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.

Strategic Instability is Inherent in Cyber Conflict

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

Sep 14, 2011

Strategic Instability is Inherent in Cyber Conflict

By Jason Healey and Hannah Pitts

Strategic instability will be an inherent factor in cyber conflict for the foreseeable future, according to preliminary findings of a research effort by the Cyber Conflict Studies Association (CCSA), led by Greg Rattray and James Mulvenon.

Cybersecurity
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 14, 2011

What 9/11 Has Wrought

By Dov Zakheim

Everyday American images of the war on terror—the legacy of 9/11: Government buildings surrounded by ugly concrete blocks. Pennsylvania Avenue, the street that the White House—once known as the “people’s house”—faces, no longer open to traffic. ID cards required everywhere. Airline passengers waiting patiently in line to take off their shoes, belts, jewelry—and to have […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2011

U.S. Risks World-Leader Role

By Chuck Hagel

As the symbols of our nation’s economic and military strength (or prowess) came under attack 10 years ago today, my first thought: “This is the second Pearl Harbor.” As I told a reporter that day, “I don’t think I’m overstating it.”

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2011

Why Ten Years On Britain is Less Secure

By Julian Lindley-French

It has been a bruising decade for Britain. If on 10 September, 2001 an analyst had suggested that within months British forces would be fighting on the ground in Afghanistan, let alone in Iraq less than two years later credentials would have been questioned. 911 quite simply changed all the planning assumptions upon which British […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Sep 12, 2011

Being NATO’s Secretary General on 9/11

By Lord Robertson

Being NATO Secretary General is always a job fraught with challenges and surprises. But on 11 September, 2001, Lord Robertson had one of the most extraordinary experiences of any NATO Secretary General. Here, he recounts how the day panned out. At NATO Headquarters in Brussels, it was just an ordinary Tuesday. One which was to […]

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 12, 2011

9/11 Ten Years After

By Ioan Mircea Pascu

10 years after 9/11 at the current rapid pace of time are enough to permit a general evaluation of its consequences and, therefore, significance. Of course, the question: “what would have been the US foreign policy without 9/11?” will always remain … Personally, in retrospect, I am of the opinion that the US reaction, particularly […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2011

Paying the Consequences of 9/11 Overreach

By Chuck Hagel

Every American who is at least 20 years old remembers where he or she was on that sunny September morning 10 years ago. Sept. 11, 2001, was one of the most transformative events in the history of America. And its consequences rippled across the globe. This historic attack on the United States set in motion […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2011

Deterrence for the post-9/11 era

By Barry Pavel & Matthew Kroenig

Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker’s new book, Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign Against al Qaeda, credits our role in developing the first US government-wide strategy for deterring terrorist networks. They write that we “crafted a briefing to make the case that a combination of efforts — economic, diplomatic, military, political, and psychological … could in fact […]

Terrorism

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2011

Key Resignation Another Blow to Eurozone Stability

By James Joyner

The markets took another hard hit today following the abrupt resignation of Jürgen Stark, Germany’s member of the European Central Bank’s board. The euro hit six month lows against the dollar, bank stocks tumbled five percent, the Dow was down 3 percent, and the FTSE All-World index fell 3.07 percent amid near certainty that Greece would […]

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2011

The End of Twentieth-Century Warfare

By Anne-Marie Slaughter

9/11 was the defining event of the new millennium, but not for the reasons we thought for most of the ensuing decade. For most of that period we would have pointed to 9/11 as the beginning of twenty-first century warfare: perpetual vigilance and probing pre-emptive strikes against an ill-defined, global, networked and largely non-state enemy. […]

United States and Canada

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