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

Jan 9, 2012

The War on Terror is Over

By Magnus Nordenman

Historians may look back at 2011 as the year that the war on terror finally ended. Counterterrorism was not removed from America’s security policy tool box but it no longer serves as a strategic priority and no longer guides how the US structures its relations with nations around the world or thinks and plans for […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 9, 2012

Current Woes Call for Smart Reinvention Not Destruction

By Lawrence Summers

It would have been almost unimaginable five years ago that the Financial Times would convene a series of articles on “Capitalism in Crisis”. That it has done so is a reflection both of sour public opinion and distressing results on the ground in much of the industrial world.

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jan 9, 2012

How to Save the Global Economy: Get Better Data

By Paul Saffo

The 2008 crash was more than the start of a recession; it represented the end of what economists James Stock and Mark Watson labeled the “Great Moderation,” a two-decade period of low business cycle volatility, moderate inflation, moderate unemployment, and steady industrial production.

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Jan 9, 2012

We Are All Europeans Now

By Alexander Mirtchev

The broadening cracks in the European economic framework now appear to be undermining the whole European structure, as if a ‘contagion’ is spreading from the Southern European economies outwards.

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Jan 6, 2012

Erdoğan Consolidates Civilian Rule in Turkey

By Ross Wilson

The arrest January 6 of retired General İlker Basbuğ, former chief of the general staff, marks yet another turn of the wheel against the Turkish military and a sign of how little fear the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has of moves against civilian rule that have haunted his country’s past. After hours […]

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Jan 6, 2012

Leaner, Meaner and Weaker: The New US Defence Strategy

By Julian Lindley-French

Reality dawned cold yesterday on a grey January Washington. The Americans have now followed their British allies in conceding that after a decade of extended conflict the first line of defence is and must be the US economy.

Europe & Eurasia
United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jan 5, 2012

UK Defense Secretary: No Preemptive Strike on Iran

By James Joyner

While declaring "We would not be in favor of a preemptive strike on Iran," UK defense secretary Philip Hammond vowed that any attempt to disrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz "would be illegal and unsuccessful." Speaking at the Atlantic Council on NATO and the Case for Collective Defense in the 21st Century, […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 5, 2012

UK Defense Secretary: Europe Failing to Meet Responsibilities

By James Joyner

In his first US address since become UK’s defense secretary, Philip Hammond blasted his fellow Europeans for “failing to meet their financial responsibilities to NATO, and so failing to maintain appropriate and proportionate capabilities.” Speaking at the Atlantic Council in advance of a meeting with his US counterpart, Leon Panetta, Hammond declared, “Without strong economies […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Jan 5, 2012

US and Iran War of Words Calculated to Avoid Actual Conflict

By Barbara Slavin

The recent escalation in Iranian threats to blockade oil shipments and attack U.S. Navy vessels are meant to push up the price of oil and divert domestic opinion from an economic crisis but are not likely to lead to a war in the Persian Gulf, in the view of Iran experts.

New Atlanticist

Jan 5, 2012

Pentagon Cutting Warfighters to Prepare for Unlikely China War

By James Joyner

Later today, President Obama and the Pentagon’s senior leaders will unveil a new national security strategy as a harbinger to potential large cuts to the defense budget over the coming decade. Early reports are not promising.

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