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
Jul 29, 2025

The Russia pressure menu: Options to convince Putin to negotiate on Ukraine

As the US president cuts his deadline for Russia to ten days, there are several options for him to increase pressure on Moscow to pursue peace.

New Atlanticist
Jul 24, 2025

Dispatch from Manila: A lesson in calling out Chinese maritime aggression

By
Markus Garlauskas, Philip W. Yu

As the Philippines has focused more on Chinese threats to itself, Manila also seems increasingly inclined to see its own security as connected to that of the broader region.

China
Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist
Jul 1, 2025

The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

By
Kimberly Donovan

To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.

Economic Sanctions
Iran

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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

Oct 5, 2011

Nord Stream Winners and Losers

By Morgan Aronson

The Nord Stream pipeline, a $10 billion venture that opened last month, will allow Russia to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas directly to Germany, bypassing the traditional transit countries in Eastern and Central Europe. This has the potential to destabilize political relationships in Europe by transforming Russia from a merely influential player […]

Energy & Environment Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 5, 2011

License to Kill?

By Harlan Ullman

Last Friday, at the retirement ceremony of U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen, U.S. President Barack Obama began his valedictory remarks expanding on the news flash that U.S.-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki had been killed by a U.S. airstrike. In what would be a well-deserved tribute to the admiral, the president also reminded the […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 4, 2011

Russian Musical Chairs: A Country on the Stop

By Ross Wilson

President Dmitri Medvedev’s public dressing down and dismissal of his country’s deputy prime minister and finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, on September 26 has attracted widespread attention in Russia and abroad.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 4, 2011

The Train Wreck

By Shuja Nawaz

Complicated and fraught, U.S.-Pakistan relations took a turn for the worse with Adm. Mike Mullen’s Sept. 22 testimony before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in which he all but declared Pakistan as sponsoring terrorism in Afghanistan. Admiral Mullen referred to evidence linking Inter-Services Intelligence to the attacks: “Extremist organizations serving as proxies of the […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 4, 2011

Medvedev Thinks He’s President of Russia

By James Joyner

The recent news that Vladimir Putin would be running for his old office as president of Russia was greeted by bemusement with many Western observers, myself included, who have been under the impression that Putin has been running the country from a different chair and that little would change. One person who seems not to […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 4, 2011

Europe’s Sovereign Liquidity Crisis

By Ben Carliner

It really is a shame about Greece. Not that the Greeks deserve sympathy for fudging the numbers to qualify for Euro accession, or their culture of tax evasion, or the political patronage that defines their public sector. Rather, it is a shame that Greece collapsed first. No other European economy is guilty of the types […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Oct 3, 2011

Cyberterror is Aspirational Blather

By Jason Healey

The Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative recently hosted a conference call to discuss the terrorist use of the Internet and how it has evolved in the ten years since 9/11.

New Atlanticist

Oct 3, 2011

Euro-Crash! Now, Britain! Now’s Your Time!

By Julian Lindley-French

At the climax of the Battle of Waterloo Napoleon’s Imperial Guard tried to force the road to Brussels. The Brigade of Guards was waiting in ambush. “Now Maitland! Now’s your time!” Wellington thundered. Immediately the Guards emerged from the long grass and fired volley after volley into the Old Guard until for the first time […]

United Kingdom

Europe After The Vote

Oct 3, 2011

Europe’s Imperative: Save Greece, Save Itself

By Hilda Ochoa-Brillembourg

Effective crisis resolution tragically requires a dynamic and subtle management of seemingly disparate objectives: building character versus building confidence. And “tragically” is the right adverb, because the European actors–Germany on one side, and most of Europe on the other–are clashing to destructive effect in negotiating these tradeoffs. Germany is intent on building “character” among the […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Sep 30, 2011

When Can a President Order an American Killed?

By James Joyner

Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen alleged to be a senior al-Qaeda figure, was reportedly killed this morning in Yemen by an American drone strike. President Obama reportedly authorized his assassination more than two years ago and several unsuccessful attempts had previously been made. This raises troubling questions about the limits of presidential power.

Politics & Diplomacy

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