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 10, 2008

Grim Prospects in Afghanistan

By Don Snow

The war in Afghanistan is now seven years old, and it is no closer to being over than it was when it began. For years, it has flown beneath the radar cover provided by Iraq. As the Iraq war winds down, however, attention has, as noted earlier this week ("Are We Losing in Afghanistan?"), begun […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 10, 2008

Economic Crisis in 3 Minutes

By James Joyner

The Spectator‘s Matthew Parris explains “the world economic crisis in three minutes” by means of a comedy sketch. Realizing that many of our readers are pressed for time, I’ve provided some excerpts

New Atlanticist

Oct 10, 2008

Banking Crisis Not a Black Swan

By James Joyner

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of last year’s bestseller The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, feels no small sense of vindication with the current financial crash.

New Atlanticist

Oct 9, 2008

Piracy’s Silver Lining?

By Peter Pham

I recently outlined the growing challenge to international commerce and security posed by the burgeoning piracy in the waters off the Somali coast and lamented that it looked unlikely that the international community would muster the political will to confront the underlying causes of the pirate phenomenon. Nonetheless, there may be an upside to the […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Oct 9, 2008

Afghanistan and the Presidential Campaign

By Don Snow

The war in Iraq has largely fallen off the table among issues being contested in the presidential election campaign, but America’s “other” war in Afghanistan, has begun to attract more attention, at least in part because of increased U.S. casualties in that theater. Since the economy will almost certainly continue to dominate election concerns between now […]

Afghanistan United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 8, 2008

NATO Expansion: Time for a Deep Breath

By Nikolas Gvosdev

Let’s get a few things off our chests. The Germans are still goose-steppers who would warm up the panzers in an instant to engage in a fifth partition of Poland with their Red Army counterparts. The French are cheese-eating surrender monkeys who want to appease the big bad bear of the East. The Italians (or […]

Germany NATO

New Atlanticist

Oct 8, 2008

Why Britain Wants Talks with the Taliban

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

A split has emerged between London and Washington over the best way forward in Afghanistan. Over the last week, British diplomats and military commanders have expressed growing doubts about the success of the current NATO strategy. Faced with an imminent change in leadership in the White House and an increasingly deadly stalemate in Afghanistan, London […]

NATO Security & Defense

New Atlanticist

Oct 8, 2008

Privacy, Biometrics and the War on Terror

By Neil Leslie

Anglo-Americans are the exception when it comes to national ID cards. Almost every other major country that has suffered from terrorism in the past quarter-century has instituted some form of compulsory national identification. Germany, Spain, Israel, Turkey, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan have all done so. The United States and the United Kingdom […]

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2008

America’s Coming Decline?

By James Joyner

Arnaud de Borchgrave, UPI Editor at Large, notes that the recent shocks in the U.S. and world financial markets have created a radical realignment in global perceptions

Economy & Business

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2008

Are We Losing in Afghanistan?

By Don Snow

With public attention understandably directed at the election campaign and the credit meltdown, the war in Afghanistan has faded from the public view. Only a trickle of press reports are being published, and the news they contain is not particularly good. Are we losing the war in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan

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