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.

Afghanistan Election: Now What?

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.

Read More

Afghanistan Election: Now What?

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

Afghanistan Election: Now What?

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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Content

New Atlanticist

Oct 19, 2009

Afghanistan Election: Now What?

By James Joyner

A United Nations panel has ordered a run-off in Afghanistan’s presidential election, ruling that Hamid Karzai got less than fifty percent of the legitimate ballots cast and that nearly a third of the votes previously counted were fraudulent.  It remains to be seen how Karzai and the West will respond.\

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Oct 19, 2009

Pakistan’s Nukes Threatened by Taliban Resurgence

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

A Talib is a male student who is attending or who has graduated from a madrassa and can recite the Koran in Arabic by heart. To learn Arabic and use the language of the prophet to recite in rhythmic tones the entire Koran’s 114 chapters and 6,236 verses takes about 10 years. By the time […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2009

Soft Power is Dead, Long Live Soft Power

By Derek Reveron

Just three weeks ago, the International Olympics Committee signaled that a new era in international affairs had finally begun. By eliminating Chicago a personal appeal by President Obama, the IOC subtly told the United States that its unipolar moment was over. Instead, future international affairs will be dominated by different regional power centers-the European Union, […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2009

Weakened Atlanticists and Uncertainty in the Czech Republic

By Lukas Hoder

To the traditionally skeptic Czechs, the idea of the ballistic missile defense system was never an easy sell for the Bush administration.  Even Alexander Vondra, a leading Czech Atlanticist under Vaclav Havel who pushed for Euro-Atlantic integration, could not convince the public of the merits of the radar base planned for the Czech Republic.

Missile Defense Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2009

American Strategy Migration: Focus Must Shift from Afghanistan to Pakistan

By Paul Bauman

Derek Reveron’s “In Search of Strategy” is an excellent piece on a subject that deserves more attention.  It brought to mind the definition laid out Everett Dolman’s Pure Strategy: “strategy, in its simplest form, is a plan for attaining continuing advantage.”

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2009

Strategic Balance in AfPak

By James Joyner

Joe Biden is reportedly the Obama administration’s biggest opponent to escalation in Afghanistan, arguing internally that our current strategic priorities are seriously out of kilter.

Afghanistan Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2009

State Department Must Reform or Die

By Mark Safranski

It is generally a bad sign for a Secretary of State so early in an administration to have to come out and deny that they have been marginalized by the White House, as Hillary Clinton felt compelled to do the other day. The denial itself serves as confirmation of the fact.

New Atlanticist

Oct 15, 2009

Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize: The View from Europe

By Benjamin Preisler

The announcement of Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize has thus far been met mostly with consternation in Europe. As in the U.S., most commentators view his intentions positively but consider the award to be premature, with the President not even a year into his term and having few concrete accomplishments to his name.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 14, 2009

Ankara’s Opportunity to Make South Caucasus Peace

By Borut Grgic

Peace and stability in the South Caucasus has been an elusive project, but this weekend a major breakthrough was achieved with Turkey and Armenia.  The foreign ministers of the two countries met in Switzerland, and in the presence of the U.S. Secretary of State and other European foreign ministers, signed an agreement to open the […]

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Oct 14, 2009

Pakistan Needs More than Aid

By Harlan Ullman

That no good deed goes unpunished is both cliche and irony. No better illustration can be found than in the uproar that accompanied the House of Representative’s passage last week of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill that “authorizes” an additional $1.5 billion a year for five years in non-military aid to Pakistan. “Authorize” is a key word.

Pakistan
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