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.

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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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.

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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 8, 2013

Saving Syria from Assad

By Julian Lindley-French

Syrian President Assad left little grounds for optimism in his 6 January ‘peace’ initiative. Clearly there can now be no peace with Assad but what will it take to get rid of him and what would happen if he went?

National Security
Security & Defense

Chuck Hagel: A Defense Secretary Who Knows Price of War

New Atlanticist

Jan 7, 2013

Chuck Hagel: A Defense Secretary Who Knows Price of War

By James Joyner

President Obama has just announced the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel, the chairman of the Atlantic Council, to be the 24th Secretary of Defense. ATLANTIC COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE on Hagel’s nomination Full transcript of President Obama’s remarks If Hagel survives the nomination fight in the Senate—and I believe he will—he’ll be the second consecutive […]

National Security
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 4, 2013

Countdown to Armageddon

By Harlan Ullman

10, 9, 8, 7 …… refers to a countdown. The larger question is count down to what?

Economy & Business
National Security

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2013

Russia’s Ban on Adoptions a Sign that “Reset” Has Reached its Limits

By Anna Borshchevskaya

On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 2, 2013

Time for Strategic Learning

By Harlan Ullman

British Field Marshall Viscount Alanbrooke of Brookebrorough, one of World War II’s most accomplished and distinguished generals, regularly complained about the lack of American strategic thinking. In Alanbrooke’s view (and Churchill’s too) Washington was too anxious to open a second front the continent and woefully unprepared to face the superior Nazi Army in battle. Hence, […]

National Security
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 2, 2013

Japan’s Coming Challenges: What Awaits Shinzo Abe

By Rajan Menon

Shinzo Abe became prime minister of Japan—its seventh in six years —after his Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for all but four years since 1955, won parliamentary elections resoundingly, ending a three-year interlude by the Democratic Party of Japan.

Economy & Business
Japan

New Atlanticist

Jan 1, 2013

Cliff Politics

By Julian Lindley-French

First century Roman senator and historian Tacitus railing against the greed of imperial Rome said, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace”.

New Atlanticist

Dec 27, 2012

Going Over the Decency Cliff

By Harlan Ullman

The looming fiscal cliff has received almost as much publicity as the Mayan prediction of the end of the world. This column has warned that the nation also faces a strategic cliff that could pose even greater jeopardy than from the fiscal woes. But there is a third and possibly more precipitous cliff.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Dec 27, 2012

Much EU About Nothing?

By Julian Lindley-French

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has something of the night about him. With the Germans about to lead the seventeen Eurozone countries into the greatest political leap in the dark since the creation of the European Union, Schaeuble has suggested that the British people be denied a referendum on their future relationship with a future German-led EU.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 21, 2012

The World Won’t End Today; Neither Will Apocalyptic Hysteria

By Paul Saffo

The world will not end today, the date of the so-called “Mayan Apocalypse.”

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