New Atlanticist

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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.

Poland’s Path to NATO

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.

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Poland’s Path to NATO

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

Poland’s Path to NATO

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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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

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Content

New Atlanticist

Nov 13, 2009

Poland’s Path to NATO

By Adam Michnik

Adam Michnik looks at the revolutions that brought about the fall of communism.

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 13, 2009

“Tear Down This Wall!”

By Richard Burt

Ambassador Richard Burt reflects on the impact of Ronald Reagan’s 1987 Speech in Berlin.

Germany
Andrew Bacevich Interview: Future of NATO Mission in Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2009

Andrew Bacevich Interview: Future of NATO Mission in Afghanistan

By James Joyner

Sarwar Kashmeri, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s International Security Program, interviewed Andrew Bacecvich, Professor of International Relations and History at Boston University, for the New Atlanticist Podcast Series.  Bacevich discussed the recent election results in Afghanistan and the future of NATO’s mission in the country.

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2009

Global Threat Analysis: 20 Years after the Fall of the Wall

By Barry McCaffrey

General Barry McCaffrey assesses the dangers that face us today – from the immediate threats posed by terrorist factions to the long-term challenges of climate change.

Germany

New Atlanticist

Nov 11, 2009

Afghanistan: Implementation Trumps Planning

By Harlan Ullman

Presumably, the Obama administration will soon decide on its strategy and accompanying plan for Afghanistan and the region. No matter what it does, there are three certainties. First, Obama’s choices range from bad to worse. Second, the plan will be savaged by critics of both the left and right. Third, implementation and not troop numbers, […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 11, 2009

Climate and Energy the Dominant Challenges of 21st Century

By Wald Goodman Catarious

As 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it also marks the beginning of a new era of challenges posed by threats that were little recognized and less appreciated those 20 short years ago: climate change and energy security.

New Atlanticist

Nov 11, 2009

Hasan: Tens of Thousands Like Him in West

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is the proverbial canary in the mine. Gunning down 12 soldiers and one civilian, and wounding 31 was not a random act of violence by an army psychiatrist who was slated to deploy to Afghanistan, an evil war in his mind, where American infidels are killing good Muslims. As the Virginia-born […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2009

Helmut Kohl on the Fall of the Wall and German Reunification

By Helmut Kohl

2009 is a special year for anniversaries. We celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989. Inextricably linked to this, we also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23, 1949, and of NATO on April 4, 1949.

Germany

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2009

Germany Should Support Nabucco

By Alexandros Petersen

Rügen is best known as a popular German tourist destination. But now the Baltic Sea island has taken on a new role as staging point for an energy project that is as ambitious as it is controversial: the Nord Stream gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.

Energy & Environment European Union

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2009

1989’s False Promise

By Kenneth Weisbrode

Twenty years is not a very long time in history but the fall of the Berlin Wall already seems like another era. The euphoria, confidence and excitement that accompanied that event were overtaken in short order by cynicism, fear and doubt resulting, according to some quarters at least, from American triumphalism. Despite the new leaf […]

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