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.

Diplomacy is the Least Damaging Option with Iran

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

Nov 10, 2011

Diplomacy is the Least Damaging Option with Iran

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

When it comes to Iran, the best is consistently the enemy of the good. The International Atomic Energy Agency report issued on Tuesday affirms what western governments already know or believe: that for all the sanctions and diplomacy, Iran continues to make steady progress toward producing a nuclear weapon. We might be able to make […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2011

Why Obama Should Take Out Iran’s Nuclear Program

By Eric S. Edelman Andrew F. Krepinevich Jr. and Evan Braden

The November 8 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report casts further doubt on Iran’s continual claims that its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful use.

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2011

Italy Too Big To Fail, Too Big to Save

By James Joyner

Overnight, Italy has replaced Greece as the poster child for the Eurozone crisis. While political will stood in the way of fixing Greece, Italy may be beyond fixing. Nobel economist and NYT columnist Paul Krugman snarked, "This is the way the euro ends. Not with a bang but with bunga-bunga." But, as the main feature in his own […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2011

NATO’s New Math: 600, 2012, and 0

By Harlan Ullman

Next May, NATO will have its biannual heads of government summit in Chicago. Few Americans are interested in or know much about NATO these days. Fewer are aware of this forthcoming summit and the crucial challenges facing the alliance and threatening its cohesion. The numbers in the headline — 600, 2012 and 0 — reflect […]

International Organizations NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2011

Iran Nuclear Watchdog Details Pre-2003 Weapons Research

By Barbara Slavin

A new report on Iran’s nuclear programme provides substantial evidence that Iran carried out extensive research into how to make a nuclear weapon prior to 2003 but is shaky about how much work has continued. Citing “a wide variety of independent sources”, including material from 10 member states and from a foreign scientist who worked […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2011

More than Liberia’s Fragile Democracy at Risk

By Peter Pham

No country in Africa is linked as closely to the United States as Liberia, a state that traces its origins to a philanthropic enterprise initiated by a group of prominent Americans authorized by a Congressional charter to establish a “land of liberty” for manumitted African American slaves as well as victims of the banned transatlantic […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 8, 2011

Iran Nuclear Threat: What’s Next?

By Barbara Slavin

A new report released Tuesday by the International Atomic Energy Agency makes clear that Tehran has carried out extensive research into making a nuclear weapon. But it does not explain what the United States and the rest of the world should do. The Iranian government, according to U.S. intelligence officials, has not yet decided to […]

Iran Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Nov 8, 2011

Israeli Strike on Iran’s Nukes a Real Danger

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Iran’s nuclear ambitions predate the clerical dictatorship that overthrew the monarchy in 1979. The late last monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, reached the same conclusion when Britain, in 1968, suddenly relinquished all of its geopolitical responsibilities east of Suez — from Singapore to the Suez Canal, including the Persian Gulf and the oil that then […]

Iran Israel

New Atlanticist

Nov 8, 2011

A New Paradigm

By Shahid Javed Burki

The decision on November 2 by the Pakistani cabinet to grant the ‘Most Favoured Nation’ (MFN) status to India in matters pertaining to trade is a tectonic shift in the country’s relations with its large neighbour. India awarded the MFN status to Pakistan in 1996 soon after joining the World Trade Organisation. Pakistan was also […]

Economy & Business India

New Atlanticist

Nov 7, 2011

NATO ‘No Planning, No Discussion, No Thought’ of Syria Intervention

By James Joyner

NATO has had “no planning, no discussion, and no thought” of action in Syria, declared Ivo Daalder, the US permanent representation to NATO. In a speech to the Atlantic Council on the eve of a meeting with President Obama and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Daalder focused on the successes and lessons learned from the operation […]

NATO Security & Defense

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