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
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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New Atlanticist

Dec 21, 2011

Mission Not Accomplished

By Harlan Ullman

Last week, the Obama administration announced the end of U.S. engagement in the Iraq war, honoring a campaign promise and the agreement that U.S. President George W. Bush reached with Baghdad to remove combat forces by the end of 2011. But violence and instability in Iraq and the region are far from over. And […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2011

European Worries Over US Commitment a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

By James Joyner

The perennial worry in London about the state of the “special relationship” took a new twist last week, with the chief of the British military chief publicly wondering what America’s Pacific focus will mean for his country’s security. General Sir David Richard, Chief of the Defence Staff, delivering his annual lecture to the Royal United Services […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2011

EU-US Energy Coordination Should Focus on Unconventional Gas

By Alexandros Petersen

Overshadowed by the frantic negotiations to save the Euro-zone, but in many ways no less important, high-level EU and US representatives met in Washington DC at the end of last month to midwife still nascent official cooperation on energy policy between the transatlantic partners.

Energy & Environment European Union

New Atlanticist

Dec 19, 2011

What’s Next for Russia and Putin?

By Anna Borshchevskaya

On December 10, the largest demonstrations since 1991 shook at least 15 cities in Russia. In Moscow, tens of thousands took to the streets, protesting the fraudulent parliamentary elections on December 4.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Dec 19, 2011

The Power of the Powerless: In Memory of Europe’s Great, Ordinary Man

By Julian Lindley-French

Two men died this weekend. One was a towering literary and political figure, one of my heroes, a man who understood change and freedom and put his life on the line for it. The other was not; resisting change and freedom at all costs in the defence of an extreme version of a failed idea […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 16, 2011

Iran Hedges Its Bets on Syria

By Barbara Slavin

Iran is courting the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, seeking to maintain a crucial alliance in the event that Assad falls. So far, Iranian officials have met at least twice with members of the National Coordinating Committee (NCC). The Damascus-based group opposes foreign intervention in Syria and advocates reform to resolve the nine-month-old […]

Iran Syria

New Atlanticist

Dec 16, 2011

A Week is a Long Time in High and Low Politics

By Julian Lindley-French

In 1964 former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson said, “A week is a long time in politics”. This has been a very long week for both high and low politics.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 16, 2011

Beware the Arab Spring

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

To those who hail the “Arab Spring” and the first free elections in Egypt in 60 years, a prominent Israeli responded, “Remember Mussolini, remember Hitler.”

New Atlanticist

Dec 15, 2011

Gates Renews Warning of Dim and Dismal Future for NATO

By Jorge Benitez

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has revisited perhaps the most controversial speech in his career.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Dec 15, 2011

Unfinished Business

By Frank Klotz Susan Koch and Franklin Miller

In September 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced a series of sweeping measures fundamentally reshaping the American nuclear arsenal. One of them called for all U.S. ground-force tactical nuclear weapons to be returned from overseas bases and dismantled.

Nuclear Nonproliferation Russia

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