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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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

Dec 17, 2012

China’s Bad Diplomacy

By James Clad and Robert Manning

A joke now making the rounds in Asia asks, “who is America’s most effective diplomat in Asia?” The punch line brings knowing laughter: “‘Mr. Beijing.’ Yes, Mr. Bob Beijing is playing America’s best hand.”

China
Maritime Security

New Atlanticist

Dec 17, 2012

Pacific NATO?

By Julian Lindley-French

The Atlantic Alliance is about to enter a tumultuous period of change both in Europe and the wider world. How we all conceive of our place in that world will be critical to the Alliance.

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 13, 2012

The Fog of Political War

By Harlan Ullman

This isn’t an original theme. The reference was suggested to me two years ago by the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, three months before he was killed by one of his bodyguards in Islamabad.

Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Dec 12, 2012

Predictions are Hard, Especially About the Future

By James Joyner

We can’t predict next week with accuracy, much less 2030. But there’s still value in thinking about the future. Joshua Foust, a fellow at the American Security Project and member of the Atlantic Council’s Young Atlanticist Working Group, points out in “The World in 2030 Won’t Look Anything Like You Think” that the National Intelligence […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 12, 2012

Mega-trends, Mega-change, Mega-failure

By Julian Lindley-French

Two reports this week past demonstrate both the sheer enormity and pace of change in this world and the utter inability of democratically-elected Western European politicians to deal with it. This week the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) published Global Trends 2030, which neatly captured mega-change. Yesterday a report was published in Britain on the 2011 […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Dec 12, 2012

America’s Second Chance at Global Leadership

By Frederick Kempe

Read between the lines of the U.S. intelligence community’s quadrennial global trends report, a document released this week that has significant influence on White House thinking, and the message to President Obama is clear.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2012

Scowcroft: Inflection Point Much Different Than End of Cold War

By James Joyner

Brent Scowcroft believes the world is “at an inflection point but a much different one than end of Cold War.” Scowcroft, the former National Security Advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush and current chairman of the Atlantic Council International Advisory Board, was the featured luncheon speaker at the Global Trends 2030: US Leadership […]

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2012

Israel’s Apartheid Policy

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

A majority of Israelis recoil in horror at the very thought of emulating the regime of apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation once practiced in South Africa, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Yet that is what Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu considers less threatening than full-fledged Palestinian independence.

Middle East
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2012

Hagel: US Must Turn Receivers On, Transmitters Off

By James Joyner

Senator Chuck Hagel argues that, as America’s influence declines, “we will need to turn our receivers on and our transmitters off.”

New Atlanticist

Dec 11, 2012

Early Foreign Policy Signs from Georgia Seem Positive

By Michael Cecire and Laura Linderman

Following recent landmark elections, Georgia’s new government has an opportunity to build on the success of the country’s first constitutional transfer of power. With a host of challenges ahead, the United States can and should leverage its strategic partnership with Georgia to help advance the country’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, consolidate democratic institutions and practices, and support […]

The Caucasus

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