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

Dec 7, 2015

Burrows: Here’s the Playbook for Getting US-Russian Cooperation Back on Track

By Matthew J. Burrows

Strategic Foresight Initiative Director Mathew J. Burrows cowrites for The National Interest on how the United States and Russia can find common ground for cooperation, highlighting a recently released report by the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Foresight Initiative and the Moscow-based Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) that discusses how to find that common ground:

Russia

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Shaffer on Israel’s Gas Deal

By Brenda Shaffer

The Washington Post quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Brenda Shaffer on the political issues surrounding the Israeli gas deal:

Israel

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Barno on Women in the Military

By Dave Barno

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Dave Barno joins Federal News Radio’s Federal Drive with Tom Temin to discuss the implications of Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s announcement that all jobs in the US military will now be open to women:

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Montanino Recognized as Italian Leader in Washington

By Andrea Montanino

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera recognized Global Business and Economics Program Director Andrea Montanino as one of the most influential Italian leaders in Washington, DC:

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Geers: Cyber War in Perspective

By Kenneth Geers

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Kenneth Geers edited and introduced Cyber War in Perspective, a new collection of essays published by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence that also includes an essay from Cyber Statecraft Initiative Nonresident Senior Fellow Jay Healey: Read the full book here.

Cybersecurity NATO

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Bensahel on New Defense Spending Deal

By Nora Bensahel

Washington Examiner quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Nora Bensahel on how a new two-year defense spending deal will allow contractors to go on the offensive and lobby for more and bigger projects:

Defense Industry Security & Defense

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Shaffer on Israeli Gas Deal

By Brenda Shaffer

The Associated Press quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Brenda Shaffer on the protests surrounding Israel’s gas deal: 

Israel

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Barno and Bensahel: Now Women Should Register for the Draft

By Dave Barno and Nora Bensahel

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellows for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Dave Barno and Nora Bensahel write for Time on the importance of gender equality in the Selective Service System:

Art of Future Warfare

Dec 7, 2015

War on the Rocks Highlights Art of Future Warfare Project

By Brent Scowcroft Center

War on the Rocks highlights the Atlantic Council’s Art of Future Warfare Project in an article on the importance of literature in the military: 

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Stein on Turkish Troops in Iraq

By Aaron Stein

Reuters quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Aaron Stein on the additional Turkish troops moving to a base in northern Iraq to fight ISIS:

Iraq Turkey