New Atlanticist

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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.

Germany is ISAF’s Weakest Link

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

Germany is ISAF’s Weakest Link

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

Germany is ISAF’s Weakest Link

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 9, 2009

Germany is ISAF’s Weakest Link

By Joshua Foust

The Bundeswehr has evolved from refusing to kill known militants to calling in air strikes based on flimsy evidence. The German deployment has been a complete failure. The Bundeswehr is consistently undermining the allied tasks in Afghanistan and should either reevaluate or withdraw.

Germany

New Atlanticist

Sep 8, 2009

UN Agency Proposes Dollar Alternative

By James Joyner

 Back in March, Zhou Xiochuan, head of China’s central bank, created quite a stir when he suggested the need for an international currency to replace the dollar. Now, the United Nations has followed suit.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Sep 4, 2009

The Domestic Politics of Foreign Policy

By Hugh De Santis

In politics, as in everyday life, good deeds often don’t go unpunished.  Intent on bridging the toxic ideological divide in the US, Barack Obama has chosen to govern from the center.  As the debate over healthcare legislation glaringly illustrates, however, the political center has all but vanished in domestic politics.  The president is about to […]

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2009

Afghanistan, Vietnam, and the Limits of Force

By Chuck Hagel

The other night I watched the film “The Deer Hunter.” Afterward, I remembered why it took me so many years to be able to watch Vietnam movies.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2009

Washington’s Afghan Brawl

By Thomas Rid

The debate on the pros and cons of Afghanistan is raging inside the Beltway. And it is a bit unsettling. On the one side are those who say no, America has no national interests in Afghanistan — and yes, it’s a war of choice: let’s leave the hellhole and get out asap. On the other […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 3, 2009

When Tactics Displace Strategy

By Raymond Pritchett

ISAF’s mission is to help the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) defeat the insurgency threatening their country. Protecting the Afghan people is the mission. The Afghan people will decide who wins this fight, and we (GIROA and ISAF) are in a struggle for their support. The effort to gain and maintain that support must inform […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2009

Afghanistan: Strategic Retreat?

By Arnaud de Borchgrave

President Obama is not Lincoln with a BlackBerry as some have suggested, but Lyndon Johnson with a war the country no longer supports and a new Cronkite yapping at his Afghan heels.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2009

NATO’s Afghanistan Dilemma

By Harlan Ullman

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, has just submitted his first assessment of what needs to be done to turn the tide in that battered and war-torn nation long known as the graveyard of empires dating back to Alexander. While classified, that assessment summarizes the situation as “serious but still […]

Afghanistan NATO

New Atlanticist

Sep 2, 2009

U.S., UK Err on Security Decisions

By Amanda Bowman

In the late 80s, Margaret Thatcher warned George H.W. Bush “not to go wobbly” on her; in the past week both the Scottish Justice Secretary and the government of the United States have “gone wobbly” in the fight against terrorism.

United Kingdom United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Sep 1, 2009

Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nuclear War

By Bernard Finel

As the foreign policy community has started to seriously question whether the war in Afghanistan serves America’s strategic interests, regional experts Jari Lindholm and Joshua Foust have offered up a new rationale: preventing a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

Afghanistan India
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