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 in Afghanistan: Perception and Reality

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

Sep 13, 2010

NATO in Afghanistan: Perception and Reality

By James Joyner

Anatol Lieven, the eminent journalist and now professor at the King’s College Department of War Studies, argues that the NATO effort in Afghanistan suffers from disparate and implausible motives and a profound lack of understanding of Afghanistan and the Taliban. In a very long book review essay at Current Intelligence, Lieven offers this assessment of […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2010

Kissinger’s Swan Song for World Order

By Kenneth Weisbrode

The other day in Geneva, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger delivered the keynote address of the annual meeting of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. His topic was the present and future state of world order – not an unfamiliar topic to him or to his audience.

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2010

It’s time for the Senate to vote on New START

By George Shultz-Madeleine Albright-Gary Hart and Chuck Hagel

The Senate should promptly vote to approve the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START) with Russia for one reason: It increases U.S. national security. This is precisely why Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared at the outset of Senate consideration of the treaty that it has "the unanimous support of America’s military leadership." The treaty […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2010

The Russo-German Energy Pincer

By Alexandros Petersen

Earlier this month, the world’s largest pipe-laying vessel, the Solitaire, began work on the Gulf of Finland section of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline. The vessel’s name is appropriate, as the pipeline represents Germany’s choice to go it alone in achieving energy security within the European Union. Nord Stream, one of the longest and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2010

Afghanistan: A New Way Forward?

By James Joyner

"Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them." That’s the bottom line of a new report by a group of scholars and former government officials calling themselves the Afghanistan Study Group.

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2010

Playing with Fire

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

A southern U.S. preacher with a flock of 50 in Gainesville, Fla., decided to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11 by lighting a fire that quickly circled the globe — with a public burning of the Koran, much the way Hitler ordered public bonfires fueled with books written by Jews. The Rev. Terry Jones dubbed […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2010

Gates’ Remarkable Pentagon Transformation

By James Joyner

Robert Gates has been a reluctant Secretary of Defense, being coaxed out of the cushy presidency of Texas A&M by President Bush and talked into staying by President Obama. But his impact on the Pentagon has been tremendous. Slate national security columnist Fred Kaplan has an excellent profile in Foreign Policy titled "The Transformer." On why Gates stayed on after […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2010

Pakistan Relations Poisoned

By Harlan Ullman

In Pakistan, following the catastrophic flooding that literally is drowning an entire nation, could things get much worse? Unfortunately, last week, things did. While trivial by comparison with the human suffering, several snapshots portray the level of poisons within the U.S.-Pakistani relationships as well as with other friends and would-be Pakistani benefactors that could be […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2010

NATO: A Fat, Bloated, Job Creation Project?

By James Joyner

Lost amidst the welcome news of British-French cooperation on military cost-sharing in some tough talk from their ministers of defense on NATO. Last week, I noted that the FT‘s superb reporter Ben Hall buried the lead, waiting until the 13th paragraph of a story to pass along Liam Fox’s pronouncement that, “We cannot accept a bloated […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2010

EU Financial Supervision Framework Passed

By James Joyner

The EU’s finance ministers agreed this morning to submit the outlines of their budget plans for approval by the European Commission. The hope is that this will forestall another Greek-style bailout and the collapse of the euro. Jan Strupczewski for Reuters ("Ministers agree to EU vetting future budget plans"): The process, called the European Semester, […]

European Union International Organizations

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