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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New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2008

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

By David Smith

In the predawn hours of August 7, Russia invaded Georgia. Gassiev, a border guard of the separatist regime in the Georgian territory of South Ossetia, was at the southern end of the Roki Tunnel that leads from Russia. At 3:52 a.m., he used his mobile telephone to tell his supervisor: “The armor and people . […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2008

Russia Back in the Game: It’s the West’s Move

By Ioan Mircea Pascu

With its invasion of Georgia, Russia demonstrated the determination to “come back into the game” in style. Regenerated through the surge of energy prices, Russia’s leaders want to make up their losses from the 1990s and get payback for the accompanying humiliation. Her aggressive policies, heralded by the political use of the energy weapon starting […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2008

NATO’s Tunnel Vision: Seeing Beyond Russia

By Nikolas Gvosdev

Perusing the media reports after the meeting of NATO defense ministers in London, I was most struck by what did not appear. For instance, no apparent discussion about what is a growing threat to the economic security of the entire Euro-Atlantic world—the increasing ability of both “rogue states” and non-state actors (warlords, rebels and terrorist […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2008

Financial Crisis: View from Europe

By James Joyner

The deepening and spread of the U.S. financial crisis and the government’s late move to step in to offer regulatory oversight and bailouts might reasonably have been expected to generate a round of “I told you so’s” from Europe.

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2008

Afghanistan Just Got a Bit Tougher

By James Easaw

Bob Woodward’s recent Washington Post series making public the discord between the Bush White House and the heads of the American military services will provide a ready excuse for European heads of state, already facing increasing skepticism at home, to absolve themselves of responsibility for failure in that vital region.

Afghanistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2008

Presidents Come and Go but Strategy Remains

By Derek Reveron

President Bush may be a lame duck but his new national defense strategy will shape policy for years regardless of who wins in November.

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Sep 18, 2008

Iraq: Time for a Deadline

By Neil Leslie

Al-Anbar, the largest of Iraq’s eighteen provinces, was once thought of as a lost cause. A 2006 US Marine Corps report stated that the situation in the region was deteriorating by the day. The Sunni population of Anbar – dominant under Saddam – was fearful of growing Iranian influence in Baghdad, and increasingly turned to […]

Iraq

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2008

Winning in Afghanistan: Whose Side is Pakistan Really On?

By James Joyner

In a rather cheery piece in Slate, Anne Applebaum declares, “Of Course We Can Win in Afghanistan — If we’re willing to pay the price of victory.”

Afghanistan Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 17, 2008

Pakistan’s Perfect Storm

By Shuja Nawaz

Within a matter of days, events on the Afghan border seem to be creating a perfect storm of mistrust and conflict between the United States and Pakistan

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Debate: Is Russia Rational?

By James Joyner

A question that has been raised repeatedly, both explicitly and implicitly, since Russia’s invasion of Georgia is the degree to which Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev are rational actors. Surely, many argue, it makes no sense for Russia to risk isolating itself from the West to make a point?

Russia

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