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.

Hagel: US Must Turn Receivers On, Transmitters Off

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

Dec 11, 2012

Hagel: US Must Turn Receivers On, Transmitters Off

By James Joyner

Senator Chuck Hagel argues that, as America’s influence declines, “we will need to turn our receivers on and our transmitters off.”

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2012

Early Foreign Policy Signs from Georgia Seem Positive

By Michael Cecire and Laura Linderman

Following recent landmark elections, Georgia’s new government has an opportunity to build on the success of the country’s first constitutional transfer of power. With a host of challenges ahead, the United States can and should leverage its strategic partnership with Georgia to help advance the country’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, consolidate democratic institutions and practices, and support […]

The Caucasus

New Atlanticist

Dec 10, 2012

Shaping 2030 Today

By James Joyner

The Global Trends 2030 report offers four starkly different alternative world systems a generation hence. US policy decisions in the next four years will greatly influence which of these comes to pass.

New Atlanticist

Dec 10, 2012

Global Power 2030

By James Joyner

Today’s Global Trends 2030 report by the National Intelligence Council predicts that, “By 2030, no country—whether the US, China, or any other large country—will be a hegemonic power.” Considering that this has already been true for quite some time, it’s a safe bet.

New Atlanticist

Dec 10, 2012

The EU’s Nobel Still-in-One Piece Prize

By Julian Lindley-French

It is one of those surreal European days. The EU has just formally accepted the Nobel Peace Prize when the sad truth is that far from multiplying European power and influence in the world the EU these days is diminishing it.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 7, 2012

Canada’s Fighter Future

By Stephen M. Saideman

The future of the F-35 for the Royal Canadian Air Force is now in doubt. After years of stubborn, contradictory insistence that Canada had not made a decision but that the F-35 was the only choice, it seems to be the case that the mounting costs overwhelmed whatever virtues the Joint Strike Fighter had for the […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 7, 2012

It Is High Time for Congress to Focus on the ‘O’ in NATO

By Sarwar Kashmeri

As the U.S. Congress begins to trim the U.S. defense budget it should re-examine the structure of NATO and insist that the alliance’s bureaucracy reflect today’s geopolitical realities, not those prevailing at the end of World War II.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 6, 2012

Drone Strike on Democracy

By James Joyner

As a theoretical matter, remotely piloted vehicles are simply a tool of warfare, morally indistinguishable from manned aircraft. The more efficiently the United States can target and kill its enemies, the better. And drones are cheaper to operate, carry far less risk for American military personnel, and make it easier to collect operational intelligence than their manned […]

Drones National Security

New Atlanticist

Dec 6, 2012

A Chaotic Intelligence Community

By Joshua Foust

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the Pentagon is sending hundreds of spies overseas as part of its rapid expansion into espionage- an endeavor rivaling the CIA. The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) will oversee this effort, expected to top the deployment of 1,600 agents worldwide. And it is the wrong approach.

Intelligence Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 5, 2012

President Obama Should Save Political Fights for the Economy

By Harlan Ullman

About eight decades ago, the great American humorist Will Rogers wryly observed that whenever Congress wanted to play a joke on its constituents, it passed a law. And more sarcastically, Rogers concluded that every law Congress passed was a joke.

National Security Politics & Diplomacy

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