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

Mar 30, 2010

Can Obama Save Sarkozy’s Presidency?

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

It will be the best of times and the worst of times for Presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy when they meet at the White House for dinner tonight. Obama is riding a wave of momentum from the passage of historic health care legislation and agreement on an important arms control treaty with Russia.

New Atlanticist

Mar 30, 2010

Pakistan Army Back on Top — But in a New Way

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

It was Pakistan’s week in Washington with much talk of a new, deeper geopolitical understanding between the United States and a "major non-NATO ally." The star was Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, and the country’s de facto politico-military power. The Pakistani army has taken over from ineffectual, corrupt civilian governments four times since independence. […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2010

Moscow Subway Bombing Puts Pressure on Putin

By James Joyner

Female suicide bombers have killed at least 38 and wounded many more in a terrorist attack on the Moscow subway this morning. If, as all the circumstantial evidence currently points, this is the work of Chechen extremists, it will be a stern test for the Putin-Medvedev regime. Clifford Levy for NYT ("Subway Blasts Kill Dozens […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 29, 2010

Courting Pakistan: Forging a Strategic Partnership

By Shuja Nawaz

The United States and Pakistan is the world’s oddest couple, with an on-again, off-again friendship that has survived since the 1950s. Last week both sides completed a "strategic dialogue" in Washington amid fears that they were headed for another break-up.

New Atlanticist

Mar 26, 2010

Nuclear Treaty a New START

By James Joyner

The United States and Russia have agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals by a third. This is not only good political theater but actually useful. UPI gives a useful overview of the agreement and rollout: U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev announced agreement Friday on a nuclear arms reduction treaty. The […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 26, 2010

Afghanistan Success Measured in Convoys, Not Car Bombs

By Alexandros Petersen

On February 26, I woke up in Kabul to the sound of a suicide car bomb explosion two blocks away. I ate my full English breakfast amid cacophonous gunfire from the neighborhood park. The Taliban took responsibility for my wake-up call. It is these sorts of events that prompt analysts here to argue that despite […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2010

Merkel Holds Ground Against 5 PIIGS, Club Med

By James Joyner

“The debate in Germany over Greece is polluting the atmosphere and creating anti-European feeling,” charges former Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt. “In the space of a few weeks, we are destroying all our efforts to bring Europe closer together,” he laments. This is indeed a stunning departure from the 1990s, when a reunited Germany was […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 25, 2010

Ukraine’s ‘Prorizna Street Rebellion’ Shows Democracy Internalized

By Alexander Motyl

Ukrainians are keeping a wary eye on the new government of Viktor Yanukovych following his victory in the two-round presidential election of January-February 2010. Some of them are also setting him an example of what collective action in the public interest can mean – and in central Kyiv, just one block away from the site […]

Ukraine

New Atlanticist

Mar 24, 2010

Netanyahu Outdoes Himself

By Don Snow

As anyone who has read this space regularly knows, I am less than an unabashed fan of current Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and will never be mistaken as a supporter of the Likud Party, either the Israeli or American branches. My position has consistently been that Netanyahu and his government abuse American support by […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 24, 2010

US-Pakistan Trust Deficit

By Harlan Ullman

President John F. Kennedy wittily observed that “the only thing worse than being an enemy of the United States was being an ally.” Beyond the humor, JFK was reminding people of the often harsh and unjust treatment America served up to its alleged friends. With the visit of a high-level Pakistani delegation to Washington Wednesday […]

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