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

Sep 27, 2010

Yanukovych in Wonderland

By Alexander Motyl

The policy and business elites who attended the Atlantic Council’s September 24th luncheon in New York with Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych may be wondering just what he meant by what he said—and, more important, by what he did not say.

NATO
Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 24, 2010

Freedom and Defense Spending

By James Joyner

In a rather odd posting at RealClearWorld‘s Compass blog titled “Defense Spending and Freedom,” Greg Scoblette argues: If I’m reading this op-ed from Danielle Pletka and Thomas Donnelly correctly it sounds like they don’t want the Republican party (or the Tea Party) to cut defense spending. Which is fine, so far as it goes. But they […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2010

Obama’s Wars: Afghanistan and with His Generals

By James Joyner

Bob Woodward’s latest insider book, Obama’s Wars, reveals that the White House team has outsized egos, sharp disagreements over policy, petty bickering, and bureaucratic infighting. It also tells us some things we didn’t know.

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2010

Critical Questions on Iran

By Stuart Eizenstat and Mark Brzezinski

A confluence of events in the next few weeks again will put Iran at the top of the Obama administration’s foreign policy agenda and could shape its course in the months ahead. The annual United Nations General Assembly this week is likely to include another anti-American, anti-Western, anti-Israel rant from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while […]

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2010

Muddling Through to 2025

By James Joyner

Global Governance 2025, a joint effort of the Atlantic Council and its global partners, offers a wide range of trajectories for the international system depending on whether we adequately address known threats.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2010

Please Fence Me In

By Harlan Ullman

Many decades ago, cowboy actor-singer Gene Autry made famous the tune, “Don’t Fence Me In.” Today, in the diaphanous territory between Afghanistan and Pakistan, a better song could well be “Please fence me in.” Indeed, that may be one of the few alternatives left if that region is ever to be stabilized and made more […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2010

Swedish Elections: Lessons for Globalization

By Magnus Nordenman

Over the weekend Swedish voters re-elected the center-right coalition that has governed the country for the last four years. This is historic, since it is the first time since the 1930’s that a center-right government has won two elections in a row. The Economist even proclaimed “the death of social-democratic Sweden.”

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2010

NATO and the EU: Achieving Unity of Effort in a Comprehensive Approach

By Leo Michel

Amidst a spate of disturbing reports about Afghanistan and impending deep cuts in the UK, German, and other allied defense budgets and force structures, security affairs cognoscenti could be forgiven for overlooking some positive news about the Euro-Atlantic relationship: NATO and the EU still enjoy broad support despite their current travails. According to the recently […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 20, 2010

Global Governance: Vital But Impossible?

By James Joyner

This morning, the Atlantic Council hosted the launch of Global Governance 2025, a report following a long collaboration with several partners. The fundamental takeaway is that, while cooperation between the United States and Europe is essential, it "is no longer enough to effectively manage global challenges." Instead, key players from around the globe will need […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 20, 2010

Ground Zero Mosque Test of Islamic Values

By David Smith

America’s usually sleepy summer has this year been riddled with debate over plans to build a mosque just two blocks from the site of New York’s World Trade Center—dubbed Ground-Zero—destroyed by terrorists on September 11, 2001. US President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg are promoting the mosque, but a CNN poll […]

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