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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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.

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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

Oct 15, 2012

The Good Ole US of E

By Julian Lindley-French

US President Abraham Lincoln famously said, “you can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Oct 12, 2012

America Needs a Kennan Moment

By Julian Lindley-French

US strategist George F. Kennan, a hero of mine, once said, “The best an American can look forward to is the lonely pleasure of one who stands at long last on a chilly and inhospitable mountaintop where few have been before, where few can follow and where few will consent to believe he has been”.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 12, 2012

As the US Prepares to Vote, the World Watches

By Frederick Kempe

America’s friends around the globe are watching the presidential elections with a mixture of horror and hope. They are dismayed by the expense, the duration and the self-indulgence of an election campaign that does more to entertain and polarize Americans than to enlighten and galvanize them.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2012

Why Do We Need Armies?

By Julian Lindley-French

The Duke of Wellington once said “I mistrust the judgment of every man in a case in which his own wishes are concerned.”

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Oct 10, 2012

Unintended Consequences

By Harlan Ullman

Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld coined the phrase “unknown unknowns,” a snappier way to describe “unintended consequences.” Both refer to events that are unanticipated, unexpected and unpredictable.

Russia Syria

New Atlanticist

Oct 9, 2012

Three Steps to Siachen

By Arun Kumar Singh

India and Pakistan have been engaged in military-level Track 2 talks for the past 12 months, with the delegates of the two sides meeting in Dubai, Bangkok and finally in Lahore in September this year. Smaller “sub-group” meetings in Chiang Mai (Thailand) and Palo Alto (California) have also featured in the Track 2 process. A […]

India Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Oct 9, 2012

Africa Rising

By Derek Reveron

The latest World Bank study describes the state of the global economy as “volatile, punctuated by natural disasters, large swings in investor sentiment, and periods of relative calm and improving prospects.”

Africa Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Oct 5, 2012

NATO: All SHAPE and No Arms?

By Julian Lindley-French

In the 1950s the Americans used to have a NATO joke (they have about one per decade). NATO, they said, was like the Venus de Milo, all SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) and no arms. You are meant to laugh now. The essential point was that NATO was fast becoming lots of military headquarters with no military […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 5, 2012

Cry Libertad: Ghana’s Blow for Rule of Law, Fiscal Probity

By Peter Pham

Slowly, but surely, word is getting out about Africa’s overall buoyant economic prospects. What just a few years ago was universally pitied as the “hopeless continent” is today home to six of the world’s fastest growing economies.

North & West Africa

New Atlanticist

Oct 4, 2012

Iran Sanctions Unprecedented and Crippling; But Are They Effective?

By Ronak Desai

In a move that will further tighten the web of sanctions currently in place against Iran, the Obama administration has designated the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) “an agent or affiliate” of Iran’s notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Treasury Department’s designation potentially exposes foreign institutions conducting business with the NIOC and its subsidiaries to […]

Iran

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