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.

Chinese, Gulf Funds Deserve U.S. Welcome Mat

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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Our experts decipher and annotate major speeches and policy documents to break down big ideas and lay them out in plain language.

New Atlanticist

Jan 22, 2008

Chinese, Gulf Funds Deserve U.S. Welcome Mat

By Frederick Kempe

It’s good and bad that the issue of sovereign wealth funds has entered the U.S. presidential debate. What’s positive is that the candidates have the chance to educate the American electorate during a moment of mounting economic gloom — and while people are paying attention — about the increased role that foreign capital plays in […]

United States and Canada

New Atlanticist

Jan 8, 2008

White House Winner Must Play New Game Overseas

By Frederick Kempe

When American voters get in one of their “change” moods, as demonstrated by the galloping fever for Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, they discount the value of foreign-policy experience in their candidates.

New Atlanticist

Jan 3, 2008

Bhutto Killing Breeds a Failing Nuclear State

By Frederick Kempe

Two months ago I suggested that, amid the Bush administration’s focus on Iraq’s present dangers and Iran’s future perils, Pakistan was most likely to produce a so- called black-swan event.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Dec 20, 2007

Ukraine’s Second Chance

By Adrian Karatnycky and Jan Neutze

Travel south from Kiev along the arbored R-12 highway and you will see perhaps the most public symbols of Ukraine’s rampant corruption: a wide array of luxurious estates that have sprung up in Koncha-Zaspa, a leafy suburb of the capital. Many of these multimillion-dollar homes belong to senior state officials with only modest salaries. Investigative […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Nov 6, 2007

Bush Should Offer France’s Sarkozy a NATO Deal

By Frederick Kempe

Bush administration officials have been engaged in a quiet debate about how eagerly to seize a chance to improve French-U.S. relations during President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Washington visit, which started yesterday.

NATO NATO Partnerships

New Atlanticist

Nov 4, 2007

Pakistan Gets My Vote for a Black Swan Event

By Frederick Kempe

Washington is obsessed with the war in Iraq, the danger of Turkish troops clashing with Kurdish militants and President George W. Bush’s possible showdown with Iran over its nuclear weapons ambitions.

Pakistan

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2007

Turkey Genocide Resolution Does Unneeded Harm

By Frederick Kempe

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the most-irresponsible, self-defeating and short-sighted congressional foreign policy action of this year. Start with Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, President George W. Bush and the Turks themselves. The issue in question is last week’s decision by the House Foreign Affairs Committee […]

Turkey

New Atlanticist

Oct 2, 2007

Ahmadinejad Dinner’s Main Course Is All Image

By Frederick Kempe

The questions I had scribbled in my notebook, going into what would become a three-hour dinner meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, were key to knowing how dangerous he might be. 1) How much power does he have? 2) Is he as deranged as his rhetoric would suggest? Behind the first question was whether he […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 24, 2007

Putin Staying Put to Lead Russian Reassertion

By Frederick Kempe

In the past year, Russian President Vladimir Putin has morphed from a noisy irritant to the West who was reaching the end of his two-term limit to a swaggering antagonist who isn’t going away. At least that’s the view of senior Bush administration officials, who increasingly see Russia as a rising strategic challenge. They fear […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 5, 2007

Iraq War Squabbling Squanders an Opportunity

By Frederick Kempe

September offers a unique opportunity for a turning point on Iraq. OK, before you roll your eyes and stop reading, we aren’t talking about a turning point IN Iraq — that will take more than President George W. Bush’s Labor Day outing in Anbar Province or the rat-a-tat of expert reports and congressional testimony over […]

Iraq

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