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

Nov 14, 2008

G20 Summit: The View from Europe

By Peter Cassata

Will this weekend’s G20 summit really be “Bretton Woods II?” The answer from Europe (like the U.S.) seems to be no.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Nov 14, 2008

What to Expect from the G20 Summit

By James OConnor

Tomorrow, leaders of the top industrialized countries and the key emerging economies that make up the G20 will meet in Washington for a Global Economic Summit. This meeting is a critical first step towards international coordination in addressing the current financial crisis. The agenda will include topics ranging from the rewriting of specific financial regulations […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 14, 2008

Covering Intelligence is Hard

By James Joyner

One truism that I’ve noted over the years is that any event that I experience in person will invariably be reported in the press quite differently. That proved true again last night as I began absorbing media accounts of CIA Director Michael Hayden’s “State of al Qaeda Today” address to the Atlantic Council.

New Atlanticist

Nov 13, 2008

Every Major Terrorist Threat Has Ties to Pakistan

By James Joyner

CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Atlantic Council this afternoon that al Qaeda’s safe haven in Pakistan’s ungoverned tribal areas have provided a “sanctuary” that has “allowed it to recover some capacity lost when expelled from Afghanistan” nearly seven years ago.

New Atlanticist

Nov 13, 2008

The Future of NATO-EU Relations

By Julian Lindley-French

These remarks were delivered recently at the Atlantic Council’s conference on Reforming NATO for the 21st Century. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Let me immediately address the question that General Scowcroft posed last night – what is NATO for? Well, in the security domain it is the same as the EU. To […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Nov 13, 2008

The Kaliningrad Missile Crisis

By Neil Leslie

The Kremlin’s latest move to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad is the first time since the Cold War that Russia has “declared its intention to create a military threat to the West.” Yet the nature of the threat does not represent a fundamental challenge to U.S. or European security and has been largely overblown on both […]

Missile Defense NATO

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2008

The Absence of Europe: Implications for International Security?

By Steven Kramer

Facing a worsening economic situation and a war in Iraq that will be difficult to end—in short, grave overstretch—the next U.S. administration will seek to return to a more multilateral foreign policy and attempt to work closely with Europe. But Europe may not be willing or able to meet American expectations to play a larger […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2008

Russia and $50 Oil

By James Joyner

Oil prices have plummeted in recent weeks, hitting a 20-month low of $59 per barrel, a 60 percent drop-off from its summer high of $147. One might reasonably think that this would be crippling to a country like Russia, which relies so heavily on energy exports to stake its claim to major power status. The […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Nov 11, 2008

Obama’s Afghanistan Plan

By James Joyner

During the campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Afghanistan. Most notably, he argued that we had been distracted by the war in Iraq and had diverted resources to that conflict, which he opposed, that could better have been devoted to fighting al Qaeda and finding Osama bin Laden. […]

New Atlanticist

Nov 10, 2008

Indignation or Ignominy

By David Smith

“You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour and you will have war.” (Winston Churchill to Neville Chamberlain on the occasion of the Munich Agreement, 1938) The European Union stepped closer last week to resuming the partnership talks with Moscow that it suspended in the wake of Russia’s August invasion of […]

European Union International Organizations

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