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.

Flying Crocodiles: The Latest Russian Position On Missile Defense Cooperation with NATO

New Atlanticist
Mar 6, 2025

How European leaders are responding to Trump’s approach to Ukraine and Europe

From London and Berlin to Paris and Brussels, European leaders have taken several notable steps this week on security. This follows the blow-up between the Ukrainian and US presidents on February 28.

New Atlanticist
Feb 26, 2025

Why the US should not lift sanctions against Russia

By
Charles Lichfield

Sanctions are having an unmistakable effect, albeit below the inflated expectations of many in the West in early 2022. Lifting them now would be a mistake.

Conflict
Economic Sanctions

New Atlanticist
Mar 5, 2025

The Egyptian plan for postwar Gaza is a good starting point—but it needs changes

By
Thomas S. Warrick

While many obstacles remain, the Egyptian proposal could form the starting point for negotiations over a workable plan for postwar Gaza.

Conflict
Crisis Management

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New Atlanticist

Jul 5, 2011

Flying Crocodiles: The Latest Russian Position On Missile Defense Cooperation with NATO

By Barry Pavel

The Russian government is working hard to evolve their latest position opposing cooperation with NATO on a range of potential missile defense projects. The latest from Dimitry Rogozin, Russian Ambassador to NATO and Special Envoy of President Medvedev on Missile Defense Cooperation with NATO, is that “crocodiles will fly” before any Middle Eastern nation will […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 5, 2011

How to get Pakistan to break with Islamic militants

By Zalmay Khalilzad

In his Afghanistan speech last week, President Obama said we must “address terrorist safe havens in Pakistan.” He vowed to “press Pakistan to expand its participation in securing a more peaceful future,” “work with the Pakistani government to root out the cancer of violent extremism” and “insist that it keep its commitments.”

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 5, 2011

Azerbaijan, Armenia will ‘soon be left on their own’ to resolve Karabakh

By Jason Harmala

Borut Grgic, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, and a member of the advisory board of the European Policy Institute, was interviewed by News.Az on recent developments in the Azerbaijan-Armenia relationship. What are your impressions of the summit in Kazan? Are there grounds for pessimism that no document was signed during this meeting? No, […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 2, 2011

U.S. Continues Carrying Load in Libya Despite Pretense Otherwise

By James Joyner

The Obama administration has been downplaying the American role in Libya. A Thursday report in the Military Times family of newspapers reported that “Air Force and Navy aircraft are still flying hundreds of strike missions over Libya despite the Obama administration’s claim that American forces are playing only a limited support role in the NATO […]

Libya

New Atlanticist

Jul 1, 2011

American Independence: Time to End the Experiment

By Julian Lindley-French

Dear Yanks, We are prepared to forgive and forget. On 4th July you will commemorate the 235th anniversary of your expulsion from the British Empire for bad behaviour. You are a perverse people, celebrating such a dark day in your history, but there you have it.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jul 1, 2011

Dominque Strauss-Kahn Released, Renewing ‘Rush to Judgment’ Questions

By James Joyner

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been released on his own recognizance and freed from house arrest after prosecutors concluded that his accuser lacked credibility. This raises anew questions in Europe about the American justice system. The New York Times broke the background story overnight (“Strauss-Kahn Case Seen as in Jeopardy“): The sexual assault case against Dominique […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 1, 2011

The Greek Crisis: Past, Present, and Future

By Hugh De Santis

It is hard to see how the Greek crisis can end up as a positive sum game for Greece and the European Union. The Greek electorate will almost certainly not accept the hardship of endless austerity as the price to be paid for the restoration of economic solvency. Nor will taxpayers in Germany, Holland, and other […]

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Jun 30, 2011

Hezbollah Members Indicted for Rafiq Hariri Assassination. What Now?

By James Joyner

The United Nations tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri has handed down indictments making official what has long been assumed: Hezbollah terrorists were the culprits. Roula Khalaf, Middle East editor for the FT: A United Nations-backed international tribunal has asked Lebanon to arrest members of the Shia militant group, Hizbollah, […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jun 30, 2011

The Austerity Package Passes: A Greek Tragedy?

By Garrett Workman

Greece’s Parliament has just narrowly passed a €28 billion austerity package of tax increases and spending cuts: a necessary precondition for the European Union and the IMF to keep Greece on life support. So even with crushing unemployment, and the near-constant protests on the streets of Athens turning violent, Greece’s Socialist majority eked out a ‘yes’ […]

Economy & Business Greece

New Atlanticist

Jun 30, 2011

Time for Unity in Europe

By Carles Castello-Catchot

There has not been a time in recent years in which Europe, both as an idea and as a viable political and economic institution, has faced tougher times.

Southern & Southeastern Europe

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