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.

NATO: Raising the Titanic or Lowering the Atlantic?

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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New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2012

NATO: Raising the Titanic or Lowering the Atlantic?

By Julian Lindley-French

Each time I enter NATO’s sprawling complex I cannot help but think of doomed British film producer Lord Grade. Having staked his future on one of Hollywood’s great flops, “Raise the Titanic”, he lamented afterwards that it would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic than raise the Titanic. The eclipsing of the 2010 NATO […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2012

Preventing Atrocity Crimes in Syria: The Responsibility to Protect

By Paul R. Williams J. Trevor Ulbrick and Jonathan P. Worboys

Has the Syria crisis finally reached the tipping point for intervention? In Aleppo, Human Rights Watch reported that Syrian aircraft have been deliberately bombing breadlines.

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2012

Internal Conflicts and Defense Planning

By Derek Reveron

There are 27 active conflicts in the world today; only one of them is a traditional interstate war.

Afghanistan
National Security

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2012

A New Low for the Hungarian Government?

By David Koranyi

There has not been much positive to read about Hungary in the news lately, but the country’s embattled government really hit rock bottom last week.

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 6, 2012

National Security and Defense: How Much and for What Purpose?

By Harlan Ullman

“How much is enough?” is a perennial question often put to national security and defense requirements. The largely invisible and more important extension of that question is understanding what purposes military force must serve in the first place. “For what” must be the starting point for any excursion on future military capability and where, why […]

National Security
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 6, 2012

Why Anglo-Polish Relations Need a Reset

By Julian Lindley-French

They call it the ‘Davos of the East’, the Krynica Economic Forum. It must be a mark of Europe’s desperate economic straits that I have been invited to speak at this huge economics conference. Thankfully, the question posed by my old friend Andrew Michta, Director of the German Marshall Fund Warsaw was closer to home; […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 5, 2012

America’s Euro Fatigue

By Stanley Sloan

At a time when the United States and all its allies are looking at years of reduced resources for all kinds of discretionary government spending, including defense, American interest and faith in the transatlantic alliance seems to be fading fast. Is this a sign of permanent decline in the sense of “Atlantic community,” or is it […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 5, 2012

What Roosevelt Would Do in the South China Sea

By James Clad and Robert Manning

Planting flags on islets, declaring cities where there are too few residents to fill a restaurant, and huffing and puffing over uninhabited rocks are acts more suited to a Gilbert and Sullivan farce than to nations in the 21st century. Absurdities aside, the tensions in the South China Sea could shape the balance of power […]

China

New Atlanticist

Sep 4, 2012

An Emerging Transatlantic Rift on Energy?

By David Koranyi

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently unveiled his energy plans for the United States, which promises to fulfill the country’s four-decades’-old dream of energy independence. It has the potential to do so. But the price could ultimately be high: a breakdown in global climate negotiations and a rift in relations with Europe.

Energy & Environment
Energy Markets & Governance

New Atlanticist

Sep 4, 2012

The Rise of Afghan Fratricide

By Joshua Foust

The number of ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) soldiers killed by their Afghan counterparts has risen precipitously this year. So-called “green on blue” attacks have killed 42 soldiers, more than the 35 killed last year and twice as many as were killed in 2010. Officials are scrambling to figure out why.

Afghanistan
International Security Assistance Force

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