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.

Missing in Action: A Plan to Win the War of Ideas

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.

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

Sep 20, 2012

Missing in Action: A Plan to Win the War of Ideas

By Harlan Ullman

Last week’s violence in more than 20 Muslim countries with four Americans killed in Libya has been attributed to a highly offensive 13-minute video that went viral on YouTube igniting these protests.

Middle East National Security

New Atlanticist

Sep 20, 2012

Why Britain Does Not Share ‘Europe’ Vision

By Julian Lindley-French

A couple of days ago in Riga I sat down with some very serious, senior Germans to discuss Britain and the EU. They simply could not for the life of them understand why Britain does not get the German ‘vision’ for Europe.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2012

The Day We Lost Afghanistan

By James Joyner

That the war in Afghanistan has been unwinnable has been obvious to most outside analysts since well before the so-called surge of 2009. Now, the United States government has finally admitted the obvious in deeds if not words.

Afghanistan Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2012

Deep-Water Oil Rigs as Strategic Weapons

By Martin N. Murphy

This, at least, is how Wang Yilin, Chairman of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), chooses to view them. He reportedly told an audience at CNOOC’s headquarters in Beijing in May that ‘large-scale deep-water rigs are our mobile national territory and a strategic weapon’.

China Energy & Environment

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2012

United States on a Path to Nowhere

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The round-the-clock killing of U.S. military advisers by Afghan soldiers they are training coupled with some $200 million worth of jet fighters and attack helicopters destroyed in a heavily fortified allied base in Afghanistan by Taliban guerrillas disguised in U.S. military uniforms are the latest reminders that 11 years of fighting have strengthened rather than […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2012

US-Mideast Policy Is Isolating America, Not Iran

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Two thirds of the U.N.’s countries recently signed a communique expressing support for Iran’s nuclear energy program and rejecting, what they termed, the United States’ unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic. A flashing red light that signals the American policy aimed at isolating Iran in order to curb its nuclear ambitions appears instead to have […]

International Organizations Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2012

Turkish Ambassador Calls For NATO to ‘Act Decisively’ in Syria

By James Joyner

In the most powerful call for action yet by his government, Turkish Ambassador Namik Tan declared, “The implosion of Syria is a regional conflagration that threatens international peace and security. What we expect from our partners is a serious engagement and meaningful contribution to the resolution of this conflict.”

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2012

Can NATO Pass the Riga Test?

By Julian Lindley-French

The Riga Conference is a jewel in the crown of security conferences. Yesterday I shared a panel with the Italian, Latvian and Norwegian defense ministers, together with Ambassador Sandy Vershbow, NATO’s US Deputy Secretary-General to discuss “NATO post-Chicago”. Did something happen in Chicago? I must have missed it.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2012

Mitt Romney’s Opaque Foreign Policy

By James Joyner

In the wake of the murder of U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney inexplicably and ironically declared, “President Obama has demonstrated a lack of clarity as to a foreign policy.”

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2012

Foreign Service and Ambassador Stevens

By Ross Wilson

The death in Benghazi of US Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three other staff members of the US mission in Libya is a chilling reminder of the risks that American diplomats and American diplomacy face at a time of violence and uncertainty in the Middle East and the world.

Libya

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