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.

France’s White Book: Both Good and the Bad for the US and NATO

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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Experts React

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.

Markup

Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2013

France’s White Book: Both Good and the Bad for the US and NATO

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

France’s new White Book on defense and national security offers no radical thinking on the future posture and structure of France’s military and national security establishment, maintaining previous strategic ambitions and positions even in the face of a faltering economy. This is both good news and bad news for Washington and other major French allies. […]

Cybersecurity
France

New Atlanticist

May 8, 2013

Is Europe Losing Faith in the EU?

By Frederick Kempe

Happy Europe Day! If you don’t know May 9 is Europe Day, then you find yourself in good company with a majority of Europeans. Even in the most buoyant time, this holiday – marking the Schuman Declaration, presented by French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman in 1950, that launched the European Coal and Steel Community – […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 7, 2013

The Peasant’s Revolt

By Julian Lindley-French

High up in the majestic Yorkshire hills I am but a flat-cap stone’s throw from my native Sheffield. The sheep stand fast protecting their new-born lambs from the scything, sheeting and predatory rain. This is a place of unforgiving beauty. It was much the same back in 1381 when Wat Tyler and Jack Straw led the Peasant’s […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 7, 2013

Will Chinese Nationalism Lead to War with Japan and the United States?

By Banning Garrett

Will Chinese assertiveness and nationalism lead to war with Japan and the United States, trumping the impact of globalization and growing interdependence? A recent Financial Times commentary by John Plender recently raised this prospect, a familiar theme in much of the Western media and among Washington foreign policy pundits.

China
East Asia

New Atlanticist

May 6, 2013

Syria and the Obama Administration’s Loss of Credibility

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

When it comes to maintaining military credibility in the face of potential national security threats, the Obama administration has gone out of its way to convince friend and foe alike that the president and the administration do not bluff when it comes to their foreign policy and national security goals and commitments.

National Security
Security & Defense

Libya Working Group

May 6, 2013

Libya Needs the US for its Transition to Democracy

By Charles Dunne Stephen McInerney and Karim Mezran

Deborah Jones is scheduled to appear Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on her nomination as the new U.S. ambassador to Libya. This will present a stark reminder of the events that took the life of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans on Sept. 11, 2012.

Libya

New Atlanticist

May 6, 2013

America’s Most Tolerated Dangers

By Harlan Ullman

If asked, most Americans would agree that economic and financial chaos or a stunning terrorist attack by foreign jihadis possibly with nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction constitute among the gravest threats to the United States. But the United States faces other more immediate, yet tolerated, dangers that have done and are doing irreparable […]

National Security
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 3, 2013

A Turning Point in Malaysia’s Politics

By HuiHui Ooi

On Sunday, more than thirteen million will vote in what is likely to be the closest election in the history of Malaysia. About 2.5 million of these voters are believed to be under the age of 30 and pro-opposition, a wildcard that Anwar Ibrahim’s People’s Alliance (PR) is counting on to bring Prime Minister Najib […]

Elections
Indo-Pacific

Libya Working Group

May 3, 2013

Libyan Stability at Risk

By Jason Pack and Karim Mezran

Last week’s attack on the French Embassy in Tripoli was the first significant terrorist attack against foreign interests in the Libyan capital since the fall of Muammar al-Qaddafi. More crucially, it marks an escalation in the covert war being waged to determine the future orientation, institutions, constitution, and very soul of the new Libya. At […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

May 3, 2013

What Was Obama Thinking?

By Barry Pavel

What was President Obama thinking in August 2012 when he declared that Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria would alter his calculus and cross a red line, triggering U.S. intervention?

Security & Defense
Syria

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