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.

Foreign Policy Challenges That Will Keep People Awake at Night

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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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

Jan 26, 2012

Foreign Policy Challenges That Will Keep People Awake at Night

By Harlan Ullman

Suppose the very unpredictable and nasty surprises that befell presidential hopeful Mitt Romney last week somehow afflicted global politics on a far grander scale?

Syria

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2012

The State of the Union: A Missed Opportunity

By Riley Barnes

The State of the Union (SOTU) address is not usually focused on foreign policy, and rightfully so. With our current economic woes, education problems, and immigration issues, we have plenty of reason to look inward. Still, President Obama missed a great opportunity last night—one that would have only required a sentence or two. I found […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2012

New Sanctions Aimed at Averting Wider Conflict

By Barbara Slavin

European countries are imposing unprecedented sanctions against Iran in part in hopes of preventing an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear installations that could further destabilize the Middle East and wreak havoc on the global economy. The decision Monday by the European Union to phase out purchases of Iranian oil by Jul. 1 is timed to […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 25, 2012

Dancing With the Taliban

By Sarwar Kashmeri

As the United States begins its peace-dance with the Taliban it is worth remembering that on the dance floor the Taliban always believe in leading.

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2012

Precursor to Pakistani Coup?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The prime minister stood before the Supreme Court and explained that “while he accepted the majesty of the law and the majesty of the supreme court,” he couldn’t arrest the president of the country on charges of bribery as he enjoys “immunity under the constitution.” Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had answered the […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2012

Civil Disobedience in Cyberspace: A Tale of Two Online Protests

By Jason Healey

Cyberspace brings us ever-changing technologies and resulting social norms, some of which are often in tension with more traditional conventions. Nowhere is this tension more apparent than between intellectual property rights and free sharing of information online. Two recent online protests – one criminal and largely a failure, the other legal and successful – illustrate the […]

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2012

What to do about Iran

By R. Nicholas Burns

What to do about an increasingly truculent and threatening Iran is now the most important foreign policy challenge of 2012.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2012

Capitalism Sowing Seeds of its Own Destruction

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

“Capitalism in Crisis,” the front-page banner headline shouted. “The code that forms a bar to harmony” was the inside-page headline, suggesting a secret code that concealed a sinister plot to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer. “The enrichment of bankers, corporate chiefs, flash traders and their cronies is testing tolerance of inequality,” said […]

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jan 20, 2012

Empathy with the Ayatollah

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

“Empathize with your enemy.” It is the first of eleven lessons offered by the former US Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara in the award-winning 2002 documentary “Fog of War.”

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 19, 2012

The Republican Party’s Multiple Circular Firing Squads

By Harlan Ullman

On the current trajectory (and assuming that no untoward events change the calculus before November), Barack Obama seems well on his way to winning a second term in the White House. Of the reasons for this prediction, three stand out: Republicans, Republicans and still more Republicans. With uncanny precision, the Republican Party and its membership, […]

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