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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.

A Greek Exit From the Euro Would Lead to Chaos

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.

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A Greek Exit From the Euro Would Lead to Chaos

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

A Greek Exit From the Euro Would Lead to Chaos

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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Content

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2012

A Greek Exit From the Euro Would Lead to Chaos

By Alexei Monsarrat

A few weeks ago there was a wild rumor that Greece’s debt crisis had been dealt with. The hope was that with enough debt relief and a “managed” default, Europe had bought time for global growth to lift the Greek economy, and Greek politicians would wring the country through massive austerity. This was a misread […]

European Union
Greece

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2012

Welcome to Merklande?

By Julian Lindley-French

Tal-y-Wern, deepest, darkest Wales. Plinlimmon, Cader Idris, and Mount Snowdon slumber around me as I write.  Those great, sleeping Welsh dragons that legend has it will awake in the hour of Cymru’s (Wales) greatest peril.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 16, 2012

Building a New Future for Turkey

By Madeleine K. Albright and Stephen J. Hadley

The crisis in Syria and the confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program have highlighted the renewed importance of one of the oldest and most enduring relationships of the United States: its alliance with Turkey.

Syria
Turkey

New Atlanticist

May 15, 2012

Germany: Economic Powerhouse, Second-Rate Military Power?

By James Joyner

“Germany today is an economic powerhouse, but a second-rate military power,” declares a new Atlantic Council report which warns, “Europe’s future relevance as a global strategic partner of the United States is contingent on Germany taking its full place as a much stronger political and military leader within Europe and the transatlantic Alliance.”

European Union
Germany

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
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