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 a Permanent Alliance: Today’s Challenges

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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Dive deep into developing stories, guided by continually updated expert analysis that leaves you better informed about the most pressing global issues behind the headlines.

Markup

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

New Atlanticist

Jun 15, 2010

NATO a Permanent Alliance: Today’s Challenges

By Stanley Sloan

If we acknowledge that nothing in life lasts forever, the transatlantic bargain between the United States, Canada, and its European allies appears as close to a permanent international alliance as has ever been fashioned by sovereign independent states. Its appearance of permanence is based on the fact that it is founded on shared values and […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 15, 2010

Should Brits be Miffed by American Comments on BP? The View from Europe

By Scott Bleiweis

Last Friday, I wrote about harsh comments flying across the Atlantic from the United States in the wake of the BP oil spill. Many in the U.K. have taken American frustrations at BP as insulting to the British people and nation. If anything, this has picked up steam.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2010

Pakistan: Friend or Foe?

By James Joyner

One longstanding question is which side the Pakistan military — particularly the ISI — is on in our war with the Taliban. A new report gives strong credence to the long-held suspicion that they are not only tacitly backing the enemy but actively supporting them "as clear as the sun in the sky." Jeremy Page […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2010

NATO a Permanent Alliance: Surviving the Bush Years

By Stanley Sloan

On the other side of the pond, the unilateralist character of US foreign and defense policy under George W. Bush led some Europeans to favor using integration in the European Union to “balance” US power in the international system. This multi-polar temptation, like the US unilateral temptation, threatened trans-Atlantic cooperation and therefore international stability. The […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2010

Afghanistan Mineral Riches: Beware the Hype

By James Joyner

News that "United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself" should be taken with several doses of salt. James Risen of the NYT broke the story, which has the security […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 11, 2010

UK Feels Backlash from BP Oil Spill: The View from Europe

By Scott Bleiweis

President Obama’s top energy advisor has already termed the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico the worst environmental disaster in American history, and it’s far from over. The inability to stop the gushing flow has created plenty of vitriol and condemnation in the US toward the federal government and rig operator BP.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jun 11, 2010

NATO a Permanent Alliance: Surviving Cold War’s End

By Stanley Sloan

The Soviet threat provided NATO’s main rationale and explanation until the Warsaw Pact disbanded and the Soviet Union disintegrated. What is it about the transatlantic bargain that has ensured its survival beyond its founding raison d’être? In 1989, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the the allies were left to assert in the early […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 10, 2010

Defending the Afghanistan Experts

By James Joyner

Some anonymous attendees of Central Command’s Af-Pak conference have penned highly critical blog posts, which have appeared at two pre-eminent national security blogs, Christian Bleuer’s Ghosts of Alexander and Andrew Exum’s Abu Muqawama.

New Atlanticist

Jun 10, 2010

NATO a Permanent Alliance: Introduction

By Stanley Sloan

It has become popular in recent years to argue that NATO is no longer serving the interests of either the Europeans or the Americans. Many of these arguments end with the suggestion that the European Union should take over responsibility for defense of European interests, variously accomplished by the United States withdrawing from NATO and […]

New Atlanticist

Jun 10, 2010

Collaboration in Space for International Global Maritime Awareness (C-SIGMA)

By George Guy Thomas

National Security Presidential Directive-41/Homeland Security Presidential Directive-13 establishes U.S. policy for enhancing our national security and protecting our interests in the maritime domain. Specifically, it directs that maritime domain awareness (MDA) efforts be undertaken "to develop an enhanced capability to identify threats to the maritime domain as early and as distant from our shores as […]

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