The real possibility that his government, long presumed to be on life support, may now survive is bad news for rebel […]

Security & Defense Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 7, 2013

United States Trapped in Cul-de-Sac of No Good Choices

By Harlan Ullman

Unlike the past when the United States faced potentially existential dangers, from the Revolution to the Civil War, Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War, since the attacks on New York’s Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, too many of today’s crises and challenges have no obvious solutions let alone good ones. The […]

Middle East United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jun 6, 2013

Why NATO Won’t Intervene in Syria

By James Joyner

NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen reiterated Friday that the Alliance will not intervene militarily in Syria. While he repeatedly made the same assurances regarding Libya before NATO’s ultimate action, there’s good reason to believe him this time. First, as Rasmussen noted, “There is a clear difference between Libya and Syria. We took responsibility for the […]

National Security NATO

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