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.

Russian Naval Base to be Built in Abkhazia

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

Jan 27, 2009

Russian Naval Base to be Built in Abkhazia

By Peter Cassata

The ITAR-TASS news agency reported that a Russian naval base will be constructed this year in the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia. An Abkhaz official said that the base will not succeed Sevastopol (the Crimean port whose lease Kyiv does not intend to renew in 2017) as the new Black Sea Fleet headquarters.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Jan 26, 2009

Security Implications of the Financial Crisis

By James Joyner

As the global financial crisis deepens, the strongest reactions thus far are coming from the emerging democracies in Don Rumsfeld’s New Europe. Phillip Pan writes on the front page of today’s WaPo of a protest in Latvia’s capital that turned into a riot

New Atlanticist

Jan 26, 2009

Will Europe’s Obama Love Last?

By James Joyner

Mark Mardell, BBC’s Europe editor, noticed an American flag flying in his Brussels neighborhood recently and believes it may be a sign that anti-Americanism is waning on the Continent now that Bush is out and Obama is in. But he wonders — as do I — “Will sentimental approval be accompanied by hard political deeds?”

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 26, 2009

EU Ministers Meet on Taking Gitmo Detainees

By James Joyner

Last week, President Obama signed an order that would close the controversial prison facility at Guantanamo within a year. Now, EU leaders are meeting to formally consider their previous offer to help.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 26, 2009

OSCE: Beware the Last Laugh

By David Smith

Last week, Moscow afforded us dour folk who concentrate on international security a real laugh-out-loud. On January 19 and again on January 21, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded an inspection of Georgian military facilities under the Vienna 1999 document of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2009

Report: Iran Nearly Out of Uranium

By Peter Cassata

Iran has nearly depleted the stockpiles of uranium it imported in the 1970s, and its own uranium mines hold only small quantities of lower-grade ore, according to a recent news leak. Western states have now launched a diplomatic push to urge all uranium-exporting countries not to sell to Tehran.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2009

Obama Orders Pakistan Drone Attacks

By James Joyner

While President Obama has sent some major signals in his first days in office that his foreign policy will differ from President Bush’s, he sent one yesterday demonstrating continuity on a very key issue: targeting al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

New Atlanticist

Jan 24, 2009

Euro’s Soft Underbelly Exposed by Financial Crisis

By James Joyner

A report in yesterday’s NYT under the title “Once a Boon, Euro Now Burdens Some Nations” points out that the global financial crisis is creating ripples in the eurozone.

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2009

5 Questions for Thomas Barnett

By James Joyner

Thomas Barnett has answered five questions I posed to him about his new book, Great Powers: American and the World After Bush. This is the final piece in my week-long series on Barnett for the New Atlanticist.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 23, 2009

Great Powers – Reflections

By James Joyner

Over the last four days, I’ve given you a thematic look at Great Powers: America and the World After Bush, the next book by Pentagon’s New Map author Thomas Barnett, that goes on sale February 5th. Because of the meatiness of the material, I mostly stuck to summary, trying to synthesize some far-ranging ideas into […]

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