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.

US and Europe: Matching Words with Deeds

New Atlanticist
Jul 29, 2025

The Russia pressure menu: Options to convince Putin to negotiate on Ukraine

As the US president cuts his deadline for Russia to ten days, there are several options for him to increase pressure on Moscow to pursue peace.

New Atlanticist
Jul 24, 2025

Dispatch from Manila: A lesson in calling out Chinese maritime aggression

By
Markus Garlauskas, Philip W. Yu

As the Philippines has focused more on Chinese threats to itself, Manila also seems increasingly inclined to see its own security as connected to that of the broader region.

China
Indo-Pacific

New Atlanticist
Jul 1, 2025

The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

By
Kimberly Donovan

To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.

Economic Sanctions
Iran

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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

Feb 5, 2010

US and Europe: Matching Words with Deeds

By Stephanie Hofmann and Kenneth Weisbrode

So much attention has gone to Barack Obama’s decision to skip this year’s US-EU Summit — the latest in a now long series of perceived snubs — that almost nobody seems to have noticed what is, at least according to the State Department, a milestone in transatlantic relations.

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2010

Obama Snubs Europe. Again.

By James Joyner

President Obama has once again set off a round of charges that he’s snubbing European leaders, this time with the announcement he’ll skip May’s EU-US summit. Deborah Seward for AP: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel brushed off President Barack Obama’s decision not to attend an annual summit with European leaders while […]

New Atlanticist

Feb 5, 2010

Zapatero the Optimist

By Nicholas Siegel

Despite coming off what the Spanish press has dubbed “Zapatero’s Horrible Week,” the President of Spain gave an inspired and constructive speech before the Atlantic Council in Washington last night.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2010

Obama’s Challenge is a Broken Political System

By Harlan Ullman

After a year and two weeks in office, President Barack Obama and his approval ratings have suffered more than just the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. As virtually all recent presidents before him, the first year has been unkind and even hostile.

New Atlanticist

Feb 4, 2010

Obama’s Iraq Policy Must be Focused on More than Withdrawal

By Henry Kissinger

In a 71-minute State of the Union address, President Obama managed no more than 101 perfunctory words about Iraq. Throughout its term, the administration has recoiled from discussing Iraq’s geostrategic significance and especially America’s relation to it.

New Atlanticist

Feb 3, 2010

Virtual Threats in the Real World: The Challenge of Cyberspace

By Derek Reveron

Within just the last decade, people have become as dependent on the virtual world for their daily activities as they are dependent on the physical world for human activities. Consider the implications for yourself when the network is down, cell phone calls are dropped, or a virus crashes your network.

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Feb 3, 2010

Republic vs. Burqua: The French Revolution Lives On

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

When Henry Kissinger asked then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai for his assessment of the French Revolution, the Chinese leader reportedly responded, “It is too early to tell.”

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2010

The Next Four Years in American Defense

By Derek Reveron

After too many leaks, the Defense Department released its quadrennial defense review (QDR). Congress mandates a periodic strategic review of the national defense strategy, force structure, force modernization plans, infrastructure, budget plan, and other elements of the defense program and policies of the United States.

New Atlanticist

Feb 2, 2010

Afghanistan and U.S.-Pakistan Relations

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

All the talk is how to end the Afghan war, not how to win it. Until recently, powers that be in Washington were proselytizing about the need for a long-term commitment – five to 10 years if necessary – to defeat the Taliban.

New Atlanticist

Feb 1, 2010

Testing the BRICs: Key to World Order

By Robert Manning

Are the BRICs and other emerging powers of the G-20 ready for Prime Time? To a considerable degree, global stability and prosperity over the coming decades may depend on the answer to that question.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

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