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

Aug 14, 2015

LeBaron on Campaign Foreign Policy Rhetoric

By Richard LeBaron

Bloomberg quotes Nonresident Senior Fellow Richard LeBaron on why campaign rhetoric does not always indicate how Presidents will actually govern:

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Aug 14, 2015

Burwell on Serbia in the European Union

By Frances G. Burwell

Vice President of European Union and Special Initiatives Frances G. Burwell joins Voice of America to discuss the implications of Serbian membership in the European Union:

European Union International Organizations

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

Cohen on Russia’s “No Import” List

By Ariel Cohen

The Christian Science Monitor quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Ariel Cohen on Russia’s decision to add more products to its forbidden import list: 

Russia

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

Pham on Putin’s Russia and Africa

By J. Peter Pham

The Council on Foreign Relations quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on Russia’s economic and military ties with Africa:

Africa Economy & Business

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

Pham on Sanctions Harming Cancer Patients in Sudan

By J. Peter Pham

Daily Nation quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on how sanctions imposed by the United States on Sudan are costing civilian lives and hurting vulnerable groups:

Sudan

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

POLITICO Features NATOSource Infographic

By NATOSource

POLITICO Europe features NATOSource’s infographic which debunks Russian myths of NATO expansion:

NATO Russia

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

RTT News Features State Department Installation of Berlin Wall

By Atlantic Council

RTT News features the installation of a segment of the Berlin Wall at the future home of the US State Department’s Diplomacy Center museum, made possible by the Atlantic Council and the German-based Verbundnetz Gas AG:

Germany

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

Pham on Political Violence in Burundi

By J. Peter Pham

International Business Times quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on the dissent and violence dominating Burundi’s political climate:

South & Central Africa

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

LeBaron on Rebuilding Gaza

By Richard LeBaron

Global Post quotes Nonresident Senior Fellow Richard LeBaron on the difficulty of tracking and organizing aid from Gulf countries to Gaza:

In the News

Aug 13, 2015

Brummer on China’s Economy

By Chris Brummer

C. Boyden Gray Fellow on Global Growth and Finance Chris Brummer joins BBC World Service to discuss Chinese measures to halt the slide in the Shanghai stock exchange:

China