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.

Swine Flu Outbreaks Prompt EU Travel Warnings

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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New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2009

Swine Flu Outbreaks Prompt EU Travel Warnings

By Valerie Nichols

The European Union’s top health official today urged Europeans to postpone any nonessential travel to the U.S. and Mexico. With more than 1,600 cases and 103 deaths in Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, and with confirmed cases in the U.S. doubling to 40, the World Health Organization worries of pandemic potential while economists […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Apr 27, 2009

Afghanistan is Irrelevant

By Bernard Finel

It is now a deeply entrenched conventional wisdom that the decision to “abandon” Afghanistan after the Cold War was a tragic mistake. In the oft-told story, our “abandonment” led to civil war, state collapse, the rise of the Taliban, and inevitably terrorist attacks on American soil. This narrative is now reinforced by dire warnings about […]

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 25, 2009

UN: United States Must Prosecute Torture Lawyers

By James Joyner

The United States is required to prosecute lawyers who authored memos approving harsh interrogation techniques in possible violation of international law, the UN’s top anti-torture official proclaimed Friday.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2009

U.S. Prepared to Secure Pakistani Nukes

By James Joyner

“[I]f Pakistan collapses, the U.S. military is primed to enter the country and secure as many of those weapons as it can, according to U.S. officials,” report’s TIME’s Mark Thompson burying his lede three paragraphs into a story whose headline asks, “Does Pakistan’s Taliban Surge Raise a Nuclear Threat?”

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2009

Taliban AfPak Strategy: A Jihadi Preemptive War

By Walid Phares

As the U.S. administration and its allies are devising a new strategy for the next steps in Afghanistan, the jihadists have already begun their next move — but this time it’s inside Pakistan. As I’ve written over the past few months, we need to look at Afghanistan, Pakistan and India as one regional battlefield where […]

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2009

Pakistan Solution Begins in India

By Bernard Finel

Coming on the heels of the imposition of Sharia rule in the Swat Valley in Pakistan comes news that the Pakistani Taliban has seized a foothold in the Buner district, a mere 70 miles from the capital Islamabad. Worse, the Pakistani military seems largely unwilling to confront this rising Islamist tide.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2009

Tactical Options for Fighting Somali Pirates

By Raymond Pritchett

There have been a number of ideas floated regarding options for dealing with the pirate activity around the coast of Somalia.

Somalia

New Atlanticist

Apr 24, 2009

Mixed Signals in New Turkey-Armenia Framework

By Valerie Nichols

The almost century-old dispute between Turkey and Armenia over the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 has reached a symbolic breakthrough. A “framework” for normalizing bilateral relations was agreed upon under Swiss mediation, but exactly how it will work to resolve tensions remains unclear.

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2009

Pakistan Nearing Collapse

By James Joyner

“The move by Taliban-backed militants into the Buna district of northwestern Pakistan, closer than ever to Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, have prompted concerns both within the country and abroad that the nuclear-armed nation of 165 million is on the verge of inexorable collapse.” So begins a report from TIME‘s Aryn Baker.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Apr 23, 2009

Optimism on Afghanistan

By James Joyner

This afternoon, Ashraf Ghani, former Afghan finance minister and member of the Atlantic Council International Advisory Board and Strategic Advisors Group, unveiled his report “A Ten-Year Framework for Afghanistan: Executing the Obama Plan and Beyond.”

Afghanistan

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