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

Stay updated

Explore our unique analysis

Fast Thinking

When major global news breaks, the Atlantic Council’s experts have you covered—delivering their sharpest rapid insight and forward-looking analysis direct to your inbox.

Experts React

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.

Markup

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

New Atlanticist

Feb 3, 2012

A Leaner NATO Needs a Tighter Focus

By Hans Binnendijk

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have an opportunity this weekend as they address the Munich Security Conference to suggest ways to stabilize NATO’s ailing defense capabilities. European nations have slashed their defense budgets to record low levels without much regard for NATO’s overall defense requirements. And last week […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Feb 3, 2012

Early Afghanistan Withdrawal Least Bad Option

By James Joyner

The Obama administration’s acceleration of its Afghanistan withdrawal deadline to 2013, a year earlier than planned, is a break with America’s commitment to its NATO and Afghan allies, an abandonment of a mission Obama deemed “essential” in his 2008 campaign, and kills any chances of negotiating an acceptable settlement with the Taliban. It’s also the right thing […]

Afghanistan
NATO

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2012

Post-American Iraq: Forgotten Piece of Land?

By Anna Borshchevskaya

The last convoy of US soldiers pulled out of Iraq on December 18, 2011, leaving Iraqis with mixed feelings: pride in gained sovereignty, but anxiety about sectarian violence and the inability of Iraq’s security forces to maintain peace on their own. While publically Iraqis may have supported the withdrawal, in private, they often expressed reservations. […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2012

The Splintering of Al Shabaab

By Bronwyn Bruton & Peter Pham

For the better part of five years, much of Somalia’s long-suffering population has been caught in a deadly stalemate between al Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked militant group, and African Union peacekeepers, known as AMISOM. The peacekeepers are tasked with defending the country’s weak Transitional Federal Government (TFG), which, despite years of backing from regional powers […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2012

With Syria, Don’t Repeat Yemen Mistake

By Danya Greenfield

Efforts to halt the killing in Syria shifted to the UN Security Council yesterday, where its members debated a draft resolution proposed by Morocco to end Bashar Al Assad’s reign of terror. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and foreign ministers from Britain, France, and other nations urged passage of the resolution, with Clinton pleading that […]

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2012

Outside View: Revolutions ahoy?

By Harlan Ullman

Alas poor Marx, Engels and Lenin. After being entirely discredited and disproved by the collapse of the Soviet Union and its communist ideology and repudiated by China’s embrace of market capitalism, perhaps they weren’t necessarily wrong. Instead, perhaps they were simply a century too early in their revolutionary aspirations! Their thesis was empowered by the […]

Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2012

Time for the EU to End Double Standards on Corruption

By Taras Kuzio

A resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on January 26 called for the release of political prisoners in Ukraine, including former prime minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko with “the possible consideration of sanctions if the Assembly’s demands are not met.”

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2012

The Euro Crisis and Foreign Policy: Europe Has an Idea

By Sven Biscop

The core idea of the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy is that lasting peace and stability can only exist where governments guarantee their citizens security, prosperity, freedom, and equality.

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Jan 31, 2012

Is This David Cameron’s Munich?

By Julian Lindley-French

It is not without historical irony that the only other country to stand with Britain over the Fiscal Compact at yesterday’s EU Summit was the Czech Republic which Chamberlain sold out to Hitler at Munich in 1938. Last night Martin Callanan, the leader of British Conservatives in the European Parliament accused the Prime Minister of […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 27, 2012

Deterring Iran: The Return to American Statecraft

By Julian Lindley-French

On the tomb of Tamburlaine, King of Persia, there is a dread inscription, “When I rise, the world will tremble”. Faced with Tehran’s seeming determination to develop nuclear weapons the march towards confrontation this week quickened. After threats from Iran to close the oil-vital Straits of Hormuz an American aircraft carrier was joined in the […]

European Union
International Organizations

Share

Issue briefs and reports