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
Jul 29, 2025

The Russia pressure menu: Options to convince Putin to negotiate on Ukraine

As the US president cuts his deadline for Russia to ten days, there are several options for him to increase pressure on Moscow to pursue peace.

New Atlanticist
Jul 24, 2025

Dispatch from Manila: A lesson in calling out Chinese maritime aggression

By
Markus Garlauskas, Philip W. Yu

As the Philippines has focused more on Chinese threats to itself, Manila also seems increasingly inclined to see its own security as connected to that of the broader region.

China
Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist
Jul 1, 2025

The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

By
Kimberly Donovan

To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.

Economic Sanctions
Iran

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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

Aug 8, 2012

Infrastructure Alarm Sounds

By Harlan Ullman

Last week, three events should have sounded deafening alarms and issued unmistakable warnings about the vulnerabilities facing mankind. And a fourth was further frosting on this rather explosive cake. None did and complacency still reigns.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2012

Libya’s NTC Turns over Power: Where Does the Transition Go From Here?

By Karim Mezran

Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC), the highest governing since last year’s overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi, will turn over authority to the newly elected General National Congress (GNC) tomorrow. What does the turnover portend for the selection of a new government? What are the powers of the GNC and what will its role be in the […]

Libya North Africa

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2012

Cyber Hype: Flame, Stuxnet, and Boeing 787’s Falling from the Sky

By Brandon Valeriano

These last few months have been some of the most exciting, depressing, and troubling times for those interested in the phenomenon of cyberwar. As a cyber skeptic deeply engaged in this emerging debate I want to take a step back and analyze what we have learned.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Aug 7, 2012

China: Cyber Threat and Cyber Threatened

By Derek S. Reveron and Jon Lindsay

In any discussion about the security of cyberspace, Chinese hackers are usually singled out as major threats. The most recent (and hardly unique) news involves an operation with Chinese origins, dubbed Byzantine Candor by government investigators, which has been stealing corporate and government secrets for years, to include emails from the president of the European […]

China Cybersecurity

New Atlanticist

Aug 6, 2012

Euro-Realism 3: Defending Europe

By Julian Lindley-French

In one of those deliciously Anglo-French moments this week President Hollande took a swipe at the London Olympics and David Cameron. Stung by Bradley Wiggin’s Tour de France Champs Elysee victory Hollande said, “The British have rolled out a red carpet for French athletes to win medals. I thank them very much for that”. It […]

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

Aug 3, 2012

Mitt Romney Flunks His Foreign Policy Tryout

By R. Nicholas Burns

Governor Mitt Romney had a chance to demonstrate on his trip to Great Britain, Israel, and Poland that he is ready to take on the duties of America’s top diplomat and commander in chief — among the presidency’s most vital responsibilities. Yet for reasons that are hard to understand, Romney undermined himself through surprising lapses […]

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Aug 3, 2012

In Putin’s Circle, Obama Is Gorbachev

By Frederick Kempe

In private conversations with visiting U.S. business leaders, Russian officials close to President Vladimir Putin have recently referred to President Barack Obama as “your Gorbachev.” And they haven’t meant it positively.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Aug 2, 2012

Both Regime and Opposition in Syria Are Mysteries

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Professor Heidi Lane of the Naval War College suggests that prudence not intervention is the best course of action in Syria in a conversation with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. (8 minute audio interview)

Syria

New Atlanticist

Aug 1, 2012

Keeping America Great By Keeping Our Heads

By Harlan Ullman

For good or ill, myths are endemic to the human condition. We develop mythologies around our leaders and our foes to fit expectations, emotions and egos. George Washington, for example, never told a lie and hurled a dollar coin across the Potomac.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Aug 1, 2012

Britain Adrift

By Fran Burwell

The country most at risk in the eurozone economic crisis is not Spain, Italy, or even Greece, but Britain. While attention has focused on countries that seem perpetually on the brink of sovereign default or banking collapses, the British government has embarked on a path that could lead it out of Europe, with profound consequences […]

European Union International Organizations

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