Issue briefs and reports

Issue briefs and reports

Our programs and centers deliver in-depth, highly relevant issue briefs and reports that break new ground, shift opinions, and set agendas on public policy, with a focus on advancing debates by integrating foundational research and analysis with concrete policy solutions.

Will Iran’s Human Rights Record Improve?

Global Energy Agenda
Jun 8, 2026

2026 Global Energy Agenda full survey results

The Global Energy Agenda takes the pulse of the energy community, revealing expert views on global energy security, access, and sustainability.

Africa
Americas

Will Iran’s Human Rights Record Improve?

Report
Jun 1, 2026

Atlantic Council Commission on AI lays a roadmap for US leadership in the age of AI

By
Atlantic Council experts

The flagship report of the Atlantic Council Commission on AI and US competitiveness, which presents an action-oriented roadmap for strengthening US domestic AI capacity.

Artificial Intelligence
Cybersecurity

Will Iran’s Human Rights Record Improve?

Issue Brief
Jun 9, 2026

How global authoritarians sustain inequality

By
Deng Liu

Authoritarian leaders across the world use targeted strategies to sustain inequality. But developing countries should instead pull from a variety of existing development models to create societal prosperity.

East Asia
Freedom and Prosperity

Content

Issue Brief

May 11, 2016

Will Iran’s Human Rights Record Improve?

By Barbara Slavin

Read the Publication (PDF) In the aftermath of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a major question has been whether the landmark nuclear deal would have any impact on Iran’s other policies, including its record on human rights. While US President Barack Obama’s administration stressed that in negotiating the JCPOA its focus was on […]

Issue Brief

May 11, 2016

Congo blues: Scoring Kabila’s rule

By Pierre Englebert

Across Africa, leaders are tinkering with term limits and prolonging their tenures. In an increasingly unstable Central African region, Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), appears poised to be the next African leader to sidestep the relinquishing of power and the election of his successor, constitutionally mandated for November 2016. […]

Africa Civil Society

Report

May 10, 2016

Last Call for TTIP: The Views of European Diplomats in Washington, DC

By Marie Kasperek and Andrea Montanino

After more than three years of negotiations to forge a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), many elements of the agreement are still far from settled. However, it is possible to reach agreement in 2016. The negotiators are determined, and there is mounting awareness that an agreement that underscores the importance of the transatlantic economic […]

Economy & Business European Union

Issue Brief

May 10, 2016

NATO’s hollowing values agenda

By Stanley Sloan

When NATO leaders convene for the Warsaw summit this July, their agenda will be dominated by external threats—from an aggressive Russia, to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), to the refugee crisis that has spread from the Middle East and North Africa throughout Europe. Yet an equally important issue, though not explicitly on […]

Issue Brief

May 6, 2016

NATO’s next consortium: Maritime patrol aircraft

By Magnus Nordenman

Airborne systems to provide MDA, and maritime patrol aircraft (MPAs) in particular, stand out among the most important and urgent maritime requirements. Maritime patrol aircraft fulfill a number of roles, from high-end Anti-Submarine Warfare and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW) to maritime Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue at sea. NATO members must now recapture these capabilities and invest in a robust maritime patrol aircraft fleet.

Europe & Eurasia Maritime Security

Issue Brief

May 6, 2016

Stolen Future

By Diane Francis

Diane Francis’ new issue brief, “Stolen Future,” exposes the depth and breadth of the economic devastation a corruption fueled oligarchy has wrought in Ukraine. In the wake of the Euromaidan Revolution, Ukraine has the opportunity to break the cycle of wealth appropriation which has plagued both Russia and Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet […]

Corruption Democratic Transitions

Report

May 6, 2016

Effective Defense of the Baltics

By Franklin D. Kramer and Bantz J. Craddock

Read the Publication (PDF) NATO has the capacity to win a conventional war in the Baltics, if appropriate steps are taken. Effective defense of the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—and deterrence built upon such defensive capabilities—is one of the key challenges facing NATO and its member nations. Russia’s actions, geopolitical rhetoric, and geographic […]

Issue Brief

May 5, 2016

Islam and sharia law

By Yussef Auf

With the meteoric rise of Islamic political movements in 2011, the issue of Sharia law has come to the forefront of a debate around the role of religion in governance. In his issue brief “Islam and Sharia Law,” Atlantic Council’s Nonresident Fellow Yussef Auf identifies and explains the challenges of incorporating Sharia law into the […]

Report

May 3, 2016

The waning of Petrocaribe? Central America and Caribbean energy in transition

By David L. Goldwyn, Cory R. Gill

Petrocaribe, Caracas’ eleven-year-old energy and diplomatic alliance, is weakening. As Venezuela spirals closer to economic demise, the United States and the international community have an unprecedented opportunity to support Central America and the Caribbean’s transition away from Petrocaribe. How can the United States, Central America, and the Caribbean to advance together toward a more sustainable energy future?

Energy & Environment Energy Markets & Governance

Issue Brief

May 3, 2016

Turkey’s Syria predicament

By Faysal Itani and Aaron Stein

Turkey has been the most engaged regional player in northern Syria and is the external actor most responsible for the emergence of the opposition to the Syrian regime. In “Turkey’s Syria Predicament,” authors Faysal Itani and Aaron Stein of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East examine Turkey’s involvement, its implications for […]

Syria Turkey
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