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.

What the Cuban Missile Crisis Teaches Us About Iran

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

Oct 29, 2012

What the Cuban Missile Crisis Teaches Us About Iran

By Frederick Kempe

Bob Schieffer of CBS News struck the right note when he opened this week’s presidential debate on foreign policy by reminding viewers it was “the 50th anniversary of the night that President Kennedy told the world that the Soviet Union had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, perhaps the closest we’ve ever come to nuclear war.” […]

Cuba Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 29, 2012

Ukraine’s Paradoxical Election

By Adrian Karatnycky

Ukrainian voters elected a new parliament Sunday but already the initial results point to a modest rebuke for President Viktor Yanukovych and his ruling Regions Party.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Oct 26, 2012

Merkel’s Great Euro Deception

By Julian Lindley-French

In the run-up to D-Day in 1944 the British ran a superb deception campaign called Operation Fortitude to fool the Germans as to the real location of the invasion. It worked spectacularly. Today, the Germans are being fooled again, this time by their own government.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Oct 26, 2012

Cyber Legislation and White House Executive Orders

By Jason Healey

Out of frustration over Congress’ failure to pass a new bill on cybersecurity, the White House appears to be getting closer to an executive order to push through some actions.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 25, 2012

Five More Years of Yanukovych

By Alexander J. Motyl and Rajan Menon

On October 28, Ukrainians will go to the polls for parliamentary elections. Just about everyone in the country believes that the result will be a victory for the ruling Party of Regions (PR), which, at first glance, would seem to reinforce the legitimacy of the increasingly authoritarian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2012

I Wish the Candidates Had Said That

By Harlan Ullman

More than a century ago, the eccentric writer Oscar Wilde overheard George Bernard Shaw make a particularly witty remark. Wilde slyly muttered, no doubt with malice aforethought, the compliment “I wish I had said that!” Shaw, a literary competitor and no friend of Wilde’s sensed a plagiarism in the making and retorted, “You will, Oscar. […]

Economy & Business Elections

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2012

Foreign Policy Debate: Between the Lines

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

It was a debate on foreign policy when the most urgent priorities are at home. Mitt Romney says he can restore the United States to its long-held image of the invincible superpower. But the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet empire were world-shaking events that are more than two decades […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2012

Hazard, Outrage and Panetta’s Cyber Speech

By Jason Healey

Imagine if in early 1941, the government were warning Americans of an attack on Pearl Harbor but could not decide whether to declassify the fact that the Japanese had aircraft carriers and had conducted surprise naval attacks against rivals before. The military might fret that they were seen as vulnerable, despite millions spent on defense, and […]

Cybersecurity National Security

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2012

Shale Revolution Shakes the World

By Robert Manning

For all the attention the Shale Revolution has garnered, we are only beginning to see its longer-term impact — and not only in reshaping the energy landscape and raising energy policy questions. The Shale Revolution is also an emerging factor enabling US economic revitalization and impacting long-term geopolitical interests.

Energy & Environment Oil and Gas

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2012

The Five Most Urgent National Security Issues for the Next President

By Kurt Volker

President Obama and Mitt Romney will battle over foreign policy in tonight’s third and final presidential debate. No matter who wins the presidential election November 6, Mr. Romney or Mr. Obama will have to confront five urgent national security issues in the first weeks of his term.

Economy & Business Elections

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