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 Fat, Bloated, Job Creation Project?

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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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.

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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

Sep 7, 2010

NATO: A Fat, Bloated, Job Creation Project?

By James Joyner

Lost amidst the welcome news of British-French cooperation on military cost-sharing in some tough talk from their ministers of defense on NATO. Last week, I noted that the FT‘s superb reporter Ben Hall buried the lead, waiting until the 13th paragraph of a story to pass along Liam Fox’s pronouncement that, “We cannot accept a bloated […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 7, 2010

EU Financial Supervision Framework Passed

By James Joyner

The EU’s finance ministers agreed this morning to submit the outlines of their budget plans for approval by the European Commission. The hope is that this will forestall another Greek-style bailout and the collapse of the euro. Jan Strupczewski for Reuters ("Ministers agree to EU vetting future budget plans"): The process, called the European Semester, […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2010

Merkel Stands Up Against Islamophobia

By James Joyner

German central banker Thilo Sarrazin has stirred international controversy with his new book Germany Does Away With Itself: How We are Risking the Future of our Nation, which contains what many believe are anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant sentiments. CSM‘s Robert Marquand has the back story ("German banker comments raise concerns about new ‘intellectual racism’"): The book […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2010

Cry for me Pakistan

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

The United States spent nine years (1980-89) working closely with Pakistan’s military against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan; followed by 11 years (1990-2001) of punishing Pakistan with all manner of sanctions for its secret nuclear weapons development that it kept denying even existed; followed by nine years (2001-10) making up with Pakistan as "a major […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2010

European Militaries Shrinking, Becoming More Useful

By Raymond Pritchett

The Germans are talking about military reform and to be honest, it is actually a very interesting issue to follow. This article can bring you up to speed on some of the issues if you are interested, but for more depth to the debate you’ll need to look elsewhere (and most of it is in […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2010

Israel and the Iranian Bomb

By Don Snow

The September 2010 edition of The Atlantic features a story on what it represents as Israel’s plan to attack and try to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities before Iran can get to the point of producing a nuclear weapon–a prospect the Israelis argue is quite imminent, meaning the attack could come quite soon. The article, […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2010

WikiLeak-Proofing The Pentagon

By James Joyner

Wired‘s Spencer Ackerman reports on the Pentagon’s measures to fix obvious flaws in its security revealed by the Wikileaks debacle.

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2010

Globalization Gone Too Far? The Dilemma Facing Women’s Tennis

By Scott Bleiweis

Tennis’s fourth and final grand slam event of the year, the U.S. Open, gets underway this week in New York City. The diversity of the women’s field is a case study in how globalization has infiltrated the world of sports, creating reality that few could have foreseen a generation ago. In order to adapt, the […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2010

Pentagon’s Greatest Threat

By Harlan Ullman

Let us be blunt. The U.S. Department of Defense and the entire federal government face a fiscal crisis far worse than any threat posed by al-Qaida, Iran or North Korea. Barring another Sept. 11th shock to the system, the massive debt and deficits will force defense budgets to shrink dramatically. Sadly, the U.S. government may […]

New Atlanticist

Aug 31, 2010

The Most Significant Threat to NATO

By James Joyner

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, generated quite the buzz with his proclamation last week that, "The most significant threat to our national security is our debt." The same could be said for the NATO alliance. Mullen explained that "ability for our country to resource our military" will be "directly proportional" […]

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