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.

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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Dive deep into developing stories, guided by continually updated expert analysis that leaves you better informed about the most pressing global issues behind the headlines.

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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Oct 31, 2008

Russia May Leave Europe Out in the Cold

By Christopher Harness

The landmark pipeline deal recently signed between Russia and China connecting the Siberian oil fields with Daqing should send cold chills up Europeans’ spines. It may very well mean they will be literally cold in the foreseeable future.

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Oct 30, 2008

Don’t Know Much About Foreign Policy

By James Joyner

Cernig, a pseudonymous “forty-something ex-pat Scotsman living in the USA” whose “abiding interest is foreign policy — or to be precise the domestic policy that America inflicts on foreigners,” jumps off from Bob Manning’s recent reflection on a post-American world to lament the general lack of interest of Americans in world affairs.

New Atlanticist

Oct 30, 2008

American Elections and UK Relations

By James Joyner

Sir Christopher Meyer, British ambassador to the United States from 1997 to 2003, takes to the pages of the Telegraph to answer the question “Which President would be best for Britain?”

United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Oct 29, 2008

Financial Crisis: What Doesn’t Kill Us Makes Us Stronger?

By James Joyner

Martin Wolf, the chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, told an Atlantic Council audience earlier today that the global financial crisis has “re-emphasized the centrality of the U.S. dollar as a currency” and demonstrated once again that “when things go really badly lots of people want go to the U.S. even if U.S. is […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 29, 2008

Stuck in Time: The Next President Needs a New Worldview

By Derek Reveron

The American recession and global financial crisis have largely displaced foreign policy in the U.S. presidential campaign. Regardless, President Obama or President McCain will inherit a Bush foreign policy that has 160,000 troops in Iraq and rising demand for NATO forces in Afghanistan. As the next president-elect assembles his team, he needs to be careful […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 28, 2008

Restoring the German Army’s Auftragstaktik

By Florian Broschk

The German parliament has extended the Bundeswehr’s mission in Afghanistan for another fourteen months. A discussion is now needed on what goals the German army can realistically be expected to achieve and which strategy will offer the best hope for success.

Afghanistan Germany

New Atlanticist

Oct 28, 2008

Iraq Training Mission Shows NATO’s Future

By David Capezza

At the request of the provisional Iraqi government in 2004, NATO began providing training, assistance, and equipment to the Iraqi Security Forces to assist with the creation of a democratically led and enduring security sector. This mission has grown from planning and training security forces to include advising and mentoring of security forces, both in […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 27, 2008

Preconditions, Preparations, and Posturing

By James Joyner

Nick Burns, a career diplomat who recently retired after a quarter century of service as the number three ranked official in the State Department, has a long piece in Newsweek declaring “We Should Talk to Our Enemies.” It pointedly takes John McCain to task for his repeated hammering at Barack Obama for pledging to negotiate […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 27, 2008

Sneak Preview of the Future: Who Makes New Rules?

By Robert Manning

Don’t look now, but much about last week’s Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) – from its remedies for the financial meltdown to its obscurity in the U.S. – spoke volumes about emerging multipolarity and the historic shift in global power. Was America watching?

New Atlanticist

Oct 27, 2008

Business as Usual with Russia

By David Smith

There was good and bad news last week about western efforts to end Russian aggression against Georgia. Good was that international donors pledged $4.5 billion to help repair the damage Russia inflicted upon Georgia during the hot phase of the war. Bad was that the European Commission and the French Presidency of the European Union […]

European Union International Organizations

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