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.

Former Turkish Official: Assad Fall May Lead to Chaos in Syria

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

Jun 28, 2012

Former Turkish Official: Assad Fall May Lead to Chaos in Syria

By Barbara Slavin

Former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis, one of Turkey’s longest-serving diplomats, said the situation between Turkey and Syria might actually get worse if President Bashar al-Assad leaves or is overthrown because chaos will hurt Syria first and Turkey second.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 28, 2012

Euro Crisis Threatens Global Security

By Steven Grundman and A.J. Wilson

“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold,” wrote the Irish poet William Butler Yeats of the dark time he envisioned in the aftermath of World War I. Today, the converse of this proposition overshadows our future: if Europe fails to respond to the euro-zone crisis in a way that reinforces its center, things will begin […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2012

US Hardens Stance In Iran Nuclear Talks

By Laura Rozen and Barbara Slavin

Iran came to talks in Moscow last week (June 18-19) prepared to discuss stopping enriching uranium to 20% but refused two other conditions that could have led to a partial agreement in the nuclear standoff. Briefings by diplomats whose countries took part in the talks portrayed the meetings as a “dialogue of the deaf,” with […]

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2012

What the Arab Spring Taught the World about Supporting Dictatorships

By Benedetta Berti and Yoel Guzansky

Eighteen months ago, a sudden eruption of social and political protests across the Middle East took the world by storm. Despite widespread awareness that the mix of economic stagnation, sky-rocketing unemployment, demographic pressure, corrupt and inefficient government, and social and political repression represented a serious threat to the stability of the region few anticipated the […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 27, 2012

South Asia’s New Regional Realities

By Ronak Desai

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta urged New Delhi to adopt a “more active role” in Afghanistan as NATO troops prepare to withdraw and championed an expansion of the US-India defense and security partnership. Speaking in the Indian capital during a visit there earlier this month, he characterized India as the “linchpin” of Washington’s strategic […]

Afghanistan India

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2012

Turkey’s Prudent Management Ends Syria Crisis

By Ross Wilson

Four days after Syria’s downing of a Turkish F-4 fighter aircraft, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought the crisis to a close by securing NATO support, reporting its views to the UN Security Council, complaining formally to Damascus, and altering the rules of engagement along the 500-plus mile border with its neighbor […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2012

In the United States-Pakistan Impasse the Winner Is Russia

By Sarwar Kashmeri

The continuing impasse between the United States and Pakistan over the accidental killing by American forces of 24 Pakistani soldiers last November means Pakistani territory is off-limits for the evacuation of American and NATO military equipment from Afghanistan.

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Jun 26, 2012

Why NATO Won’t Go To War Over Syria Shooting Down Turkish Jet

By James Joyner

This week, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) will meet at Turkey’s request to discuss what NATO should do in response to Syria shooting down a Turkish F-4 last week. The short answer will almost certainly be: not much.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2012

European Political Union: What Would it Look Like?

By Julian Lindley-French

Cicero, that great defender of the Roman Republic and implacable opponent of those that would abuse power in the name of the people once said, “Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscene than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system”.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jun 25, 2012

Why Iran Shouldn’t Get the Bomb: The Limits of IR Theory

By Robert Manning

In an essay creating shock and awe amongst the chattering class, Kenneth Waltz, one of the nation’s most prominent International Relations (IR) scholars and the doyen of the “realist” school tries to make the case “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs. While in some respects, this provocation is […]

Iran

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