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.

G-7 Faces Three-Front Battle Against Contagion

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 8, 2011

G-7 Faces Three-Front Battle Against Contagion

By Julie Chon

Tomorrow, finance ministers and central bankers from seven wealthy countries in the developed world will convene in Marseilles, France for their regular meeting to assess the health of the global economy. After a few global gatherings when the economic outlook appeared more promising in 2009 and 2010, the G7 agenda is back to battling contagion […]

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2011

Tragedy, Hope, and 9/11 Remembered

By William B. Caldwell IV

Ten years have passed since the United States suffered tragedy on September 11th, but the implications continue to ripple throughout American discourse and international politics. As we mourned during the weeks and months that followed the attack, Dan Rather wrote, “if any good has come out of such evil, it is this: we have been […]

Afghanistan
United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2011

Ten Years After 9/11 – What Have We Learned?

By Kurt Volker

After a decade defined by the terrorist attacks on the United States, and the reactions and events that followed, one thing is clear: the global advance of core values – freedom, democracy, economic opportunity, human rights and the rule of law – remains the best hope for the future of all people.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2011

Sleepwalking into a Nuclear Nightmare

By Julian Lindley-French

With the West deep in sombre remembrance of 911, a new and dangerous shift in the nuclear balance is taking place in the shadows. There is a New Nuclear Realpolitik afoot that is shaping today’s world… and tomorrow’s. Iran is moving patiently towards a nuclear weapons system. Taken together the empty commitment made towards a […]

Iran
Nuclear Nonproliferation

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2011

American Dream or Americans Dreaming?

By Harlan Ullman

Sometimes, delusion, self-deception and outright denial can dominate the public’s psyche. As the U.S. economy stutters, unemployment refuses to budge and the 10th anniversary of September 11th looms, many Americans question or challenge the notion of the American Dream. For too many, that vision is, today, elusive or unobtainable. In compensation perhaps, America’s past successes […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 6, 2011

Cyber Attacks Against NATO, Then and Now

By Jason Healey

Now that NATO’s Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR over Libya is winding down, it is worth noting how few cyber incidents were directed in protest against the Alliance.

Cybersecurity
NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 6, 2011

Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Eurasian Security in the 21st Century

By Rafael Zhansultanov

As NATO draws down troops from Afghan soil, the continued fight in this beleaguered country and a possible resurgence of the Taliban pose three acute problems to Eurasian security: demographic decline, regional instability, and international terrorism. To cope with these challenges to peace in Eurasia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should take a more comprehensive role in […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2011

Afghan Security Faces Long-Term Challenges

By Barbara Slavin

U.S.-led efforts to build Afghan security forces capable of preventing Taliban resurgence face a series of challenges, from the reluctance of southern Pashtuns to serve in a national army, to maintaining the billions of dollars in infrastructure and equipment provided by the U.S. and other foreign countries over the past decade. Brig. Gen. Guy “Tom” […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2011

Global Con?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Were the United States, France, Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — the NATO-led coalition that set out to overthrow Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s regime — snookered by al-Qaida? A preposterous scenario with some disturbing factual elements. In the early 1990s, when James Woolsey was the director of the CIA, Gadhafi appealed […]

Europe & Eurasia
Libya

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2011

Tough Talk on Debt Crisis

By Hugh De Santis

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and IMF managing director Christine Lagarde have publicly chastised political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic for their failure to develop policies that stimulate economic growth. But given the political divisions in Europe and the US, their blunt talk is not likely to lead to policies that restart the rich […]

Economy & Business
European Union

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