Insights and impact

About the Council

The Atlantic Council promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the Atlantic Community’s central role in meeting global challenges. The Council provides an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders. Through the papers we write, the ideas we generate, and the communities we build, the Council shapes policy choices and strategies to create a more secure and prosperous world.

Read our annual report
Learn more

Featured content

NATO 20/2020

Twenty bold ideas to reimagine the Alliance after the 2020 US election

More than two decades after NATO’s inspired decision to invite former adversaries to join its ranks, the Alliance is in need of equally captivating ideas. The essays in this volume are intended to push the Alliance to think boldly and creatively in the service of recapturing the public’s imagination.

Read our provocative essays on the future of NATO

Download PDF
Read the essays
sign up for more

Explore the podcast series

NATO 20/2020 Podcast

NATO 20/2020 is a weekly podcast that explores 20 bold ideas to push NATO to be more visionary, more capable, and more self-evidently valuable to the security of more people.

Making a difference

Learn more about the Atlantic Council’s insights & impact through these stories of how our regional and thematic programs are making a difference not only in shaping how we view global issues but also in shaping their outcome.

Artwork by Peter Kuper

In the News

Dec 17, 2020

The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center partners with LEADERS Magazine to dedicate an entire issue to resilience

For its Fall/Winter issue of 2020, LEADERS Magazine, asked the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center to produce an issue dedicated to resilience. The Resilience Issue assembles a broad range of global thought leaders and experts who are currently tackling the challenges and crises facing the world from different perspectives.

Insights & Impact

Mar 3, 2020

Peering Around the Corner: The Geopolitics of Coronavirus

By Atlantic Council

On February 11, 2020 the DFRLab hosted "Peering Around the Corner: The Geopolitics of Coronavirus," a timely series of panels on the potential geopolitical and economic consequences of Coronavirus, and how misinformation about the crisis may influence its impact.

China Disinformation

Program Impact Story

Feb 6, 2020

US energy priorities abroad: A conversation with US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette

By Global Energy Center

On Friday, February 7, 2020, the Atlantic Council hosted newly appointed US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette for a public address and moderated discussion about US government energy priorities abroad.

view all Program impact stories

Latest commentary and analysis

MENASource

May 26, 2026

An oil windfall will not fix Libya’s economy

By Ahmed Shalghoum and Frank Talbot

Libya's new unified budget needs transparency, accountability, and oversight to deliver for the people.

Economy & Business Libya

UkraineAlert

May 26, 2026

Kyiv hosts Belarus opposition leader as Moscow drags Minsk closer to war

By Hanna Liubakova

As concern mounts that Moscow is pushing Minsk to join the invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv is strengthening ties with the democratic Belarusian opposition, writes Hanna Liubakova.

Belarus Conflict

Timely Commentary & Analysis

May 25, 2026

Braw in Mirror on a Russian warship being spotted 30 miles of the UK coast

By Elisabeth Braw

On May 25, Transatlantic Security Initiative senior fellow Elisabeth Braw was mentioned in an article in Mirror on the Russian cruise missile ship RFN Admiral Grigorovich being spotted 30 miles off the UK coast while escorting sanctioned Russian tankers through the English Channel.

Europe & Eurasia Maritime Security
View all commentary & analysis

Latest in-depth research and reports

Issue Brief

May 21, 2026

For homeland missile defense, think Golden Zones, not a Golden Dome 

By Ankit Panda

While the second Trump administration correctly diagnoses a more dangerous nuclear environment facing the country, a comprehensive defensive system is the wrong prescription. The risks of prompting adversary proliferation and stretching US resources thin are too high.

Defense Technologies Missile Defense

Issue Brief

May 21, 2026

Golden Dome is the missile defense the US needs

By Henry “Trey” Obering

The United States should pursue a comprehensive missile defense system to protect the homeland from advanced threats posed by China, Russia, and North Korea. Political will from the Trump administration and advances in technology make the idea of the long-discussed "dome" over the United States more feasible now than ever.

Missile Defense Security & Defense

Issue Brief

May 13, 2026

The US AI health data collision: Charting the future of US cross-border data flow policy, health data, and health and biopharma AI policy 

By Justin Sherman

The race to control America's most sensitive data is already underway, and most people have no idea.

Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity
View all In-depth Research & reports

Content

In the News

Jun 5, 2020

Hruby in Project Syndicate: Investing in African logistics

By Atlantic Council

Africa Coronavirus

In the News

Jun 5, 2020

Nawaz in The Friday Times: Review of Maria Rashid’s book “Dying to Serve: Militarism, Affect, and the Politics of Sacrifice in the Pakistan Army”

By Atlantic Council

Conflict Defense Policy

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Mathew Burrows briefs World Affairs Council of Oregon on scenarios for a post-COVID world

By Atlantic Council

China Coronavirus

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Fernandes in The Times of India: Open letter to healthcare workers around the world

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus Resilience & Society

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Fernandes in Daily O: Why social impact must be independent of Covid-19

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus India

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Jensen and Van Echo in War on the Rocks: How to factor strategic competition into wargaming and PME

By Atlantic Council

Reviewing lessons from their Agile Competition wargame series, Forward Defense Senior Fellow Benjamin Jensen and Marine Corps officer Lt Col Matthew Van Echo advance a new approach to wargaming in the era of great-power competition.

China Conflict

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Hruby quoted in Devex on the weaknesses of the Trump administration’s framing of its Africa policy

By Atlantic Council

Africa Economy & Business

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Hruby quoted in Bloomberg on how police brutality against Black Americans and racial unrest have affected US credibility in relations with African countries

By Atlantic Council

Africa Economy & Business

In the News

Jun 4, 2020

Fishman in Lawfare on how to fix America’s failing sanctions policy

By Atlantic Council

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Russia

In the News

Jun 3, 2020

Charai in the National Interest: The America we love

By Atlantic Council

Amidst pandemics and protests, American ingenuity and daring continue to prove every bit the equal of prior generations. Read Atlantic Council Board Director Ahmed Charai's latest in the National Interest.

Coronavirus Resilience & Society
Load More