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

Oct 26, 2011

Stupidity May Be the Answer

By Harlan Ullman

In the late 1930’s with the U.S. economy depressed and the march to world war seemingly irreversible, the great American humorist Will Rogers offered his solution to the dire times: Stupidity got us into this mess, he observed, and perhaps stupidity is the only way out! Taking his wisdom to heart, solutions that conventional wisdom […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Oct 25, 2011

Leaving Iraq a Necessary Risk

By James Joyner

President Obama’s surprise announcement Friday that all US forces would leave Iraq in time to be home for the holidays has been roundly condemned. While there are real concerns about what happens next, there was no better alternative. American Security Project senior fellow Michael Cohen dismisses the critiques as “nakedly partisan talking points masquerading as policy disputes.” In some […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Oct 25, 2011

US Troop Deployment to Central Africa: Timing, Risks, and Rewards

By James Cook

Last week, President Obama sent a letter to Congress announcing the deployment of a “small number of combat equipped US forces to Central Africa in order to provide assistance for regional forces that are working towards the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.”

New Atlanticist

Oct 25, 2011

Der Plan and the Onion: Under New Management

By Julian Lindley-French

There is something vaguely disturbing watching a Brussels European Onion summit from afar; especially when the topic is how to waste even more of my money. Watching a few with an awful lot of money in offshore tax havens (the Euro-Aristocracy) instructing a few others on huge tax-free salaries (the Onionistas of the European Omission) […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Oct 25, 2011

Azerbaijan’s Gas Gambit

By Borut Grgic

After splitting from the Soviet Union to chart its own path, Azerbaijan’s journey to present day energy pivot is sprinkled with moments of extreme humanitarian suffering, war, loss of territory, diplomatic uncertainty, and massive advancements in the energy sector. A recent discovery at the Absherone offshore field has elevated the estimated total amount of proven […]

Energy & Environment

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2011

Iraq: A Trillion Dollars Worth of Nothing

By Sarwar Kashmeri

For many Americans, news that the nearly 9-year-old war in Iraq is finally over will evoke feelings of relief but also revulsion. Relief, for the families of the military women and men that are coming home. And revulsion, for the officials and politicians that lacked the courage to prevent this unnecessary war. For me personally, […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2011

As 2012 Polls Loom, Caution’s the Word for Obama Foreign Policy

By Barbara Slavin

U.S. presidents seeking a second term are not known for taking risks in foreign policy in election years. Ronald Reagan quickly withdrew U.S. troops from Lebanon in 1983, a year before he sought re-election, after the U.S. forces there became the target of bombings by Shiite militants. George W. Bush launched the war in Iraq […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2011

Vladimir, Fear the Arab Spring’s Message

By Anna Borshchevskaya

The protests sweeping the Middle East have revolved around economics and accountability. After decades of corrupt and stagnant rule, Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and Syrians found themselves impoverished and no longer willing to acquiesce to dictatorship. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s announcement last month that he would seek a third presidential term raises the possibility that […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2011

Taking Government Back

By Shuja Nawaz

The perhaps incorrectly-named Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States appears to be gaining momentum, and even gaining traction overseas. I say “incorrectly-named” since conversations with the protesters indicate that they wish to take back power from the current representatives of government and not just take over Wall Street. The movement contains a congeries […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2011

A Smart EU Reponse to Yanukovych

By Borut Grgic

The turmoil that has gripped European-Ukrainian relations following the sentencing of Yulia Tymoshenko risks jeopardizing an important strategic relationship, and both sides stand to lose big from this fallout. Whether or not Tymoshenko, Ukraine’s former prime minister, is guilty, was given a fair trial or should be punished for her commercial interests and dealings while […]

European Union International Organizations

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