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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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

Jul 26, 2010

India and the Afghanistan Conflict

By Sarwar Kashmeri

Naresh Chandra, former ambassador to the United States from India, speaks with Atlantic Council senior fellow Sarwar Kashmeri in the latest installment of the New Atlanticist Podcast Series. While Pakistan’s role in the Afghanistan conflict is well known, India’s interests there are less often discussed.

New Atlanticist

Jul 26, 2010

NATO’s Future Involves More Global Partnerships

By Ian Brzezinski

Ian Brzezinski, resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s International Security program, was recently interviewed about NATO’s current and future roles in global affairs.

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jul 25, 2010

India’s Patience Running Thin

By Mohan Guruswamy

What happened at the post-meeting press conference of the Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers in Islamabad last week seemed to have come as a bit of a surprise to most observers here. On the other hand if recent events were objectively analysed what happened had to happen. Recent gains made by Pakistan despite its "running […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 23, 2010

Kayani and Pakistan’s Civil-Military Relations

By Shuja Nawaz

In a timely though perhaps overly dramatic move, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan announced last night on national television the extension of army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for another three years beyond November this year, when his first term was to end. Timely, since any further delay in announcing it would have […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 23, 2010

Euro Banks Pass Stress Tests But Investors Still Stressed

By James Joyner

After months of living up to their name, the four-month-long European bank stress tests yielded extraordinarily good news: 84 of 91 lenders passed the examination. But not everyone is convinced that the tests were sufficiently rigorous to allay investor fears. Dow Jones reports, Europe’s largest listed banks by assets, including the U.K.’s Royal Bank of […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 23, 2010

The Peace Chimera: India and Pakistan

By Cyril Almeida

The India-Pakistan relationship has been fraught. But there are signs of a thaw emerging in what had been a frozen relationship ever since former President Pervez Musharraf’s back channel diplomacy faltered in 2007 as his political power began to wane. As a result, it took a major effort by both sides to reopen the dialogue. […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 23, 2010

Satellite Saga

By David Smith

The Paris Court of Commerce last week handed a victory to the Russian propaganda machine, allowing French satellite operator Eutelsat—one quarter French Government-owned—to bar Tbilisi-based First Caucasus Television from one of its broadcast satellites. For now, this prevents First Caucasus from reaching most of its intended Russian-speaking audience. Nonetheless, the station is determined to get […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 22, 2010

Romania, Bulgaria Face EU Music on Anti-Corruption Reforms: View from Europe

By Scott Bleiweis

While Romania and Bulgaria both joined the EU in 2007, it is clear the two new members still have a long way to go to satisfy standards set by the European Commission for anti-corruption reforms. An EU Commission document released earlier this week updated the status of Romanian and Bulgarian efforts in combating rampant fraud, […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 22, 2010

OSCE Meeting: Kazakhstan’s Triumph Leaves Much Work to be Done

By Jeffrey Lightfoot and Matt Czekaj

Last week’s informal ministerial meeting of the OSCE in Almaty, Kazakhstan resulted in two important decisions. First, the OSCE agreed to send 52 police officers to Kyrgyzstan to assist and monitor the local authorities in the aftermath of June’s interethnic violence in the south. Second, ministers agreed to convene a summit of heads of state […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 21, 2010

Politics Is Local, Principles Are Not

By James Joyner

"Journalism, like politics, is local." This was Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo’s rationale for her government’s much criticized arrests and closures of opposition newspapers.

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