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

AfricaSource

May 21, 2026

For a sustained ceasefire or truce in Sudan, remember: Trust, but verify

By Ernst Jan Hogendoorn

Negotiators should insist any ceasefire or truce agreement allows for a dedicated, on-the-ground monitoring mechanism.

Conflict Human Rights

Testimony

May 21, 2026

Carole House testifies to House Financial Services Committee on modernizing illicit finance frameworks for the twenty-first century

By Carole House

Carole House testified to the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions at a hearing titled, “Modernizing the BSA for Financial Crime in the 21st Century."

Digital Currencies Economy & Business

GeoTech Cues

May 21, 2026

Europe must address the ‘digital sovereignty triad’

By Trevor H. Rudolph

As part of its Tech Sovereignty Package, the EU is developing its own definition of digital sovereignty. But a fundamental question will likely remain: how can the bloc balance control over data, legal authority, and vendor independence while maintaining openness to global technology partners and preserving digital resilience?

Cybersecurity Digital Policy
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

ethiopian opp leader

Program Impact Story

Jun 4, 2019

Ethiopian opposition leader outlines roadmap to political reform

By Atlantic Council

On Tuesday, June 4, the Africa Center hosted a private roundtable with Ethiopian opposition party leader Dr. Berhanu Nega. Dr. Nega provided insight into the challenges involved in staging credible elections by May 2020, explaining the difficulties of resolving ethnic-based conflicts and tribal alliances without constitutional reform. He also emphasized the need to move away from […]

Ethiopia Political Reform

In the News

Jun 4, 2019

Hudson in All Africa: Sudan: Why the World Should Back Democracy in Sudan and How

Read the full article here.

Sudan

In the News

Jun 3, 2019

Lipner quoted in The Wall Street Journal on Hamas testing Israel
Israel Security & Defense

In the News

Jun 3, 2019

Bello in OECD Development Matters: The Sahel: responding to emergencies with efficiency

Read the full article here.

In the News

Jun 2, 2019

Ellinas in Cyprus Mail: The government is badly mishandling our gas imports

Read the full article here.

In the News

Jun 2, 2019

Abbas Kadhim quoted in the Arab Weekly: Washington experts see risks in US-Iran showdown in Iraq

By Abbas Kadhim

Read More Here

Iran

Insights & Impact

Jun 1, 2019

Hacking Corruption: Tech Tools to Fight Graft in the Americas

Maria Fernanda Perez Arguello and Tamara Ziff Against the backdrop of scandals and citizen discontent, the Peruvian government designated “democratic governance against corruption” as the central theme of the 2018 Summit of the Americas—the triennial meeting of heads of state from countries in the Americas. In preparation for the meeting, the Adrienne Arsht Latin America […]

Americas Corruption

Insights & Impact

Jun 1, 2019

US-China Trade War: Escalation with No End in Sight

Hung Tran The Atlantic Council’s Global Business & Economics Program’s nonresident senior fellow Hung Tran argues that the ratcheting up of US-China trade tensions in May “could begin to fragment the global economy into US- and China-driven global spheres, with potentially huge implications for sustained growth and prosperity for the world.”

China Economy & Business

Insights & Impact

Jun 1, 2019

Russia’s Crony Capitalism: The Path from Market Economy to Kleptocracy

Anders Aslund This insightful study explores how the economic system Vladimir Putin has developed in Russia works to consolidate control over the country. By appointing his close associates as heads of state enterprises and by giving control of the FSB and the judiciary to his friends from the KGB, he has enriched his business friends […]

Corruption Economy & Business

Insights & Impact

Jun 1, 2019

Foreign Interference in Ukraine’s Election

Ukraine Election Task Force The Atlantic Council, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, and the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity established the Ukrainian Election Task Force. Working with other Ukrainian institutions—StopFake, Razumkov Centre, and Detector Media—the three partners created a rapid-response team with the ability to monitor, evaluate, and disclose the full range of foreign subversive activities […]

Cybersecurity Disinformation
Load More