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.

Helmut Kohl on the Fall of the Wall and German Reunification

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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Experts React

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.

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

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 […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2009

Critical Decision Point in Afghanistan

By Don Snow

Although supporters of the Afghan War (including the Obama administration) hate the comparison, the outcome of the recent runoff election fiasco in Afghanistan suggests a parallel with the American experience in Vietnam.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2009

Jim Jones on the National Security Climate

By Frederick Kempe

Atlantic Council president and CEO Frederick Kempe recently interviewed James L. Jones , National Security Advisor to President Obama and former Chairman of the Atlantic Council Board of Directors.

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2009

America’s New Partnership with Central Europe

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

In his remarks in Bucharest, the U.S. Vice President Biden celebrated the democratic and economic development of Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of communism twenty years ago.

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2009

Completing Europe

By Damon Wilson

In the wake of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, “Europe whole, free and at peace” was not just a vision; it was a successful policy leading to the consolidation of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and the integration of the region into Europe’s great institutions. This outcome was neither easy nor obvious.

Central Europe Eastern Europe

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2009

President George H.W. Bush on the Fall of the Berlin Wall

By George H.W. Bush

I am delighted to join the Atlantic Council in commemorating the 60th Anniversary of NATO and the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The Fall of the Wall was first and foremost a testament to the spirit of the German people.

Germany United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2009

Trans-Atlanticism Renewed: The Path to Force Effectiveness

By Thomas Enders

Although NATO today faces threats from more unconventional enemies, its need to forge a strong trans-Atlantic Alliance remains as essential to its success as ever, says Thomas Enders. Throughout the Cold War, the Berlin Wall signified the tension and distrust between the capitalist, democratic West and the communist, authoritarian East.

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Nov 5, 2009

Iran’s Government is in a Corner

By Nazenin Ansari and Jonathan Paris

On Wednesday, the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, the streets of Iran were filled with ordinary citizens demonstrating not for the humiliation of the United States but for peaceful political change in their country.

Iran

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