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 3, 2015

Dungan on the Mass Shooting in San Bernardino

By Nicholas Dungan

Europe1 quotes Transatlantic Relations Program Nonresident Senior Fellow Nicholas Dungan on the mass shooting in San Bernardino and US political rhetoric surrounding gun control:

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Bensahel on Obama’s ISIS Strategy

By Nora Bensahel

The Hill quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Nora Bensahel on how the attacks in Paris shifted the Obama administration’s strategy against ISIS:

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Tanchum: A Fillip for the TAPI Pipeline

By Micha'el Tanchum

Eurasian Energy Futures Initiative Nonresident Senior Fellow Micha’el Tanchum writes for The Diplomat on new financial backing recently announed for the TAPI pipeline, just weeks before the groundbreaking ceremony:

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Aslund on Dmytro Firtash and Ukraine’s Powerful Oligarchs

By Anders Aslund

POLITICO Europe quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Resident Senior Fellow Anders Aslund on the foiled homecoming of Dmytro Firtash, one of Ukraine’s most powerful oligarchs, and the implications of the government of Ukraine preventing him from returning to the country:

Ukraine

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Bello on COP21 Negotiations

By Abdoul Salam Bello

Africa Center Visiting Fellow Abdoul Salam Bello joins Voice of America Afrique to discuss the COP21 climate negotiations in Paris and how climate change is affecting the African continent:

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Shaffer on OPEC Meeting and Saudi Arabia

By Brenda Shaffer

Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Brenda Shaffer joins NPR to discuss how the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil will affect Saudi Arabia’s oil production:

Iran Saudi Arabia

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Il Foglio Features Econographics

By Andrea Montanino

Italian newspaper Il Foglio features the Global Business and Economics Program’s weekly Econographics on the number of Britons living in other European Union countries:

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Jones Testifies on Defense Department Modernization

By James Jones

Brent Scowcroft Center Chairman General James L. Jones, Jr. testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on The Goldwater– Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act (GNA) of 1986 and what further reforms are needed modernize the Department of Defense to meet both present and future security challenges:

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Hruby: Five Popular Myths the China-Africa Summit Should Help Dispel

By Aubrey Hruby

Africa Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Aubrey Hruby writes for the Financial Times on China’s expanding commercial relationship with Africa and President Xi’s participation in the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg:

China

In the News

Dec 3, 2015

Vakhshouri on Iranian Petroleum Contracts

By Sara Vakhshouri

Oil and Gas 360 quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Sara Vakhshouri on the new, long-term Iranian Petroleum Contracts (IPCs) that aim to restimulate the industry in Iran:  

Iran