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
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

May 12, 2011

Atlantic Update 5/12/11

By Klee Aiken

Arctic powers gather in Greenland for the latest Arctic Council ministerial, Denmark moves forward with the rollback of Schengen, the road ahead is clear for the Portugal bail out with Finland expected to support it. The British Navy laments the loss of its carrier strike capabilities and Bulgaria shrugs off its black economy as better […]

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2011

Saving the U.S.-Pakistan Relationship

By Harlan Ullman

Make no mistake! The U.S.-Pakistan relationship is in its most fragile and vulnerable condition since the founding of Pakistan more than six decades ago. Good and bad reasons have created a trust deficit that is still metastasizing. Operation Geronimo and the incursion deep into Pakistan by U.S. Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden without […]

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2011

Berlin 1961: East German Puppet Pulls Soviet Strings

By Frederick Kempe

East German leader Walter Ulbricht had never written a letter of greater consequence. He wanted Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev to quit making excuses, to quit dithering and to finally launch a bold Berlin move that would stop the refugee bleed and his country’s economic decline. Though his letter to Khrushchev was marked SECRET, Ulbricht […]

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2011

Atlantic Update 5/11/11

By Klee Aiken

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle backs EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton, as Lady Ashton opens a diplomatic mission in Benghazi and overseas the imposition of a Syrian arms embargo. Brussels might just come out ahead in its emergency loans to Portugal, however with riots hitting the streets in Greece, it is clear the financial […]

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2011

Why the U.S. Still Needs Pakistan

By Shuja Nawaz

When Pakistan’s first military ruler Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan soured on the relationship with the United States, he released his memoirs in 1967 entitled “Friends not Masters” to describe what Pakistan sought in this relationship. Two years later and in the middle of celebrating his “Decade of Development,” he was forced out of office […]

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2011

The U.S. and Pakistan after Bin Laden

By Don Snow

As the details of the stunning American Navy SEALS raid that killed Osama bin Laden last Sunday filter into the public view, one controversy seems to be brewing much more obviously and openly than any other. That concern is the role of Pakistan in providing the sanctuary in which bin Laden apparently existed for upwards […]

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2011

Nuking NATO

By Julian Lindley-French

Tallinn, Estonia. Sitting here on the banks of the serene Baltic in a beautiful city founded by eighth century Danish knights it is difficult to imagine the tsunamis of violent history that have washed over this place. And yet, for the past two days I have been discussing a seismic shift in NATO’s nuclear reality […]

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2011

Mind What You Celebrate

By David Smith

This week marks the 66th anniversary of the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany, recognized in the West on May 8 and in the East on May 9. Thus an important chapter in the greatest conflagration in human history was closed—the war in the Pacific raged on for another three months. The epic Allied victory is well worth […]

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2011

Infographic: Debt Owed to German Banks

By James Joyner

Doug Saunders, the European Bureau Chief for Canada’s The Globe and the Mail, passes along the above infographic from Spiegel. It explains a lot about German anxiousness about the goings-on in the Eurozone. James Joyner is managing editor of the Atlantic Council.

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2011

Atlantic Update 5/9/11

By Klee Aiken

Today is all about the European economy, with the ‘big four’ holding secretive talks over Greece, Ireland receiving a loan rate reduction, while a "financial bomb" is diffused in Belgium. Libyan rebels look forward to Italian arms, an expectation quelled by Italy’s insistence that they will only include "self-defense material." Perhaps the Dutch could satiate […]

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