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
Jul 29, 2025

The Russia pressure menu: Options to convince Putin to negotiate on Ukraine

As the US president cuts his deadline for Russia to ten days, there are several options for him to increase pressure on Moscow to pursue peace.

New Atlanticist
Jul 24, 2025

Dispatch from Manila: A lesson in calling out Chinese maritime aggression

By
Markus Garlauskas, Philip W. Yu

As the Philippines has focused more on Chinese threats to itself, Manila also seems increasingly inclined to see its own security as connected to that of the broader region.

China
Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist
Jul 1, 2025

The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

By
Kimberly Donovan

To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.

Economic Sanctions
Iran

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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?"

New Atlanticist

Apr 26, 2011

What the Intelligence Community Can Learn from the Postal Service

By Josh Kerbel

In light of recent developments in the Mideast, many in Washington are doubting—once again—the Intelligence Community’s (IC) performance. However, if the IC really wants to understand and address those doubts it won’t just conduct another "lessons learned" study. Rather, it will also take a good hard look at another government entity whose performance is under scrutiny: the US Postal Service. […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 26, 2011

Atlantic Update 4/26/11

By Klee Aiken

Today marks 25 years since the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl – an event brought closer to home by the current crisis in Fukushima. Italy steps up to bat in Libya, while in Rome Prime Minister Berlusconi is set to meet with French President Sarkozy to resolve the ongoing migration dispute. Poland continues to squabble with […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 25, 2011

Ukraine: Bread Basket of China?

By Mary Micevych

As Ukraine seeks to double its global grain export, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov used his visit this week to a trade summit in China as a platform to showcase his country’s agricultural investment and trade potential. Although the EU remains Ukraine’s largest trading partner, Azarov used the summit to set the sights further abroad, pursuing […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Apr 25, 2011

U.S. ‘Kleptocracy’ Initiative Key to Mideast Future

By Mark Brzezinski

Outrage at corruption is the common denominator of the upheaval sweeping the Middle East. It was corruption at the fruit market, where a fruit vendor set himself ablaze after being exploited by arrogant police, which sparked the revolution that ousted Tunisia’s leader. In Egypt, university graduates who couldn’t get a job without some connection to […]

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