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.

NATO’s Official Policy on Killing Gaddafi

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

Jul 13, 2011

NATO’s Official Policy on Killing Gaddafi

By Jorge Benitez

Josh Rogin’s story in Foreign Policy, “Exclusive: Top U.S. admiral admits we are trying to kill Gaddafi,” sparked considerable media attention and strengthened the perception that NATO’s air strikes in Libya are targeting Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya
NATO

New Atlanticist

Jul 13, 2011

Euro-Crunch: The Grim Banker is Calling

By Julian Lindley-French

“If there is no relief, we are going straight into the abyss”. So says, Romano Prodi, one-time Italian Prime Minister and President of the Onion’s European Omission. As European Onion finance ministers gathered in Brussels to disagree about what to do over the deepening Eurozone crisis the sheer scale of the crisis and its potential […]

Economy & Business
European Union

New Atlanticist

Jul 13, 2011

Pakistan and America: Friends, foes or in free fall?

By Harlan Ullman

When it seems U.S.-Pakistan relations cannot get worse, they do. This past week, The New York Times, perhaps coaxed by the White House or CIA, held Pakistan’s army and Inter-Services Intelligence responsible for the killing of a journalist and called for the resignation of the ISI director general. Over the weekend, it followed with a […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2011

Five Questions with Leszek Balcerowicz

By Alexei Monsarrat

Director of Global Business and Economics Alexei Monsarrat recently interviewed Professor Leszek Balcerowicz on how Greece and Europe will resolve the debt crisis. As Polish Finance Minister in 1989, Balcerowicz instituted a wide-ranging series of economic reforms to transition that country to a market economy. His “shock therapy” is widely cited as the textbook example of how […]

Economy & Business
Greece

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2011

Talking with Benazir

By Julian Lindley-French

The American decision to ‘punish’ Pakistan by withdrawing some $800m of a $3 billion military aid package demonstrates Washington’s nuanced approach to dealing with Islamabad that is to be commended. Clearly, the Pakistani Government knew exactly the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden at the time of his death in May at the hands of American […]

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 12, 2011

US-Iran: Tensions Mount Over Iraq, Nuke Sanctions

By Barbara Slavin

Reviving U.S.-Iran friction over Iraq may have more to do with deteriorating relations over Iran’s nuclear programme than with uncertainty over U.S. troop levels in Iraq beyond the end of this year. In recent weeks, a chorus of U.S. officials has accused Iran of providing lethal weapons to Iraqi Shiite militias that have targeted U.S. […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2011

South Sudan: Free at Last! Now What?

By Peter Pham

The birth this past weekend of the Republic of South Sudan as the world’s newest independent state is, in many respects, a triumph for the Atlantic community’s diplomatic efforts in general and United States leadership in particular. The acceptance of the possibility of secession was the central feature of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) […]

East Africa

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2011

Should the United States Be More Like China?

By James Joyner

I’m continually shocked when demonstrably bright and accomplished people come back from posh meetings in authoritarian states gushing about what they saw and exhorting their fellow citizens that we need to emulate those societies. The latest victim of this affliction, of which Tom Friedman is the exemplar, is former Microsoft CEO Robert Herbold. In a Wall Street […]

China

New Atlanticist

Jul 11, 2011

The Necessity of U.S. Naval Power

By Gordon England James L. Jones and Vern Clark

All our citizens, and especially our servicemen and women, expect and deserve a thorough review of critical security decisions. After all, decisions today will affect the nation’s strategic position for future generations. The future security environment underscores two broad security trends. First, international political realities and the internationally agreed-to sovereign rights of nations will increasingly […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 8, 2011

Future of the Marine Corps: Looking Beyond Afghanistan

By Magnus Nordenman

I’m zooming across Virginia at 9,000 feet inside a Marine Corps V-22 Osprey, the sometimes maligned aircraft that just recently entered service with the Marine Corps. I am hitching a ride down to Cherry Point, North Carolina to observe part of Exercise Mailed Fist, the largest Marine Corps exercise on the east coast in decades. […]

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