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.

Scowcroft: NATO Future as UN Security Force

New Atlanticist
Mar 6, 2025

How European leaders are responding to Trump’s approach to Ukraine and Europe

From London and Berlin to Paris and Brussels, European leaders have taken several notable steps this week on security. This follows the blow-up between the Ukrainian and US presidents on February 28.

New Atlanticist
Feb 26, 2025

Why the US should not lift sanctions against Russia

By
Charles Lichfield

Sanctions are having an unmistakable effect, albeit below the inflated expectations of many in the West in early 2022. Lifting them now would be a mistake.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist
Mar 5, 2025

The Egyptian plan for postwar Gaza is a good starting point—but it needs changes

By
Thomas S. Warrick

While many obstacles remain, the Egyptian proposal could form the starting point for negotiations over a workable plan for postwar Gaza.

Conflict
Crisis Management

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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

Apr 4, 2012

Scowcroft: NATO Future as UN Security Force

By James Joyner

General Brent Scowcroft argues that NATO’s Libya intervention may point to the future of the military alliance as the go-to enforcer of UN Security Council resolutions.

International Organizations Libya

New Atlanticist

Apr 4, 2012

The Ripple Effect of the Arab Spring and Weapon Proliferation

By Joanna Buckley

The Arab Awakening has advanced democracy through the Middle East and North Africa but the ripple effects created by the leak of military weaponry into surrounding unstable and conflict areas pose long-term national and regional security implications. This should be a critical factor for the international community when weighing potential intervention.

Libya Syria

New Atlanticist

Apr 3, 2012

Syrian Opposition Must Prove It Can Handle Foreign Funds

By Barbara Slavin

In the aftermath of its latest meeting with international supporters, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) faces a crucial test: whether it can spend millions of dollars in foreign aid efficiently and without corruption. Syria analysts and SNC members concede that the council has been slow to organize behind a single leader or vision to […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Apr 3, 2012

Brent Scowcroft Assesses the US-China Relationship

By Sarwar Kashmeri

In the latest edition of the New Atlanticist Podcast Series, General Brent Scowcroft discusses managing the US-China relationship with Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and offers his personal observations on China’s President-in-waiting Xi Jinping following his visit to the United States in February.

New Atlanticist

Apr 2, 2012

Joint Strike Fighter II: The Best is the Enemy of the Good?

By Julian Lindley-French

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the 1982 Argentine invasion of the Falklands about which I will say more later in the week. Last week I wrote a piece about the spiraling out of control costs of the ‘Fifth Generation’ F-35 Lightning II all-singing, all-dancing multirole combat aircraft.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Apr 2, 2012

The mess in Mali

By J. Peter Pham

In less than two weeks, the West African nation of Mali has gone from being a rare oasis of democracy and stability to a near failed state whose troubles threaten to ripple across the Sahel where the security situation, always delicate even in the best of times, is especially stressed in the wake of the […]

Conflict Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2012

Will Iran’s Quest for Nuclear Weapons Bring a Second Holocaust?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

“SHOWDOWN” is splashed in large red letters across the cover of Newsmax, the April issue of the conservative monthly. Followed by, in smaller letters, “Iran’s Plan for a Second Holocaust Must Be Stopped.” And, in parentheses, in still smaller type, between the twin grim-looks of Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu, the cover story […]

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2012

Alliance and Partnership

By Kenneth Weisbrode

NATO has made the strengthening of “global partnerships” a top priority. This is a good thing. They are better than the alternative: a polarized world of national, regional and even multinational rivals.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2012

Bradford: The Coming Crisis of European Democracy

By Julian Lindley-French

A political earthquake took place last night in the city of Bradford, in my home county of Yorkshire, that is relevant not only to Britain but could well signal a coming crisis of European democracy – the revolt of the people against the professional political caste. The defeat of the long-incumbent Labour Party by George […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2012

The F-35’s Cyber Death Spiral?

By Jason Healey

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter may have a far worse problem than overpromises, cost overruns, and technology overreach: we may be spending hundreds of billions of dollars on an aircraft for which our adversaries have apparently stolen the plans.

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