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
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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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Mar 14, 2011

Foreign Policy at the Speed of Twitter

By James Joyner

When I was in graduate school in the early 1990s and we were all trying to figure out the lay of the land in the “post-Cold War era,” international relations types were all buzzing about the so-called “CNN effect.”

New Atlanticist

Mar 14, 2011

NATO and the Future of Afghanistan

By Derek Reveron

The media coverage of the NATO Defense Ministers meetings last weekend was replete with discussion regarding Afghanistan. After all, it is the largest mission the Alliance has undertaken during its history and its first outside of Europe. While the Afghan people have the most to gain or lose from NATO’s decisions, the ministerial has reopened […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 14, 2011

Atlantic Update 3/14/11

By Jason Harmala

Following explosions at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, Europe re-assesses its nuclear energy future. Meanwhile, France continues its pressure on allies to enact a no-fly zone over Libya, after the Arab League passed a resolution supporting such a measure.

New Atlanticist

Mar 11, 2011

Before Internet

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist factions staged hit-and-run attacks against government buildings and officials in the early 1980s and almost succeeded in killing the president of a country that has remained eerily quiet during the geopolitical tsunami that is still sweeping the Arab world. You’re supposed to guess which country. The president was on […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 11, 2011

Iran and the Arab Sandstorm

By Jonathan Paris

Much has been said about Iran taking advantage of the instability in the Arab world to increase tensions. Sending two ships through the Suez Canal to a Syrian port, at this time, signalled Iran’s desire to project Iranian power far beyond its neighbourhood. But such stunts miss the point. The more important consequences of the […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 11, 2011

Atlantic Update 3/11/11

By Jason Harmala

The U.S. warns NATO allies against a quick Afghanistan troop drawdown, and the EU is holding a crisis summit to discuss Libya.

New Atlanticist

Mar 10, 2011

NATO Action Cannot Replace A Security Council Resolution in Libya

By Sarwar Kashmeri

As the situation in Libya becomes daily more chaotic, pressure mounts on President Obama to militarily intervene on the side of the Libyan opposition. He should resist these calls. Without a clear mandate from the United Nations Security Council in support of Libyan intervention, the United States has little to gain, and much to lose […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Mar 10, 2011

The Shark Stops Swimming

By Barbara Slavin

Iranian politics increasingly resemble a brutal game of musical chairs. Last month, two former senior politicians who ran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 disappeared into political detention. On Tuesday, March 8, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani — a former president and for three decades one of Iran’s most powerful politicians — lost his post as […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 10, 2011

30 Seconds Over Tripoli

By Harlan Ullman

“A mind is a terrible thing to lose,” U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle once Malapropped in a mistaken reference to the NAACP’s slogan that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. But Quayle’s remark applies to the U.S. debate about whether to impose a “no-fly zone” over Libya and perhaps dislodge Moammar Qaddafi from […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 10, 2011

Atlantic Update 3/10/11

By Jason Harmala

NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the situation in Libya, and France recognizes the Libyan rebel leadership as the country’s legitimate government.

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