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

Art of Future Warfare

Dec 14, 2015

Cole: Droids and The Force: How the Science in ‘Star Wars’ Is Actually Real

By August Cole

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow August Cole cowrites for the Wall Street Journal Speakeasy with P.W. Singer on technology in the “Star Wars” series that actually has parallels with today’s technological innovations:

In the News

Dec 14, 2015

Bloomberg Business Highlights Event with UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon MP

By Brent Scowcroft Center

Bloomberg Business highlights the Brent Scowcroft Center’s special event with United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defense Rt. Hon. Michael Fallon MP on the recently released UK Strategic Defense and Security Review:

In the News

Dec 13, 2015

Forbes Highlights Atlantic Council Report on Costs of Cyber Attacks

By Atlantic Council

Forbes highlights the joint Atlantic Council and Zurich Insurance Group study, Risk Nexus: Beyond Data Breaches: Global Interconnections of Cyber Risk, that outlines the potential financial impact of future cyber attacks:

Cybersecurity Security & Defense

In the News

Dec 13, 2015

Pham on Corruption in Nigeria’s Arms Race

By J. Peter Pham

The Nation quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on corruption in Nigeria’s government and the misallocation of millions from the nation’s defense and security budget:

Nigeria

In the News

Dec 13, 2015

Pavel on the US Foreign Military Sales System

By Barry Pavel

Defense News quotes Vice President, Arnold Kanter Chair, and Brent Scowcroft Center Director Barry Pavel on pushback from the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee following international and domestic complaints on the slow and time consuming foreign military sales system: 

In the News

Dec 13, 2015

Tanchum: TANAP and the Semi-Encirclement of Iran: Progress and Paradoxes in Turkey’s Energy Diplomacy

By Micha'el Tanchum

Eurasian Energy Futures Initiative Nonresident Senior Fellow Micha’el Tanchum writes for Turkish Policy Quarterly on why Turkey’s energy supply is still susceptible to Russian and Iranian interference, despite its energy diplomacy efforts, mainly TANAP, which seeks to diversify its natural gas supply:

Iran

In the News

Dec 13, 2015

Vakhshouri on Iran’s Natural Gas Industry

By Sara Vakhshouri

Real Clear Energy quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Sara Vakhshouri on how the Iran nuclear deal will affect Iran’s natural gas industry:

Iran

In the News

Dec 13, 2015

Hof: Obama and Kerry’s Wishful Thinking on Syria

By Frederic Hof

Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof writes for the Washington Post on the Obama administration’s failed policy in Syria and the upcoming talks on Syria in Vienna:

Syria

In the News

Dec 12, 2015

Manning: Abe’s India Visit Highlights Asia’s Security Ties

By Robert Manning

Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow Robert Manning writes for Nikkei Asian Review on the increase in overlapping defense ties between the United States, Japan, and other Asia-Pacific countries as they look to counter China’s increasingly assertive military posture: 

India Japan

In the News

Dec 12, 2015

Schechter on the Macri Government

By Peter Schechter

Argentine News Service Télam quotes Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Director Peter Schechter on newly elected President of Argentina Mauricio Macri:

Latin America