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

Nov 28, 2012

The Geopolitics of Shale

By Julian Lindley-French

Energy is the stuff of power. Long dead British Socialist Aneurin Bevan once remarked, “This Island is almost made of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal AND fish at the same time.” Bevan lived in those long-distant days before the EU concentrated such organizing genii in […]

Energy & Environment Oil and Gas

New Atlanticist

Nov 27, 2012

The Rise of Individual Empowerment

By Anna Borshchevskaya

Individual empowerment, fueled by increasing prosperity, greater educational oppourtunities, especially for women, and the technological revolution are the megatrends of the coming decades, proclaims the US government’s chief strategic forecaster.

Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Nov 27, 2012

Britain’s New Armed Forces Covenant

By Julian Lindley-French

Two weeks ago, General Sir David Richards, Britain’s Defence Chief said, “We have a whole load of tasks expected of us.

Maritime Security Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 27, 2012

America’s Geopolitical Gusher

By Frederick Kempe

Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist, is not prone to hype. So industry executives listen when he calls the surge of U.S. oil and gas production “the biggest change in the energy world since World War II.”

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

New Atlanticist

Nov 26, 2012

VIDEO: Secretary Kerry Addresses the Key Points of the Iran Deal

By US Dept of State

Iran

New Atlanticist

Nov 26, 2012

Time Running Out as Israel Cuts the Grass

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Is there any hope for a permanent peace in the Middle East when Israel believes the only way to deal with the Palestinians is akin to “cutting the grass,” a bizarre belief that now governs Israeli foreign policy as the New York Times recently reported

Middle East

New Atlanticist

Nov 26, 2012

Did the Recent Fighting Hamper an Israeli-Palestinian Solution?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

While hundreds of millions Muslims believe 9/11 was history’s biggest conspiracy, hatched by U.S. intelligence and Israel’s Mossad, to justify a global crackdown on Islamist militants, there are also countless millions of Arabs who are convinced the Nazi Holocaust was grossly exaggerated to justify “the Jewish occupation of Palestine.”

Middle East National Security

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2012

Fixing the Flaws in the Pivot to Asia

By Harlan Ullman

U.S. President Barack Obama is underscoring the administration’s “strategic pivot” to Asia with a trip to the Pacific. This column has criticized this pivot and the botched public diplomacy campaign that managed to irritate friends, allies and, of course, China.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2012

Israel Should Rethink its Strategy Against Hamas in Gaza

By Benedetta Berti

Since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006 and subsequently took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Israel has dealt with the “Islamic Resistance” through a policy of non-recognition, political isolation, and military containment. The recent escalation of violence in Gaza should call for a reconsideration of this strategy.

Middle East

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2012

In Space, No One Can Hear You Pivot

By Aaron Burgstein

With all the recent discussion on the rebalance to Asia and how air, sea, and ground forces might play in that environment, one domain has been conspicuously absent. Space.

Missile Defense Security & Defense

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