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.

Hollande’s Survival Mode Endangers Survival

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

May 14, 2013

Hollande’s Survival Mode Endangers Survival

By Nicholas Dungan

From his 75 percent income tax to his 25 percent approval ratings, François Hollande, the French president who took office one year ago, has already been judged the hapless Louis XVI on the eve of the French Revolution or the feckless René Coty who presided over the demise of the Fourth Republic. But what has […]

European Union
France

New Atlanticist

May 13, 2013

The Growing Franco-German Schism

By Frederick Kempe

Occasionally a public opinion survey surfaces that signals a seismic event. That is the case with a new report from the Pew Research Center that measures the widening tremors of a political earthquake now shaking Europe. Although the report leads with evidence that Europeans are increasingly losing faith in the European Union (which I wrote […]

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

May 13, 2013

Park-Obama Summit Bolsters US-ROK Alliance, Impacts Northeast Asia

By Robert Manning

Successful summits tend to be more about symbolism than substance. South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s summit with US President Barack Obama certainly had its share of symbolism: the first foreign trip of the ROK’s new first woman President, 60th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance, and US-ROK messages to North Korea, to Japan and China. But Ms. […]

East Asia
Korea

New Atlanticist

May 13, 2013

JFK’s Wisdom for Graduates

By R. Nicholas Burns

In a season of commencement speeches, those trying to impart a measure of wisdom to college grads would do well to consult President John F. Kennedy’s American University speech, given 50 years ago next month.

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2013

Europe’s Defense Double Dutch

By Julian Lindley-French

On this anniversary of the 1940 Nazi invasion of the Low Countries it is perhaps appropriate to consider the state of Europe’s defense. Two events highlighted the essential contradiction between resources and commitments that bedevils European defense. On 29 April the French published their first defense review in over twenty years. Full of Parisian sophistry it failed […]

Maritime Security
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2013

Defense: And What Will Europe Do?

By Sven Biscop

The debate about European defense tends to focus on the need to spend more and deploy more. One deceptively simple question is usually ignored: why? Americans seem to assume that more European capabilities will be deployed where it is convenient for the United States. Europeans just seek to avoid the difficult debate that it would […]

Europe & Eurasia
European Union

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2013

The Treacherous Road to Pakistan’s Historic Elections

By Shuja Nawaz

Pakistan’s upcoming elections on May 11 provoke both fear and hope.

Elections
Pakistan

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2013

Pakistani Politics: Perils and Paradoxes

By Harlan Ullman

This weekend, many tens of millions of some 200 million Pakistanis will elect new national and four provincial governments. The elections are a remarkable milestone due in large measure to President Asif Zardari’s political navigational skills in the most roiled of waters.

Elections
Pakistan

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2013

In Syria, America’s National Interests Do not Coincide with Israel’s

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Israel’s military intervention in Syria destroyed Hezbollah bound missiles that might soon be aimed at Israeli cities and was clearly in Israel’s national interests.

Missile Defense
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2013

Never Again, Except This Time

By James Joyner

This Holocaust Remembrance Day, it’s worth noting an inconsistency present in public statements about atrocity prevention. As scholars Gerald Caplan, Samuel Totten and Amanda Grzyb pointed out recently, while U.S. presidents solemnly declare that “never again” will the world stand by and allow genocide to happen, they continue to stand by and allow genocide to happen. There’s […]

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