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.

European Political Union: What Would it Look Like?

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

Jun 25, 2012

European Political Union: What Would it Look Like?

By Julian Lindley-French

Cicero, that great defender of the Roman Republic and implacable opponent of those that would abuse power in the name of the people once said, “Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscene than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system”.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2012

Why Iran Shouldn’t Get the Bomb: The Limits of IR Theory

By Robert Manning

In an essay creating shock and awe amongst the chattering class, Kenneth Waltz, one of the nation’s most prominent International Relations (IR) scholars and the doyen of the “realist” school tries to make the case “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs. While in some respects, this provocation is […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jun 22, 2012

Plane Incident Increases Turkey-Syria Tensions

By Ross Wilson

The loss of a Turkish jet fighter off the coast of Syria signals a further escalation of tensions between Damascus and Ankara, raising the stakes for Turkish leaders who have heretofore limited themselves to diplomatic efforts and mostly quiet support for Syrian refugees and opposition leaders. It is unclear what brought down a Turkish F-4 […]

Syria Turkey

New Atlanticist

Jun 22, 2012

Football: The Euro That Works

By Julian Lindley-French

Bill Shankly, the legendary manager of Liverpool FC, once famously said, “Football is not a question of life or death. It is more important than that.”

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 22, 2012

Syria: Ethnonationalism and the New World Disorder

By Robert Manning

As the horrific tragedy in Syria continues to unfold amidst calls for intervention and growing fears of a region unraveling, it is useful to recall that a troubling proportion of conflict and disorder in the world is driven by the powerful force of ethno-nationalism.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 21, 2012

How the Moscow Talks Are Like ‘Seinfeld’

By Barbara Slavin

Not to be cynical, but it really doesn’t matter that the latest talks with Iran came up empty. Outnumbered six to one, Iranian negotiators did a classic job in Moscow earlier this week (June 18-19) of defending past positions, raising old grievances and demanding concessions that they knew they would not get. US officials offered little […]

Iran

Europe After The Vote

Jun 21, 2012

Post-Electoral Greece

By Matthew Bryza

While markets in Europe and the United States breathed a collective sigh of relief with the victory of the sober Antonis Samaras and his New Democracy Party in last Sunday’s Greek parliamentary elections, the absence of a substantial market rally immediately thereafter reflected the seriousness of the work that lies ahead. Greece may have dodged […]

Elections Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Jun 21, 2012

The Politics of Banking

By Ben Carliner

Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, pretty much summed up the G20 summit in Mexico when he said “we have not come here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or how to handle the economy.” It’s not hard to understand his frustration.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 20, 2012

Euro End Game Begins

By Julian Lindley-French

It is beginning. The Euro end game is upon us. Last night President Hollande said at the G-Empty summit in Los Cabos that the bail-out fund should be used to ease the cost of Spanish and Italian borrowing. This is leader-speak for telling us all that the contagion that started with Greece and spread to […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 20, 2012

US and Russia Finding Ways Around UN Security Council

By Barbara Slavin

Both the US and Russia are circumventing the UN Security Council to deal with the worsening crisis in Syria. Neither is making much progress.

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