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

Sep 9, 2015

Hasik on Lockheed’s Future

By James Hasik

Washington Business Journal quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Defense James Hasik on the future of Lockheed Martin after announcing it will be laying off five hundred employees and losing a contract bid worth $6.75 billion:

In the News

Sep 9, 2015

Rakisits: The War No One Wants To Hear About

By Claude Rakisits

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Claude Rakisits writes for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute on the lack of public interest in the US bombing campaign against ISIS:

In the News

Sep 9, 2015

Metzl on China’s Technology Forum

By Jamie Metzl

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Technology and National Security Jamie Metzl joins CNN to discuss China hosting a technology forum in the United States:

China

In the News

Sep 8, 2015

Ullman: Forty-one, Not Thirty-four, Is the Number

By Harlan Ullman

Atlantic Council Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for United Press International on the upcoming congressional vote on the Iran nuclear deal: 

Iran

In the News

Sep 8, 2015

Business Standard Previews Event on Investment in India

By Atlantic Council

Business Standard previews a roundtable discussion the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center will hold with the Confederation of Indian Industry on bolstering foreign investment in India:

India

In the News

Sep 8, 2015

Indian Express Cites Event on Indian Industry

By Atlantic Council

The Indian Express cites a roundtable discussion the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center hosted with officials from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII):

India

In the News

Sep 8, 2015

Barno and Bensahel: Thirty-five Years, Two Rangers, and the End of the Brass Ceiling

By Nora Bensahel and Dave Barno

Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellows for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Nora Bensahel and Dave Barno write for War on the Rocks regarding the Marine Corps opening high-ranking positions to female soldiers:

In the News

Sep 8, 2015

Bensahel on Terrorism in America

By Nora Bensahel

The Washington Examiner quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Nora Bensahel on American responses to violence since 9/11: 

In the News

Sep 8, 2015

Hof on the Gridlocked Syrian Diplomacy

By Frederic C. Hof

Al-Monitor quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof on US-Syrian negotiations now complicated by Russian involvement:

Russia Syria

Art of Future Warfare

Sep 8, 2015

Cole on Ghost Fleet

By August Cole

Morning Consult interviews Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow August Cole on his new book Ghost Fleet coauthored with Peter Singer: 

China