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 15, 2010

Today’s Realities Need New Responses

By Harlan Ullman

What an irony! Last week, the celebrations of Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan; Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; and the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks fell on consecutive days — an extraordinary proximate coincidence given how far apart Islam and Judeo-Christianity remain whether over threats to […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 14, 2010

Roma Showdown Tests Limits of EU Power

By James Joyner

The EU is vowing to take action against France for its expulsion of hundreds of Roma, setting up a showdown that will test the sovereignty of one of Europe’s most powerful countries against the newly empowered European Commission. Last week, as Leo Cendrowicz reported for Time ("E.U. Tries to Stop France’s Crackdown on Gypsies"), Brussels […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2010

NATO in Afghanistan: Perception and Reality

By James Joyner

Anatol Lieven, the eminent journalist and now professor at the King’s College Department of War Studies, argues that the NATO effort in Afghanistan suffers from disparate and implausible motives and a profound lack of understanding of Afghanistan and the Taliban. In a very long book review essay at Current Intelligence, Lieven offers this assessment of […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 13, 2010

Kissinger’s Swan Song for World Order

By Kenneth Weisbrode

The other day in Geneva, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger delivered the keynote address of the annual meeting of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. His topic was the present and future state of world order – not an unfamiliar topic to him or to his audience.

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2010

It’s time for the Senate to vote on New START

By George Shultz-Madeleine Albright-Gary Hart and Chuck Hagel

The Senate should promptly vote to approve the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START) with Russia for one reason: It increases U.S. national security. This is precisely why Defense Secretary Robert Gates declared at the outset of Senate consideration of the treaty that it has "the unanimous support of America’s military leadership." The treaty […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2010

The Russo-German Energy Pincer

By Alexandros Petersen

Earlier this month, the world’s largest pipe-laying vessel, the Solitaire, began work on the Gulf of Finland section of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline. The vessel’s name is appropriate, as the pipeline represents Germany’s choice to go it alone in achieving energy security within the European Union. Nord Stream, one of the longest and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2010

Afghanistan: A New Way Forward?

By James Joyner

"Our vital interests in Afghanistan are limited and military victory is not the key to achieving them." That’s the bottom line of a new report by a group of scholars and former government officials calling themselves the Afghanistan Study Group.

New Atlanticist

Sep 9, 2010

Playing with Fire

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

A southern U.S. preacher with a flock of 50 in Gainesville, Fla., decided to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11 by lighting a fire that quickly circled the globe — with a public burning of the Koran, much the way Hitler ordered public bonfires fueled with books written by Jews. The Rev. Terry Jones dubbed […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2010

Gates’ Remarkable Pentagon Transformation

By James Joyner

Robert Gates has been a reluctant Secretary of Defense, being coaxed out of the cushy presidency of Texas A&M by President Bush and talked into staying by President Obama. But his impact on the Pentagon has been tremendous. Slate national security columnist Fred Kaplan has an excellent profile in Foreign Policy titled "The Transformer." On why Gates stayed on after […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2010

Pakistan Relations Poisoned

By Harlan Ullman

In Pakistan, following the catastrophic flooding that literally is drowning an entire nation, could things get much worse? Unfortunately, last week, things did. While trivial by comparison with the human suffering, several snapshots portray the level of poisons within the U.S.-Pakistani relationships as well as with other friends and would-be Pakistani benefactors that could be […]

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