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.

Russian Elections: US and Europe Must Rethink the ‘Reset’

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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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.

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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2012

Russian Elections: US and Europe Must Rethink the ‘Reset’

By Kurt Volker

As Vladimir Putin is set to return to the presidency after Russian elections March 4, the US and Europe must rethink the “reset” policy that has guided their approach to Moscow for the past several years. Russia is experiencing the most dynamic period of political activity it has seen since the time of Boris Yeltsin. […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2012

Putin’s Return and NATO-Russia Relations: Back to the Future

By Jakub Kulhanek

Shocking no one, Vladimir Putin will return to the Russian presidency following Sunday’s election. While it remains to be seen how the people who already took to the streets after the Duma elections respond to his return to the Kremlin, there is little doubt that Russia is entering uncharted waters of domestic uncertainty and possible […]

NATO
Russia

New Atlanticist

Mar 5, 2012

Big Weekend for the Big Brothers

By Julian Lindley-French

This has been a big weekend for the big brothers. Vladimir Putin somehow managed to get himself ‘re-elected’ as Russian president. (He should next time try to become EU President as the system is by and large the same.)

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Mar 2, 2012

Why Wars Start and Why Wars Are Lost

By Harlan Ullman

As the White House defuses efforts to restart a 21st-century variant of the ancient Persian wars through a pre-emptive, presumptive Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, history offers several stark warnings and lessons about starting and losing wars to be ignored at our risk. After the 10-month-long Franco-Prussian war of 1870 in which the […]

Nuclear Nonproliferation
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Mar 2, 2012

The Long Arm of the Volcker Rule

By Ben Carliner

The new Volcker Rule seeks to prevent banks that are ‘too big to fail’ from trading on their own account. The idea is that institutions that benefit from public guarantees like deposit insurance and the central banks’ lender of last resort function shouldn’t be allowed to make risky bets that will fall to the taxpayer […]

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Mar 2, 2012

The Case for Arming Syria’s Opposition

By Stephen J. Hadley

The moral case for arming Syrians seeking their freedom has become overwhelming. The world has rarely seen such courage, fortitude and restraint. Despite an unrelenting crackdown by the Assad regime, brave Syrians have kept up their civil resistance campaign for 11 months. Despite systematic attacks by Syrian armed forces killing thousands and wounding tens of […]

Syria

New Atlanticist

Mar 2, 2012

Calm Israel, Contain Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Foreign policy experts and politicians will be scrutinizing US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu next week for signs of disagreement as they sequentially address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington.

New Atlanticist

Mar 1, 2012

Ukraine, Like Russia, Is Becoming a ‘Virtual Mafia State’

By Taras Kuzio

Yuriy Lutsenko, former Interior Minister in two governments led by Yulia Tymoshenko, was sentenced this week to four years imprisonment and given a three years ban from public office.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 29, 2012

Libya: the Transition Clock

By Julian Lindley-French

PRISM, the Journal for the Center for Complex Operations at the National Defense University in Washington, has just published a significant article of mine entitled, “Libya: The Transition Clock.”

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 29, 2012

A Historical Parallel on the Possible but Unwanted War With Iran

By Ioan Mircea Pascu

In the 1980s, the academic world witnessed the appearance of a relatively sudden interest in the beginnings of the First World War. In essence, the great majority of studies devoted to the subject concentrated themselves on the “mechanics” of its initiation. Indeed, due to those “mechanics” – a combination of mobilizations and war declarations – […]

Iran

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