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: The Intervention Dilemma

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: The Intervention Dilemma

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: The Intervention Dilemma

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

Sep 24, 2009

Afghanistan: The Intervention Dilemma

By Don Snow

The military dimension of the counterinsurgency in Afghanistan requires establishing a high enough degree of security in the country that the Afghan people will transfer their loyalty away from the Taliban (or will feel adequately unthreatened by the likelihood of a Taliban return to express opposition to the insurgents). As noted in a previous posting […]

Afghanistan

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
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