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.

German Election Could Unlock Caspian

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.

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German Election Could Unlock Caspian

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

German Election Could Unlock Caspian

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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New Atlanticist

Sep 24, 2009

German Election Could Unlock Caspian

By Borut Grgic

While Western Europe seems bored by the German election, it is being closely watched in the Caspian region. For the countries sitting on the massive energy potential of the Caspian Sea, Sunday’s outcome is of vital importance.

Germany

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2009

Obama Having Buyer’s Remorse in Afghanistan?

By James Joyner

Obama administration officials are now admitting what has been apparent for weeks: that they are giving serious consideration to radically downsizing the Afghanistan mission.  That this comes only months after unveiling a substantially different strategy to great fanfare is naturally raising questions.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2009

McChrystal Afghan Assessment Challenges Obama Strategy

By Harlan Ullman

Last week provided a treasure trove of raw meat for foreign policy enthusiasts, ideologues and talk radio hosts.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2009

Afghanistan Victory: Translating Goals into Strategy

By Don Snow

Assuming the counterinsurgent partners (in this case, the Afghan and American governments) can agree on a desired outcome that consititutes its version of the better state of the peace (BSOP), the next question is how to achieve that condition? This means determining what political and military conditions must exist to be able to declare the […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2009

Missile Defense Rollout Rushed

By James Joyner

The rollout of President Obama’s new missile defense policy was “compressed” because news was leaking and leading to rampant speculation, Alexander “Sandy” Vershbow, Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs told an Atlantic Council conference call this morning. As a result, there was “not as much consultation” with our allies in Poland and the […]

Missile Defense Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2009

Obama Missile Move: Smart Power Reset

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

For some armchair strategists, President Obama’s decision to scrap the Bush 43 plan to deploy ballistic missile defense hardware in Poland and the Czech Republic was rank appeasement that would merely sharpen the Russian bear’s appetite for more unilateral concessions that could only weaken America’s defense posture. That was sound Cold War thinking. And for […]

Missile Defense NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2009

Foreign Policy Community War-Mongers?

By James Joyner

Writing in today’s WSJ, Council on Foreign Relations president emeritus Leslie Gelb pronounces himself “lost on President Barack Obama’s Afghanistan policy” and offers up a middle ground solution for Afghanization of the conflict.

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2009

Debating Afghanistan: Beyond the McChrystal Leak

By James Joyner

An interesting sidebar to the debate sparked by the leak of General McChrystal’s Afghanistan strategy review is the question of how such debates should take place to begin with.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2009

McChrystal: More Troops or Failure in Afghanistan

By James Joyner

As widely rumored, NATO’s Afghanistan commander has asked President Obama for another sizable increase in troops, otherwise suffer “likely failure.”

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 21, 2009

Missile Defense: What Scowcroft Missed

By Adrian Karatnycky

Brent Scowcroft has issued a strong statement of support for President Obama’s decision to scrap George Bush’s planned missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of a sea-based system.  General Scowcroft, however, elides the main point. While there may be a strong case in favor of the Aegis alternative, the announcement should […]

Central Europe Eastern Europe
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