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.

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

Explore the podcast series

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.

Latest commentary and analysis


Econographics

Jun 19, 2026

Central banks can’t afford to keep missing their inflation targets

By
Jack Muldoon

While the Iran war explains the sudden rise in inflation, relying on this excuse obscures that there is potentially a long-term problem central banks will need to confront as they manage the long tail of this crisis.


Economy & Business


Macroeconomics


UkraineAlert

Jun 18, 2026

Putin’s obsession with ‘denazifying’ Ukraine makes peace impossible

By
Peter Dickinson

Putin’s obsession with “denazifying” Ukraine makes a mockery of efforts to portray the Russian invasion as a mere land grab and helps explain why there has been no meaningful progress toward peace despite more than a year of US-led efforts, writes Peter Dickinson.


Conflict


Disinformation


Podcast

Jun 18, 2026

“Shoot everybody”: US contractors in San Diego court

By
Alia Brahimi

In Season 2, Episode 16 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by Daniel McLaughlin, an international lawyer and Legal Director of the Centre for Justice and Accountability (CJA), a California-based legal nonprofit working on behalf of victims of torture and other atrocity crimes. Daniel and CJA are leading a civil suit in San Diego against a Delaware-registered PMC, Spear Operations Group, for war crimes in Yemen. They represent the Yemeni parliamentarian Anssaf Ali Mayo, who was one of the targets of an alleged hit-squad in Yemen. Daniel talks us through the facts of the case, how it ended up in a California courtroom ten years later, and which US and international laws were ostensibly broken by the PMC. He also argues forcefully that the US government has a duty to regulate how former members of its military use their training and know-how.


Middle East


Rule of Law

Latest in-depth research and reports

Content

In the News

Jan 5, 2016

Tanchum on Energy Politics in Eurasia

By Micha'el Tanchum

Interfax quotes Eurasian Energy Futures Initiative Nonresident Senior Fellow Micha’el Tanchum on competition between Europe and China for Middle Eastern and Central Asian gas:

China Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Pham on the US Drone Program in Africa

By J. Peter Pham

Foreign Policy quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on how the US drone program in Africa continues to face challenges even though it has been successful in curbing efforts of al-Shabaab:

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Slavin: Saudi Plays Dangerous Regional Game with Executions

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Voice of America on the regional implications of Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Saudi Shi’ite cleric:

Iran Saudi Arabia

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Ullman: Internal Growth Cost Is Danger to Military

By Harlan Ullman

Atlantic Council Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes a letter to the editor to the Wall Street Journal on how the uncontrollable internal cost growth threatens to return America’s military to the “hollow force” of the late ’70s and early ’80s:

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Pham on al-Shabaab and Drone Warfare

By J. Peter Pham

The Washington Post quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on how US drones are stifling the regional threat of al-Shabaab:

Somalia

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Ullman: Suppose Obama is Right about ISIS

By Harlan Ullman

Atlantic Council Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for United Press International on President Obama’s strategy to disrupt and destroy ISIS:

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Slavin on the Iran-Saudi Arabia Rift

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin joins KCRW’s To the Point to discuss the growing rift between Iran and Saudi Arabia:

Iran Saudi Arabia

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Shaffer on Global Oil Market Amid Saudi Arabia-Iran Relations

By Brenda Shaffer

The Houston Chronicle quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Brenda Shaffer on how China is increasingly becoming the primary market driver in oil over the Middle East:

China Middle East

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Shaffer on the Oil Market and Saudi-Iran Tension

By Brenda Shaffer

Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Brenda Shaffer joins CNBC to discuss growing tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the implications for the oil market:

Iran Saudi Arabia

In the News

Jan 4, 2016

Pham: Looking Out for Africa in 2016

By J. Peter Pham

Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham writes for The Hill on the common trends that will affect political and economic dynamics in Africa throughout 2016:

Africa