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
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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New Atlanticist

Feb 27, 2012

On to Chicago: Enter the European Union

By Sven Biscop

At the NATO Summit in Chicago a first assessment of the Alliance’s Smart Defense initiative is expected. As the European Union is invited, the first results of its Pooling & Sharing Initiative will be discussed as well. On the NATO side in particular there is a search for “flagship projects” substantial enough to present to […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 27, 2012

The Rising Cost of Stupidity and Brutality

By Don Snow

The recent flaps concerning indiscretions by American troops in Afghanistan (urinating on Taliban corpses, burning copies of the Quran) and Syrian brutality against its own population have one very common and powerful thread: both were acts that were not intended for widespread public attention or scrutiny but have become, in the new vernacular, “viral.”

New Atlanticist

Feb 27, 2012

British Security Policy: A Mess of Olympic Proportions

By Julian Lindley-French

To paraphrase US President Richard M. Nixon, finishing second in the Olympics gets you silver; finishing second in security risks oblivion.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Feb 24, 2012

The Westphalian System and US Defense Policy

By Derek Reveron

Last week, Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told an audience at the Atlantic Council that building partnership capacity or security force assistance will remain an important component of US defense policy. The talk was grounded in the 2012 strategic defense guidance that notes “building partnership capacity…remains important for sharing the costs and responsibilities of global leadership. Across the […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Feb 24, 2012

The European Union and the Syrian Gridlock

By Vivien Pertusot

The United Nations account of the 8317 dead and counting in Syria is disturbing, even more so as the international community remains divided and actions to curb violence have proved unsuccessful. In this apparent gridlock, the European Union has adopted a hard-pressed and steady posture against the regime. The pressure may be growingly biting, yet […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 23, 2012

Afghan Outrage: Burned Books, Mayhem, and Mass Murder

By James Joyner

At least nine people have been killed and dozens wounded so far in a series of riots across Afghanistan reacting to news that some Islamic religious materials were burned along with the trash by American troops. President Obama this morning added his “deep regret” and “sincere apologies” to a long list by other US and […]

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Feb 23, 2012

Where Next for US-China Relations?

By Banning Garrett

The change in leaders in China is perhaps less significant than a new administration taking power in the United States, especially if the new US administration is from the party previously out of power. Xi Jinping has been part of the ruling administration for years. There will be new faces taking Politburo and Standing Committee […]

China

New Atlanticist

Feb 23, 2012

The World Depends on the Future of Greece and Iran

By Harlan Ullman

What a tense and chilling time internationally! Economically and financially, markets and bourses remain fixated on what happens, or doesn’t, in relatively tiny Greece. For the moment, bulls may be eclipsing bears in resolving the Greek debt crisis — but only for the moment.

Greece Iran

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2012

The Wrong Somalia Conference

By Peter Pham

British Prime Minister David Cameron is hosting a major international conference tomorrow involving senior representatives of some forty countries and multilateral organizations. The agenda that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has laid out for the conferees is ambitious, to say the least: the mandarins of Whitehall are giving themselves all of five hours to get […]

Somalia

New Atlanticist

Feb 22, 2012

Smart Defense Requires Smarter Defense Education

By Julian Lindley-French

Because the Euro crisis is not only disconnecting European security from world security but also turning many European armed forces into little more than armed pensions, something radical needs to be done to bridge the abyss between strategy and austerity through which our armed forces are now falling.

European Union International Organizations

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