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.

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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

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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.

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Latest commentary and analysis

Econographics

Sep 21, 2026

The four issues our experts are watching ahead of this week’s Trump-Xi summit

By Beth Baltzan, Jeremy Mark, Stephen P. Vaughn, Jessie Yin

From AI governance to trade and economic headwinds in Beijing, our experts break down the key questions shaping the summit—and what could come next.

China Economy & Business

GeoTech Cues

Sep 21, 2026

AI is sprinting past human control. Can testing and evaluation catch up? 

By Evi Fuelle, Ryan Pan

Frontier AI is exposing the limits of today's testing systems. The United States needs a national AI assurance ecosystem.

Artificial Intelligence Digital Policy

MENASource

Sep 21, 2026

The Syria policy the US got wrong—and the bittersweet moment Washington finally got right

By Wa’el Alzayat

A former State Department official dissects how the US helped defeat ISIS but didn't protect the Syrian people.

Conflict Democratic Transitions
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Latest in-depth research and reports

Issue Brief

Sep 17, 2026

Fortifying USMCA through US–Mexico investment screening coordination

By the US–Mexico Binational Task Force on Economic Security and Competitiveness

One of the biggest blind spots in the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is its treatment of capital and foreign investment screening. The current review presents an opportunity to address this and build a safer North America.

Critical Infrastructure Policy Economy & Business

Report

Sep 17, 2026

New voices, old friends: How Russia targets its messaging in the Global South

By Casey Michel

The latest report in the Atlantic Council's Russia Tomorrow series examines the themes and methods that Russia uses to target audiences in the Global South.

Africa Civil Society

In-Depth Research & Reports

Sep 11, 2026

Submission to the UN: Advancing the just repatriation of illicit funds 

By Britt Gronemeyer, Celeste Kmiotek

How can the UN and the international community ensure that when illicit funds are seized, victims of the illicit activity benefit? The Atlantic Council's Strategic Litigation Program contributed a brief to the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights with six key recommendations on the subject.

Corruption Financial Crimes & Illicit Trade
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Content

In the News

Apr 12, 2020

Book review of Nawaz’s “The Battle for Pakistan” in The Tribune: Insightful reading of Pakistan-US relations

By Atlantic Council

Human Rights Pakistan

In the News

Apr 11, 2020

Hudson in allAfrica: Sudan’s revolution one year after the fall of the dictatorship

By Atlantic Council

Africa Democratic Transitions

In the News

Apr 10, 2020

Binnendijk and Skaluba in Defense One: NATO Should Always Work From Home

By Christopher Skaluba, Hans Binnendijk

Christopher Skaluba and Hans Binnendijk co-published a commentary piece about how NATO has been impacted with stay at home orders from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Apr 10, 2020

Bechev in Ahval: Turkey joins soft power race during COVID-19 crisis

By Atlantic Council

China Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 10, 2020

Sherman in WIRED: The US Is Waging War on Digital Trade Barriers

By Atlantic Council

AS DIGITAL TRADE barriers rise throughout the world, so do swings at knocking them down. In the past two months, the US Trade Representative released two reports on China and Russia’s World Trade Organization compliance. Just last week, the European Union opened its landmark General Data Protection Regulation to public comments, many of which will surely attack perceived trade barriers. “Barriers to […]

Digital Policy Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 10, 2020

Cohen in Forbes: Too Little Too Late? Russia And Saudi Arabia Reach Truce In Oil Price War

By Atlantic Council

Oil and Gas Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 10, 2020

Should the European Left take on the populists at their own game?

By Atlantic Council

For Medium World, Alistair Somerville and Atlantic Council Resident Fellow Julian Mueller-Kaler go head to head on whether European center-left and left wing parties should take on the right wing populists at their own game.

Economy & Business European Union

In the News

Apr 9, 2020

Aman in Iran International: Discussing the South Asia Center’s video conference on Covid-19 in Iran, Afghanistan, and densely populated border regions

By Atlantic Council

Afghanistan Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 9, 2020

Nia in The Independent: Like after 9/11, governments could use coronavirus to permanently roll back our civil liberties

By Atlantic Council

With over a million confirmed cases and a death toll quickly approaching 100,000, Covid-19 is the worst pandemic in modern history by many orders of magnitude. That governments were unprepared to deal with a global pandemic is at this point obvious. What is worse is that the establishment of effective testing and containment policies at […]

Civil Society Coronavirus

In the News

Apr 9, 2020

Chhibber in the Financial Express: India needs an economic package for revival

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus Economy & Business
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