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 18, 2010

NATO’s Missing Agenda Item in Lisbon

By Ian Brzezinski

As NATO leaders prepare for their summit in Lisbon this week, attention has focused on the war in Afghanistan, approval of a new Strategic Concept (NATO’s roadmap for the future), and the challenge of sustaining the alliance’s military capabilities in an era of fiscal crisis. Missing from the agenda is the future of the U.S. […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 17, 2010

NATO’s Ten Point Strategy

By Karl-Heinz Kamp

There will be disappointment when NATO publishes its new strategy at the Lisbon summit later this week. “Way too general and nothing new in it” will be the verdict of op-ed columnists. Shall these few pages really be the blueprint for NATO’s role in the 21st century? Is NATO’s new Strategic Concept much ado about […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 17, 2010

Pakistan Bombshell

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Some can’t wait to get out of Afghanistan and some can’t wait to see us leave. NATO allies now want out ASAP. Some have already left (Dutch troops), others are preparing to leave (Canadians) and soon the allied fighting force will be reduced to 100,000 Americans and 9,000 Brits. And Afghan President Hamid Karzai now […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 17, 2010

Obama at the Plate

By Harlan Ullman

To borrow a baseball analogy, U.S. President Barack Obama is in a terrible batting slump. Buttressed by huge expectations given the foreign policy and economic disasters set in place by his predecessor, the first president of color — I completely dissent from the practice of using ethnic, racial or religious characterizations of our people as […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 16, 2010

Hu Woos the EU: China’s Enhanced Engagement of Europe

By Patrick deGategno

Last week, as President Obama fought false expectations and diminishing rates of strategic returns during his trip to Asia, his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, quietly traveled to Europe for a series of meetings in France and Portugal. Hu’s trip was far more successful than Obama’s.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Nov 16, 2010

NATO’s Future: Tough Choices at Lisbon

By Nikolas Gvosdev

When NATO leaders gather in Lisbon on November 19 for the alliance’s annual summit, what sort of conversations should they be having about the future of the organization? How should the Strategic Concept be translated from the realm of aspiration into political realities? The Europe-Russia Study Group at the U.S. Naval War College met to […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 15, 2010

Obama’s Five Challenges at Lisbon

By Ian Brzezinski

On Friday, President Obama will convene with NATO and E.U. leaders in Lisbon. These summit meetings take place as the trans-Atlantic community is beleaguered by the war in Afghanistan, financial crises, and an increasing sense that the United States and Europe are drifting apart. If the president is to reinvigorate trans-Atlantic solidarity and U.S. leadership, […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Nov 15, 2010

NATO’s ‘Open Door’

By Leo Michel

Since 1999, 12 nations from the Baltics to the Balkans graduated from partnership with NATO to membership. Hence, it’s a safe bet that NATO’s new Strategic Concept, when unveiled at the Lisbon Summit on Nov. 19-20, will reaffirm the "open door" policy that "no European democratic country whose admission would fulfill the (Washington) Treaty’s objectives […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2010

A New Era of US-Indian Energy Cooperation?

By Alexandros Petersen

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s reaffirmation of their commitment to energy cooperation during this past weekend’s state visit to India highlights the special position India occupies in energy geopolitics.

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2010

America’s Renewed Engagement of Asia

By Patrick deGategno

President Obama was in Asia this week to make good on his campaign promise of renewing American diplomacy worldwide. His longest, and arguably most important, international trip of his presidency included stops in India and Indonesia, the region’s next two emerging powers after China, as well as Japan and South Korea, two of America’s regional […]

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