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

Mar 29, 2011

Libya War: An Obama Doctrine?

By James Joyner

Ten days after sending American forces into kinetic military action in Libya, President Obama addressed the nation to explain "what we’ve done, what we plan to do, and why this matters to us."

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2011

Cartoon: We Can’t Afford U.S. Institute of Peace With all the Wars

By James Joyner

In the above cartoon, Politico‘s Matt Wuerker illustrates the funding disparity between the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Institute of Peace. Despite a budget of only $44 million, a small fraction of the costs of the Tomahawks fired by the U.S. in the first few hours of Operation Odyssey Dawn, there have been calls to eliminate USIP entirely. […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2011

NATO Libya Roundtable: Endgame?

By James Joyner

As NATO and its constituent states sort through the conflicting policy goals and logistics of the mission in Libya, some members of the Atlantic Council Strategic Advisors Group have offered some insights. What is the coalition’s endgame in Libya? There is considerable ambiguity about the ultimate endgame of coalition operations in Libya. The coalition military […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2011

NATO Libya Roundtable: A More Martial Europe?

By James Joyner

As NATO and its constituent states sort through the conflicting policy goals and logistics of the mission in Libya, some members of the Atlantic Council Strategic Advisors Group have offered some insights. From Bob Kagan’s "Power and Paradise" to Bob Gates’ February 2010 speech bemoaning the "demilitarization of Europe," American defense experts have long derided […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2011

NATO Libya Roundtable: Command and Control

By James Joyner

As NATO and its constituent states sort through the conflicting policy goals and logistics of the mission in Libya, some members of the Atlantic Council Strategic Advisors Group have offered some insights. NATO member states have struggled for days to resolve the debate within the Alliance about the proper role for NATO in the coalition […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2011

When an Ally’s in Trouble, America Responds

By Robert Bracknell

On March 11, America’s perennial ally Japan suffered the double calamity of a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and a powerful ensuing tsunami. Resultant electrical failures at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant caused reactor cooling systems to fail, resulting in overheating, reactor explosions and the release of radiation into the atmosphere. So far, about 7,500 are […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 28, 2011

Libya War Humor: A Limited Humanitarian Intervention with Gaddafi’s Face

By James Joyner

The above cartoon by Matt Bors encapsulates the bemused reaction I’m seeing via Twitter and elsewhere over the Obama Administration’s attempts to persuade the American people that, appearances to the contrary, the United States is not at war with Libya.

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2011

Oh, Canada

By James Joyner

Minutes after the announcement that a Canadian General will be commander of yet to be fully defined NATO operations in Libya, we learned that Stephen Harper’s government has fallen after a no-confidence vote.

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2011

Unify NATO’s Libya Operation

By Damon Wilson

Fighting effectively requires fighting coherently under a unified chain of command. In Libya, this means NATO exercising effective command and control of the coalition operations. The Alliance now has command of two of three pillars of the military operation: enforcing the arms embargo with a naval blockade and (as of a few hours ago) enforcing […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2011

US-Russia Relations: Reset—Fahgettaboudit; Get a New Hard Drive

By David Smith

American Vice President Joseph Biden whisked through Moscow and Chisinau last week, promoting the Obama Administration’s “reset” of US-Russian relations. Ushering Russia into the World Trade Organization, the VP said, is an American priority. He ticked through the accomplishments attributed to reset, leveled some unvarnished criticisms at his Russian hosts and exited through Moldova, an itinerary that […]

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