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.

Syria: Tragic Epicentre of the New Great Game

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.

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New Atlanticist

Feb 13, 2012

Syria: Tragic Epicentre of the New Great Game

By Julian Lindley-French

Rudyard Kipling’s famous 19th century novel Kim is set against the background of the Great Game, the fight for supremacy over Central Asia between the British and Russian Empires. The book’s hero captures the essence of the struggle with a simple, chilling phrase, “The Great Game is not over until everyone is dead. Not before.”

Syria

New Atlanticist

Feb 10, 2012

The Damning Merits of Invasion

By Daniel Trombly

As noted in yesterday’s installment, the prospects of solving the humanitarian crisis in Syria through air power alone are nil. Today, we assess the options from the ground.

Syria
United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Feb 9, 2012

Syria Intervention: Ugly Choices

By Daniel Trombly

With Russia and China standing firmly behind Assad’s regime in Syria, it appears increasingly likely that continued violence, and potentially a prolonged civil war, will be the future condition of a country where the opposition is not strong enough to overcome the core elements of the regime’s security forces, and foreign parties lack the willpower […]

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Feb 9, 2012

Israel, Iran and the United States: All Options Are Bad!

By Don Snow

The growing confrontation between Israel and Iran over the Iranian nuclear weapons program is spinning perilously out of hand, and it has within it the seeds of the most potentially dangerous threat to international peace since the Cold War ended over 20 years ago. What we are witnessing is a verbal run-up to a military […]

Iran
Israel

New Atlanticist

Feb 8, 2012

Turkey-US Relations: Dark Clouds on the Horizon

By Ross Wilson

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu comes to Washington this week with more positives in US-Turkish relations than at any time in years. However, upcoming and potentially grave challenges – Syria, Iran, Egypt, and others – mean Turkey and US-Turkish ties will face many risky problems in the months ahead.

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Feb 8, 2012

Italian PM Warns of European Disintegration From Mutual Resentments

By James Joyner

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti fears “backlash” stemming from “mutual resentments” between Northern and Southern Europeans spurred by the financial crisis. Appearing on the PBS NewsHour, Monti declared, “I try to avoid that backlash by always presenting the necessary sacrifices that Italians have to go through not as an imposition from Brussels or Germany or […]

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Feb 8, 2012

Afghanistan: End Game or No Game?

By Harlan Ullman

Last week was another roller coaster ride for international politics. Violence in Egypt; looming civil war in Syria; and threats and counter-threats over Iran’s nuclear intentions reverberated around the international security community intensifying the gathering sense of impending disaster. In Brussels at the NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting followed by the Munich Security Conference the next […]

Afghanistan
NATO

New Atlanticist

Feb 7, 2012

Fixing All the World’s Problems

By Bernard Finel

Okay, I’m king for a day, and I am going to fix all the world’s problems.

New Atlanticist

Feb 6, 2012

Transatlantic Relationship Words at Odds with Deeds

By James Joyner

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said all the right things about the transatlantic relationship at the Munich Security Conference. Alas, Panetta made a mockery of them on his way there. Panetta declared that “peace and prosperity of Europe is critically important to the United States, but because Europe remains […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 6, 2012

China Pivot or Pirouette?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Amid the gazillion blogs, tweets, Facebookies and LinkedIn aficionados, it has become even harder to find reasoned and convincing arguments for what kind of military drawdown would do least harm to the United States’ global posture. Even learned think tanks are tweeting. Retired admirals and generals, professors and journalists, everyone is weighing in with elite […]

China
United States and Canada

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