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.

Afghanistan and the Presidential Campaign

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 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

New Atlanticist

Oct 7, 2008

European Monitors Must Head into Abkhazia, South Ossetia

By David Smith

Is deployment of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning of Russia’s occupation? All we can say with confidence today is that the arrival of the EUMM animates two vital steps. First, it enables the return home of at least some people displaced […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Oct 6, 2008

European Banks Too Big To Save?

By James Joyner

Cynthia O’Murchu and Emma Saunders, writing for the Financial Times, recently asked “Are European banks too big to fail?”

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Oct 6, 2008

Blue Helmets and Gray Hulls: The Need for Maritime Peacekeeping

By Derek Reveron

When thinking about peacekeeping, blue-helmeted soldiers come to mind. With 82,000 peacekeepers deployed on sixteen active UN peacekeeping operations around the world, that’s not surprising. Recent piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden, though, suggests that peacekeeping needs to encompass the maritime domain as well.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Oct 4, 2008

Financial Crisis: (Comedic) View from the UK

By James Joyner

This video features British humorists “John Bird and John Fortune (the Long Johns) brilliantly, and accurately, describing the mindset of the investment banking community in this satirical interview.”

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