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.

Guiding the US Army War College in an Age of Austerity

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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When major global news breaks, the Atlantic Council’s experts have you covered—delivering their sharpest rapid insight and forward-looking analysis direct to your inbox.

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

Jan 18, 2013

Guiding the US Army War College in an Age of Austerity

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Budget cutbacks, war weariness, a world of stateless actors, against whom conventional warfare seems to achieve little. These are the strategic realities faced by the new commandant of the US Army War College. MG Tony Cucolo III discusses his challenges with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow, Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security and adjunct professor, Norwich […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 17, 2013

Needed: A Brain-Based Approach to Strategy

By Harlan Ullman

Suppose you are in great health, exceedingly fit and athletically gifted. During a routine medical checkup, you receive some very bad news. You have developed a degenerative condition. Without a lengthy and painful course of treatment, in five years time or less, you will be hardly able to walk, let alone run or play any […]

Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 17, 2013

Pivot Toward Pacific not Away from Middle East

By Aaron Burgstein

Since the announced “pivot” to the Pacific, much hand-wringing and consternation has focused on what it means for the United States’ security relationships with Europe.

Middle East
National Security

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2013

Shinzo Abe’s ASEAN Tour Stresses Regional Tension

By Robert Manning

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to key ASEAN states Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand this week is a sign of the times in East Asia, one of tense Sino-Japanese relations, geopolitical competition, and strategic counterbalancing.

China
Japan

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2013

Obama Bullying Could Backfire

By Julian Lindley-French

A week ago, US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon warned of the dangers of a British referendum on its EU membership, none so subtly hinting that the Special Relationship would be diminished if Britain left the EU.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2013

Mali and Afghanistan: Uncanny Parallels

By Peter Pham

Analogies in international affairs are fraught with peril, but there is no denying the parallels between the situation in Afghanistan in the months and years leading up to 9/11 and recent developments in Mali.

Afghanistan
Sahel

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2013

In Disputes Over Asian Seas, Winner May Take Zilch

By Robert A. Manning

It may be Asia’s 21st century equivalent of the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand that sparked World War I. Growing tensions over territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas threaten to disrupt the oft-heralded Asian Century. Whatever the outcome, many see more than just competing nationalisms, the scars of national memory and the […]

China
Japan

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2013

Obama’s Team of Mentors and His Legacy

By Frederick Kempe

President Barack Obama has been commander-in-chief for four years, but the world only now will see the full flower of Obama foreign policy unfold. It likely will have less to do with any grand ambition to shape an increasingly dangerous world, and instead will be focused on avoiding new wars as he focuses on what […]

National Security
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2013

Republican Foreign Policy in Name Only

By James Joyner

With exit polls showing that the country trusted him more to conduct U.S. foreign policy than his rival, Mitt Romney, Barack Obama set off a round of commentary about how the GOP could regain its advantage. His nominee for defense secretary, moderate Republican Chuck Hagel,* has re-energized that debate.

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2013

Mali: Another Chance to Lead from Behind

By John Deni

France’s military intervention in Mali provides Washington yet again an opportunity to show both solidarity and restraint with some of its closest, most important allies.

Sahel

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