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.

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

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

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 […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2010

Reports of American Declinism Premature

By Derek Reveron

It’s been popular to discuss the decline of the United States. Yale Ferguson wrote in 2008, “United States capabilities appear to be gravely waning today and its exercise of both hard and soft power has recently been so inept as to limit its current influence and possibly future role in global politics.”

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Nov 11, 2010

Turki Talks Turkey

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The midterm election results weren’t only a "shellacking" for U.S. President Barack Obama but they drove the Mideast peace process back into the oubliette. The key was in safe hands. AIPAC — the Israeli lobby — emerged with still more congressional friends than before. Obama got out of Dodge and flew to India as Israeli […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2010

Remember, Remember November 11

By Harlan Ullman

Thursday marks the anniversary of the end of World War I. Originally Called Armistice Day, it’s now Veteran’s Day in the United States. In Britain the end of the Great War is Remembrance Day celebrated with the wearing of red crepe paper poppies inspired by Canadian John McCrae’s solemn poem of that war “Flanders Field” […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2010

5 Questions for Jan Lodal

By Jorge Benitez

Jan M. Lodal is Chairman of Lodal and Company and a member of the Atlantic Council’s Board. He is a former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and was President of the Atlantic Council from October 2005 until the end of 2006. I had the opportunity to discuss his thoughts on some key […]

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