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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New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

The Obama Visit to India: Looking Back

By Raja Menon

President Obama and Michelle won Indian hearts in the way he won the US presidential elections – with charm, wit and a rare way with words, which he interspersed with references to Gandhi, Vivekananda and Ambedkar. The people to people relationship is of huge significance, being the reason why India and the US are on […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

American Options Limited in Korea

By Patrick deGategno

Earlier today, North Korea killed two ROK marines and injured at least 16 others in an artillery barrage near the Yellow Sea’s Northern Limit Line. South Korea has promised "stern, manifold retaliation" if it happens again. Meanwhile, the U.S. and others are still absorbing the implications of new information about advancements in North Korea’s nuclear […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

Germany and the Two Little PIIGS

By James Joyner

Once again, instability in one of the PIIGS threatens to destabilize the Eurozone. As with the summer’s crisis in Greece, the linchpin in the ongoing Irish mess is Germany. CSM‘s Robert Marquand puts it bluntly, noting that the need to bail out two countries in order to save them from their own profligacy and foolishness is "shaking […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 23, 2010

Enhancing NATO-EU Cooperation

By Stanley Sloan

The Atlantic Council hosted an excellent discussion on the eve of the NATO Lisbon Summit on the problems facing the alliance. In particular, it focused on the fact that transatlantic security cooperation remains handicapped by issues between Greece and Turkey that continue to block effective NATO/European Union collaboration. The panelists all appropriately agreed that the […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 22, 2010

Global Challenges Absent from New Strategic Concept

By Rob de Wijk

NATO’s new Strategic Concept seeks to explain how the Alliance will address 21st century security challenges including energy security, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to rogue actors, terrorism, and cyber security. But the document should also have taken into account the dramatic new security challenges that will change the world and will impact the […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 22, 2010

NATO Summit Reality Check: Brilliant Policy vs. Real World Resistance

By Kurt Volker

The recently concluded NATO summit did all the right things: outline an ambitious role for NATO in a complex world; renew and recalibrate NATO’s role in Afghanistan; relaunch the NATO-Russia Council; and even move the ball forward on missile defense. This will now be followed by negotiations on implementation documents. To someone who has worked […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2010

NATO’s Lisbon Summit: All the Right Words

By James Joyner

NATO’s Lisbon Summit exceeded all reasonable expectations. Yet it leaves critical questions about the Alliance unanswered. Once upon a time, the meeting was supposed to launch a new NATO, building on the experience in Afghanistan and forging a path for the decade to come. But the combination of disillusionment with that mission and the devastating […]

Cybersecurity
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2010

The Lisbon Summit: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

By Ian Brzezinski

Good: The new Strategic Concept is a good document. It uses firm language to reassert the centrality of NATO’s Article 5 security commitment, affirm the Alliance’s role in guarding against today’s wide array of multi-dimensional threats, and formalize NATO’s roles in crisis management and prevention.

New Atlanticist

Nov 20, 2010

NATO Summit Reaction, Day 2

By Damon Wilson

On the second day of the NATO Summit in Lisbon, Allied leaders approved the Lisbon Declaration, providing an action plan to implement the Strategic Concept in the months ahead and agreed to reconvene in the United States in 2012. They also met with President Karzai and NATO’s partners in Afghanistan to endorse a strategy to […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 20, 2010

NATO Should Focus More on Conventional Arms Control in Europe

By Donald Bandler and Jakub Kulhanek

With the new strategic concept and a revitalized partnership with Russia at hand, it appears that the Alliance is poised to enter a new era with a regained sense of purpose in the aftermath of the Lisbon summit. However, as the West is bent on winding down its military presence in Afghanistan, NATO leaders are […]

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