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.

Supporting Human Rights in Russia Should Be a Core Strategic Interest for US

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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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

Jul 6, 2012

Supporting Human Rights in Russia Should Be a Core Strategic Interest for US

By Anna Borshchevskaya

On Tuesday, July 10, the Russian Duma will vote on ratification of the agreement for Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Policymakers in both countries view Russia’s entry as a foregone conclusion. The question before Congress therefore is how best to pressure Russia to respect human rights following its repeal of the Jackson-Vanik […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jul 6, 2012

Angela Merkel, Europe’s Weary Mountaineer

By Frederick Kempe

To help illustrate Germany’s historic dilemma as it calculates the risks of rescuing Europe, Ronald Freeman, a London banker friend, conjured up an image of Chancellor Angela Merkel as a weary mountaineer leading a perilous rock climb. Still some distance from safety, Merkel alternates between shouting instructions to those hanging behind her on a taut […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jul 5, 2012

Bomber Boys

By Julian Lindley-French

It is sixty-seven years too late. The Bomber Boys gaze over me looking exhaustedly and exhaustively for comrades who will never return. Seven RAF Bomber Command aircrew cast in bronze probably just off a Lancaster that has somehow miraculously survived a World War Two ‘trip’ over Nazi Germany.

Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Jul 5, 2012

July 4th and September 11th

By Harlan Ullman

For polar opposite reasons, two dates currently loom large in the American psyche. This July 4th marked the 236th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the war that would turn 13 English colonies in America into the United States. Sept. 11, 2001, was the day al-Qaida turned four American airliners into […]

Afghanistan Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 3, 2012

Afghanistan: Don’t Turn Off the Lights

By Abigail Friedman

After more than a decade of fighting in Afghanistan, Americans are ready for this war– or at least our involvement in this war – to end. If history is any guide, the roar of engines from the planes bringing our soldiers home will drown out any conversation over what happens next in Afghanistan. The whiff […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 3, 2012

Anchoring the Alliance: Poland, Italy, Spain, and Canada Stepping Up

By R. Nicholas Burns Damon Wilson and Jeffrey Lightfoot

For NATO to enjoy a more effective future, the Alliance’s other leading powers–Poland, Italy, Spain, and Canada—must be offered—and must be willing to earn—more responsibility within the Alliance.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2012

Global Trends and International Security

By Derek Reveron

Understanding how the world works is key for developing a sound national security policy. The security environment provides the context for developing strategy and building forces to advance and defend national interests. At the same time, strategy shapes the security environment and is shaped by it. For example, a strategy that emphasizes global trade can […]

Economy & Business National Security

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2012

Stop Playing Games over Europe Mr. Cameron

By Julian Lindley-French

In an article yesterday in London’s Sunday Telegraph, British Prime Minister David Cameron hinted at a possible in/out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU. “Let us start to spell out in more detail the parts of our European engagement we want and those we want to end”, Cameron urged.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2012

Syria’s Rebels Are Winning

By Michele Dunne

Distracted by the tumult caused by the Syrian shoot down of a Turkish F 4, few observers have noted that the Syrian conflict has turned a corner. What I myself termed a “slow motion train wreck” of inexorable slaughter of civilians by government forces and militias just a couple of weeks ago has now shifted […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2012

Is NATO Deterring Itself?

By Julian Lindley-French

Is NATO deterring itself? A two day meeting here in a searingly hot Rome on NATO’s Deterrence and Defense Posture Review (DDPR) reaffirmed to me the deep transatlantic gulf over NATO’s twenty-first century role. Sadly, no answer will be found to NATO’s existential twenty-first century question: is the Alliance integral to America’s world view or […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

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