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.

UK Defense Secretary: Europe Failing to Meet Responsibilities

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 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.

New Atlanticist

Jan 4, 2012

The Turkish Roundabout

By Ashraf Ghani

As the eurozone experiences the worst crisis in its history, at least one country — Turkey — is happily on the outside looking in.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jan 4, 2012

Geostrategic Signals and Noise

By Harlan Ullman

Are we hearing the sounds of geostrategic and economic time bombs ticking around the world? Or are these sounds simply noise, static or imagined that since Sept. 11, 2001, and the 2008 financial meltdowns have been amplified into deafening proportions?

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2012

Winning the Iran Debate

By James Joyner

National War College professor Bernard Finel makes an excellent point about why the hawks have the upper hand in the “war with Iran” debate. While he’s specifically taking to task recent columns by Stephen Walt, the argument applies equally to those, like myself, who have been arguing the folly of military action against Iran’s nukes: [T]he […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2012

Welcome to the Twenty-First Century. It Starts Right Now!

By Julian Lindley-French

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. My 2012 started here in my beautiful little Dutch village chatting with my nice Dutch neighbours amid the clatter of many thousands of burning Euros being shot into the sky or exploding in brief, bright and brilliant suns.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2012

The Islamist threat to Africa’s rise in 2012

By J. Peter Pham

The biggest story out of Africa last year did not occupy the headlines the way dramatic revolutions in the Maghreb, civil strife in West Africa, the independence of South Sudan, famine in the Horn of Africa, piracy off the Somali coast, fraud-ridden elections in the ironically-named Democratic Republic of the Congo, and various other developments […]

Extremism Sahel

New Atlanticist

Dec 23, 2011

Ukraine-EU Summit a Missed Opportunity

By Adrian Karatnycky

The recently concluded Ukraine-EU summit was neither a grand failure nor a resounding success.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Dec 23, 2011

The Birth of Bangladesh and the War That Didn’t Happen

By Mahbub Sarwar

Over the weekend Bangladesh celebrated its 40th year of independence from Pakistan. The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 is an example of the often contradictory machinations that characterized the Cold War.

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