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.

Preconditions, Preparations, and Posturing

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

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

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2008

World Prefers Obama: It’s Unanimous

By James Joyner

Foreign Policy commissioned Gallup to conduct a worldwide poll about the U.S. presidential election as part of its “If the World Could Vote” series.

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Oct 24, 2008

Russia and Iran’s Proposed Gas Cartel

By Neil Leslie

Russia’s Gazprom recently announced plans for the formation of a ‘gas troika’ along with Iran and Qatar. Initially proposed by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2007, the development has raised fears in the West that a gas cartel will destabilize energy supplies and pose a security threat to Europe.

Energy & Environment Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 23, 2008

Russia Still a “Major Player”

By Peter Cassata

Russia in Global Affairs editor Fyodor Lukyanov recently proclaimed, “[O]ur long effort to integrate with Western institutions, to become part of the Western system, is over. The aim now is to be an independent power in a multi-polar world in which Russia is a major player.”

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2008

Republican Foreign Policy Establishment, R.I.P.?

By James Joyner

Ilan Goldenberg, policy director for the National Security Network, argues that Colin Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama for president sounds the death knell for “the Republican foreign policy establishment as we know it. The final break between traditional pragmatic foreign policy conservatives and Neocons.”

New Atlanticist

Oct 22, 2008

Afghanistan: View from the UK

By Neil Leslie

British Foreign Secretary David Milliband responded to increasingly gloomy predictions concerning the fate of Afghanistan by declaring the NATO campaign there a “mission possible.”

Afghanistan United Kingdom

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2008

Not Quite So Green: Don’t Hold Your Breath Waiting for Copenhagen

By Robert Manning

As the world gears up for the UN Climate Change extravaganza (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCC) in Copenhagen in December 2009, achieving a serious accord to establish post-2012 commitments that could slow or halt global warming increasingly appears a mirage.

Energy & Environment European Union

New Atlanticist

Oct 21, 2008

Geneva 1936, 2008

By David Smith

A Russian diplomatic landmine exploded international talks on the future of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia last week in Geneva.

European Union International Organizations

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