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.

Mumbai Attacks Sophisticated but Likely Not al Qaeda

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

Nov 27, 2008

Mumbai Attacks Sophisticated but Likely Not al Qaeda

By James Joyner

A previously unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen has claimed responsibility for the horrific attacks in Mumbai. While these attacks came during a period when Western intelligence chiefs were “expecting an al Qaeda spectacular terrorist attack” and came just hours after the FBI warned that al Qaeda may be “targetting New York’s subways and […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 26, 2008

Has Terrorism Lost its Sex Appeal?

By Nicholas Siegel

A few years ago I sat at a friend’s kitchen table on a cool summer evening in Dublin, Ireland. I don’t visit there very often, so I inevitably wanted to catch up on Irish sports, the music community, as well as the political scene of a country that, for its size, is well adept at […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 26, 2008

Economic Rise of the East

By James OConnor

In its latest report entitled Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World, the National Intelligence Council has made various predictions about the continuing and changing influence of globalization around the world. It is argued that “as some countries become more invested in their economic well-being, incentives toward geopolitical stability could increase.” This is positive.

New Atlanticist

Nov 25, 2008

Obama’s All-Stars

By James Joyner

Barack Obama’s cabinet choices have been met by gushing reviews. While many of his choices have come under fire from both the left and the right on ideological grounds, the consensus seems to be that these are among the brightest, most capable people around.

New Atlanticist

Nov 25, 2008

Medvedev’s Message

By David Smith

Germany will be either a world power or it will not be at all. – Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1925. Russia can either be big and strong or it will cease to exist. – Dmitry Medvedev, speech to senior military officers, The Kremlin, September 30, 2008.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Nov 25, 2008

Climate Change Will Be More Severe in 2025

By Erica McCarthy

The National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World” report considers likely scenarios for nearly all strategic global issues, including nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and climate change. Climate change in particular is an issue that we will be faced with on a daily basis two decades from now.

Energy & Environment

New Atlanticist

Nov 24, 2008

Learning from the Barbary Pirates

By Robert Manning

Amidst all the angst and astonishment about those wild and crazy Somali pirates, we seem to have forgotten that we’ve been through this movie before. It was more than two centuries ago when Muslim pirates were, after England, perhaps the most serious foreign threat bedeviling the new American republic. And the policy response too, is […]

Somalia

New Atlanticist

Nov 24, 2008

Asia’s Ascendency Seen in Intelligence Forecast

By Joseph Snyder

The National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2025: A Transformed World,” released on November 20, poses a fascinating variety of alternate futures.

New Atlanticist

Nov 24, 2008

Barack Obama: Al Qaeda’s Ideological Challenge

By Jeffrey Lightfoot

Chief Al Qaeda ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri gave a good indicator of the current status of his organization’s ideological appeal when Al Qaeda released a video last week.

New Atlanticist

Nov 21, 2008

Terrorism Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

By James Joyner

Speaking to the Atlantic Council last Thursday, CIA director Michael Hayden declared that, “although Al-Qaeda has suffered serious setbacks, it remains a determined and adaptive enemy” and vowed that, while the American people have grown naturally complacent about the threat, he and his colleagues remain vigilant every day, motivated by the fact that the country […]

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