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

Apr 29, 2011

A European Perspective on NATO in Libya

By Jason Harmala

The conflict in Libya is NATO’s first war without America in the lead. What is the reaction in Europe? The Dutch just announced a drastic cut in their defense budget. How are they reacting to the Libyan campaign? Will there be European boots on the ground in Libya?In the latest installment of the New Atlanticist […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2011

What Is the Future of NATO?

By Joshua Foust

Yesterday I had the great pleasure to participate in a roundtable at The Atlantic Council, where we discussed the future of NATO in light of the Libyan intervention.

New Atlanticist

Apr 29, 2011

Atlantic Update 4/29/11

By Klee Aiken

The newly married Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tie the knot on the eve of Koninginnedag in the Netherlands. Russia outlines its version of European missile defense, while the Economist warns of the trouble ahead for the Schengen "project", and Turkish daily Hürriyet describes Turkey’s own project as "crazy."

New Atlanticist

Apr 28, 2011

Meet the New NATO

By Jorge Benitez

Last November, President Barack Obama wrote that NATO would “transform itself” at the Lisbon Summit through “a new Strategic Concept that recognizes the capabilities and partners we need to meet the new threats of the 21st century.”

New Atlanticist

Apr 28, 2011

Learning from Afghan History

By Derek Reveron

Today marks Victory Day in Afghanistan, the anniversary of the Mujahedeen overthrow of the Afghan socialist government in 1992. While a cause for celebration in Afghanistan, the subsequent years were marked by civil war, Taliban consolidation, and eventual intervention by the United States in 2001.

New Atlanticist

Apr 28, 2011

Atlantic Update 4/28/11

By Klee Aiken

In the shadow of the French-Italian efforts to combat migration, May 1st will mark the opening of German and Austrian labor markets to the Eastern European countries who joined the EU in 2004. While budget worries plague the continent, European defense companies scored a win with Rafale and the Eurofighter beating out competition from Russia […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2011

Leading From Behind: But to What End?

By James Joyner

A 10-page New Yorker feature explaining "How the Arab Spring remade Obama’s foreign policy" is getting attention mostly for a phrase in its last paragraph: "leading from behind." The phrase was intended to be flattering; it has been received as anything but.

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2011

Building New Partnershps

By Harlan Ullman

During World War II, the U.S. Navy’s construction battalions, affectionately known as “Seabees,” bragged that accomplishing the difficult was easy and the impossible just took a bit longer. Today, the United States and the Obama administration face an array of foreign policy problems that include the intractable and the seemingly impossible.

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2011

Appeasing and Fighting Al Qaeda

By Julian Lindley-French

This is a difficult piece to write for it takes me into very troubled waters. And yet it is the duty of the analyst to sail such waters. I am ashamed. Wikileaks confirmed yesterday that my country was the strongest recruiting ground for Al Qaeda outside the Middle East. Britain is also the main source […]

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2011

Atlantic Update 4/27/11

By Klee Aiken

"No Work, No Home" headlines a Dutch editorial, the "crisis" over North African immigration has led to a call for Schengen reform, while intolerance in the east erupts as far right vigilantes clash with Hungary’s Roma population. Taken together do such headlines highlight Europe’s rightward trajectory and perhaps even a "betrayal of EU values?"

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