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.

Kissinger’s Formula: Goal + Capability + Staying Power

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 16, 2009

Kissinger’s Formula: Goal + Capability + Staying Power

By James Joyner

Brent Scowcroft, who followed Henry Kissinger as National Security Advisor to President Ford, introduced his friend last night as “one of the very few people who have truly strategic minds.” Kissinger demonstrated just that during the far-ranging speech that followed.

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2009

Kissinger: Iran Diplomacy More Than Just Talk

By James Joyner

Perhaps the longest running foreign policy argument during the 2008 presidential campaign stemmed from Barack Obama’s vowing during the July 2007 YouTube debate that he would be “willing to meet separately, without precondition . . . with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jan 16, 2009

Gitmo ‘Recidivism’ Claims Don’t Stand Scrutiny

By James Joyner

Earlier this week, I reported on the U.S. Defense Department’s claims that as many as 61 former Guantanimo detainees had returned to terrorism. My friend Steve Hynd, who blogs at Newshoggers and elsewhere, passes along a rather convincing rejoinder from Michael J. Ricciardelli of the Seton Hall Law Center for Policy & Research.

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2009

Time to Lose War on Terror?

By James Joyner

In a Guardian op-ed and a speech in Mumbai, both today, British foreign secretary David Milibrand says that the “war on terror” was a bad idea.

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2009

Israel Shells UN Headquarters in Gaza

By James Joyner

Breaking news from AP: Israeli forces shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, setting fire to the compound filled with hundreds of refugees as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was in the region on a mission to end Israel’s devastating offensive against the territory’s Hamas rulers.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Jan 15, 2009

A Grand Opportunity for a Global President

By Shuja Nawaz

Charles Dickens called Washington a “city of magnificent intentions.” When Barack Obama takes over on January 20th as the 44th President of the United States, he will need to translate his own lofty ideas into realities. What makes the challenge bigger for him is that he may also be carrying another title: the first globally-elected […]

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2009

Stimulus Has its Limits (But We Don’t Know What They Are)

By James Joyner

Fed chair Ben Bernanke’s gave a speech yesterday at the London School of Economics which noted that, while “more capital injections and guarantees may become necessary to ensure stability and the normalization of credit markets,” other tools will need to be deployed.

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2009

Solving Europe’s Gas Problem

By Borut Grgic

It is hard to be amused by what now is an annual Ukraine-Russia gas dispute. What surprises, is the continued lack of readiness in Europe to protect commerce and households from this problem. The lack of viable alternatives is particularly evident in new Europe.

Energy & Environment European Union

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2009

What Obama Can Learn From Europe

By James Joyner

Atlantic Council president and CEO Fred Kempe was interviewed by EurActiv on the impending transition in the American presidency and, especially, the implications for U.S. – European relations. Below are some excerpts.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Jan 14, 2009

Priorities, Tactics, and Timing: The Stuff of Statecraft

By Robert Manning

In the torrent of foreign policy advice flowing to Barack Obama from underemployed think-tankers, job auditioners and academics, most is in the form of prescriptions: what to do on Iran, Russia, Darfur, or the Israeli-Palestine issue. But how and when an administration pursues a policy — and deciding what not to do — can be […]

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