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.

Exiting Afghanistan: A Regional Approach

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 19, 2012

Exiting Afghanistan: A Regional Approach

By Shuja Nawaz and Abigail Friedman

Now that the dust has settled on the Chicago Summit, it might be time to see what truly emerged from all the noise and celebration about the cooperation among NATO allies and with Afghanistan. One issue got lost in that hoopla: Afghanistan’s regional context.

New Atlanticist

Jun 19, 2012

Anchoring the Alliance: Building Partnerships

By R. Nicholas Burns Damon Wilson and Jeffrey Lightfoot

It is ultimately the responsibility of NATO’s member states to make the difficult political choices and investments in their security necessary to ensure the health of the Alliance. But to address the challenges of a globalized security landscape, the Alliance also needs to do more with partners outside the Euro-Atlantic area who share its interests […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 19, 2012

Enlightened Engagement: US-China Relations

By Victor Chu

It was Napoleon who said in 1803: “Let that sleeping giant sleep, for when he wakes up, he will shake the world.” Napoleon was, of course, referring to China. True enough, the rise (more correctly the renaissance) of China resulting from its remarkable, open-door economic structural reforms over the last thirty years has shaken the […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 18, 2012

US Offers Familiar Carrot For Iran Nuclear Compromise

By Barbara Slavin

Spare parts have been a perennial US offer to induce Iran to change its ways — or to reward it for positive steps — and were almost provided 20 years ago near the end of the George H.W. Bush administration, Al-Monitor has learned.

New Atlanticist

Jun 18, 2012

The Anglosphere: Two Hundred Years On

By Julian Lindley-French

Two hundred years ago today US President James Madison declared war on the British Empire and the War of 1812 began.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 15, 2012

OPEC and Saudi Shrewd Middle Power Diplomacy

By Robert Manning

For middle powers like Saudi Arabia an effective foreign policy requires both cunning and a knack for identifying force multipliers. Of course, being the world’s largest oil producer is a bit of a force multiplier by itself, as the move on Thursday by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not to reduce production despite […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 15, 2012

Syrian Intervention Is Justifiable, and Just

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

Henry Kissinger recently argued against intervention in Syria [The perils of intervention in Syria,” Sunday Opinion, June 3] on the grounds that it would imperil the foundation of world order. His analysis was based on a straw man, one put forward by the Russian and Chinese governments, that outside intervention would seek to “bring about […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 15, 2012

Brent Scowcroft Warns Against Syria Intervention

By Barbara Slavin

Brent Scowcroft, a veteran Republican voice on US foreign policy, said the United States “isn’t smart enough” to solve the Syria crisis and “would pay a heavy price for [military] intervention,” in an interview with Al-Monitor Washington correspondent and Atlantic Council senior fellow Barbara Slavin.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2012

The Future of NATO Lies in Central Europe?

By Jan Hamacek and Jakub Kulhanek

The popular belief holds that the future of NATO rests on the strength of the Euro-Atlantic bond, any weakening of which is interpreted as a potential death knell for the Alliance. The ongoing debate on the purported declining interest of the US in Europe in favor of the Asia-Pacific region clearly illustrates this strategic anxiety; […]

Europe & Eurasia NATO

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2012

Relations with Pakistan: Forging a New Partnership

By Shuja Nawaz

Pakistan is at a precarious point in its faltering return to democratic order, after yet another extended period of military-dominated rule that has left its bureaucratic system and civilian institutions stunted. Its polity and society have undergone rapid change, with countervailing forces emerging to counter the military’s overwhelming power. Though political parties remain weak and […]

Pakistan

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