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
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.

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

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

Jul 22, 2009

The Obama Debacle?

By Harlan Ullman

Despite overheated rhetoric from his defenders, history will not prove kind to George W. Bush and his foreign policy decisions that have been or will prove to be debacles. The Obama administration is quite right to argue repeatedly that the Bush team left behind a foreign policy mess exacerbated by economic and financial meltdowns.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jul 22, 2009

EU Policies in North Korea: A Better Approach?

By Ross Rustici

Isn’t it time to consider an additional strategy when dealing with North Korea? Washington’s current policy debate is so consumed by the nuclear proliferation problem and past solutions that often it forgets to analyze the broader picture. Much of the discussion surrounding the recent nuclear and missile tests by North Korea has centered on the […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jul 22, 2009

Bush’s Third Term

By James Joyner

In an essay for The National Interest, “Bush’s Third Term,” I catalog the remarkable continuity between Barack Obama’s foreign policy and that of his predecessor. While noting that real change may be coming on missile defense, Israel, and Cuba, I point out how little has changed on Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, al Qaeda, North Korea, […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 21, 2009

Who Really Runs Russia?

By James Joyner

Most of us in the West have presumed that Vladimir Putin is still running Russia, despite having stepped down as president and moving to the constitutionally-less-powerful premiership. Apparently, most Russians think so, too.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jul 21, 2009

The Congressional-Military-Industrial Complex

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

“If the Department of Defense can’t figure out a way to defend the United States on half a trillion dollars a year, then our problems are much bigger than anything that can be cured by buying a few more ships and planes.” So spoke Defense Secretary Robert Gates, angry with the profligate ways of both the Congress […]

New Atlanticist

Jul 21, 2009

Is Globalization 2.0 Unraveling?

By Robert Manning

Even as projections of global recovery in 2010 flow from the IMF, the global economic meltdown has spawned a buzzword that seems to be on the lips of the chattering class: deglobalization. Look no further than Joshua Kurlantzick’s “The World is Bumpy” for a recent sampling.

New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2009

UK’s Afghanistan Patience Waning

By James Joyner

July has been the deadliest month so far for American forces in Afghanistan, with 55 killed already this month. Despite the trend toward Americanization of the conflict, however, today’s crash of a RAF Tornado fighter brought the month’s toll to 19 British troops killed. Given the extreme controversy over the war in the UK, that […]

Afghanistan United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2009

Will COIN Work in Afghanistan?

By Don Snow

The Obama administration has invested a great deal (one can argue too much) of its national security capital in the war on Afghanistan, and the chief instrument for realizing that investment has been the application of counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine to the situation. This application, in turn, is based on putting into action the Army and […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Jul 20, 2009

The French & Iranian Revolutions

By Andrew Kessinger

We have recently celebrated the anniversaries of the American and French Revolutions, both violent civil uprisings that changed the course of their nation’s history. A similar storm seems to be brewing – this time in Iran.

France Iran

New Atlanticist

Jul 18, 2009

Europe Needs Diversified Energy Strategy

By Borut Grgic

After Gazprom signed a deal with Azerbaijan for 500 million cubic meters of gas, the Nabucco bunch got together in Ankara and agreed on a legal basis for the 3300 kilometer long pipeline which will connect the European market to the Caspian gas.

Energy & Environment

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