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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New Atlanticist

May 15, 2012

A Five-Year Plan for Francois Hollande

By Nicholas Dungan

Today François Hollande has taken office as president of the French Republic. He has pressing priorities in his next five weeks but also a chance to make history in the next five years. Tonight he sees the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in Berlin. Hollande has said that he values the French-German couple but does not […]

European Union France

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2012

The Challenge of Change

By Chuck Hagel

A new world order is being built today by seven billion global citizens. America’s responsibilities in this new world and to future generations are as enormous as they are humbling. The challenges and choices before us demand leadership that reaches into the future without stumbling over today. They also require challenging every past frame of […]

New Atlanticist

May 14, 2012

Avoiding NATO ‘Dim and Dismal” Future Requires Big 5 Leadership

By James Joyner

Whether NATO can avoid the “dim and dismal future” Bob Gates warned about “will largely be determined by the quality of leadership demonstrated by its largest and most influential allies: the United States, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Turkey,” warns the Atlantic Council in a new report. Under the leadership of Nick Burns and […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 14, 2012

So Far, Sanctions Prove to Be Right Tool in Burma

By Ronak Desai

The Obama Administration’s recent announcement that it would begin a “targeted easing” of the decades-old sanctions regime currently in place against Burma has once again put into sharp focus questions surrounding the efficacy of sanctions as a tool of American foreign policy.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

May 14, 2012

Priorities for the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago

By Ian Brzezinski

The Chicago Summit will be important in large part because of the context in which it takes place. That context includes: A war in Afghanistan from which both the US and Europe appear to be disengaging; Economic crises on both sides of the Atlantic that have atrophied European defense capabilities; A qualified success in Libya […]

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2012

With Iran, Syria Looming, Can Obama Save NATO from Disaster at Chicago Summit?

By Barry Pavel and James Joyner

Coming off the heels of a very successful NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal, in November 2010, it looked like President Obama would make the coming NATO summit in Chicago May 20 and 21 – an election-year meeting of America’s strongest allies on American soil – a centerpiece of his campaign, highlighting great successes in his […]

Iran NATO

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2012

NATO and the Transatlantic Bargain

By Franklin Kramer

The United States’ recent defense strategy emphasizes a “strategic turning point” and a “broader range of challenges and opportunities.” The NATO Summit, which will be held in Chicago May 20 and 21, will offer the transatlantic countries a first opportunity to respond and two key elements will be “pivoting”—expanding the focus on the larger world […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2012

Determining Libya’s Trajectory

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Some six months after the end of the war in Libya the situation on the ground appears unstable and chaotic. Is what one sees in Libya simply the normal chaos that precedes a new state? Sarwar Kashmeri, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, speaks with Dartmouth Professor Dirk Vandewalle, a noted expert on Libya. (8.5 minutes)

Libya

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2012

Saving NATO

By Franklin Kramer and Jordan Becker

As the United States engages in a “strategic pivot” toward the Asia-Pacific region—and as defense budgets tighten on both sides of the Atlantic—the debate on burden sharing within NATO has once again been rekindled. Last summer, outgoing secretary of defense Robert Gates, a staunch Atlanticist, chided European allies publicly over the issue, warning of “dire” […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2012

Needed Now: An Intellectual Revolution in Strategic Thinking

By Harlan Ullman

Toward the end of the Cold War, Soviet military thinkers coined the phrase “Military-Technical Revolution.” Based on a combination of extraordinary advances in precision strike and in information and surveillance technologies, the MTR was successfully transformed by the Pentagon into the “Revolution in Military Affairs.” Meant to defeat the Red Army, the RMA was a […]

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