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

Emerging Defense Challenges

Oct 6, 2015

Grundman: Fifty Years of Acquisition Reform

By Steven Grundman

M.A. and George Lund Fellow for Emerging Defense Challenges Steven Grundman joins In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss the finances of the Department of Defense:

Defense Industry Security & Defense

In the News

Oct 6, 2015

Foreign Policy Highlights Africa Center Roundtable

By Atlantic Council

Foreign Policy highlights a roundtable at the Atlantic Council hosted by the Africa Center on the status of South Sudan’s peace agreement:

East Africa

Emerging Defense Challenges

Oct 6, 2015

Grundman Discusses Defense Acquisition Reform on Federal News Radio

By Steve Grundman

Listen to the full discussion here.

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Art of Future Warfare

Oct 6, 2015

Cole: When the Pentagon Comes Knocking: An Open Letter to Silicon Valley

By August Cole

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow August Cole cowrites for TechCrunch on the Department of Defense hoping to increase defense innovation with Silicon Valley:

In the News

Oct 6, 2015

Barno and Bensahel: Got Landpower?

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 War on the Rocks on the importance of maintaing US land forces: 

In the News

Oct 6, 2015

Cohen and Shaffer on Russian Gas

By Ariel Cohen and Brenda Shaffer

Christian Science Monitor quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellows Ariel Cohen and Brenda Shaffer on the winter gas package between Russia and Ukraine to get natural gas to Europe this upcoming winter:

Europe & Eurasia Russia

In the News

Oct 6, 2015

Karatnycky: Kyiv Gets a Grip on Ukraine’s Internal Divisions

By Adrian Karatnycky

Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky writes for the Wall Street Journal on the growing strength of the far-right military in Ukraine while Russia focuses on Syria: 

Russia Syria

In the News

Oct 5, 2015

Hof and Stein on Syria and ISIS

By Frederic C. Hof and Aaron Stein

Business Insider quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof and Nonresident Fellow Aaron Stein on Assad, ISIS, and the US and Russian roles in Syria:

Syria

In the News

Oct 5, 2015

Cohen: History Lesson

By Ariel Cohen

Global Energy Center and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Ariel Cohen writes for Voice of America Russian on historical comparisons of Russia’s intervention in Syria:

Russia Syria

In the News

Oct 5, 2015

Marczak on Opening Trade with Cuba

By Jason Marczak

Bloomberg BNA quotes Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center Deputy Director Jason Marczak on the obstacles and process of opening trade with Cuba:

Cuba