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

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 […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2011

Kabul Spring: The End of the Beginning of NATO Operations in Afghanistan

By Derek Reveron

Spring officially began this week and the nice weather ushered in a new year (1390) in Afghanistan. If the blooming fruit trees and budding roses are indicative, the spring looks promising. To be sure, NATO and Afghan forces anticipate the challenges of a new fighting season. But NATO and Afghan military and police have also […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 24, 2011

Libya: The View from Germany

By Natascha Braumann

Almost a week after Germany’s abstention in the UN Security Council, the domestic political debate is as heated as ever. Lothar Rühl, writing in Wednesday’s Frankfurter Allgemeiner Zeitung, summarizes the confusion and disharmony among NATO allies over the establishment and enforcement of a no-fly zone over Libya. And, almost as an afterthought, he claims that […]

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