Insights and impact

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.

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Featured content

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

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Explore the podcast series

NATO 20/2020 Podcast

NATO 20/2020 is a weekly podcast that explores 20 bold ideas to push NATO to be more visionary, more capable, and more self-evidently valuable to the security of more people.

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.

Artwork by Peter Kuper

In the News

Dec 17, 2020

The Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center partners with LEADERS Magazine to dedicate an entire issue to resilience

For its Fall/Winter issue of 2020, LEADERS Magazine, asked the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center to produce an issue dedicated to resilience. The Resilience Issue assembles a broad range of global thought leaders and experts who are currently tackling the challenges and crises facing the world from different perspectives.

Insights & Impact

Mar 3, 2020

Peering Around the Corner: The Geopolitics of Coronavirus

By Atlantic Council

On February 11, 2020 the DFRLab hosted "Peering Around the Corner: The Geopolitics of Coronavirus," a timely series of panels on the potential geopolitical and economic consequences of Coronavirus, and how misinformation about the crisis may influence its impact.

China Disinformation

Program Impact Story

Feb 6, 2020

US energy priorities abroad: A conversation with US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette

By Global Energy Center

On Friday, February 7, 2020, the Atlantic Council hosted newly appointed US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette for a public address and moderated discussion about US government energy priorities abroad.

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Latest commentary and analysis

MENASource

Mar 23, 2026

The Iran conflict exposes the new cost curve of war

By Nic Adams

The Pentagon must rapidly field innovative, lower-cost technologies alongside its exquisite capabilities, ensuring each is used where it delivers the greatest advantage.

Conflict Defense Industry

EnergySource

Mar 23, 2026

The Strait of Hormuz crisis will ripple across plastics and food supply chains, helping Beijing and Moscow, hurting Americans

By Joseph Webster and Kate Burnett

The oil and gas blockade in the Strait of Hormuz will tighten petrochemical and fertilizer markets, with geopolitical and economic implications for the United States.

China Energy & Environment

Econographics

Mar 20, 2026

In the Iran crisis, the IMF’s voice is urgently needed

By Martin Mühleisen

As the Iran crisis chokes the Strait of Hormuz and rattles global energy markets, the IMF has offered little more than cautious statements. The institution must develop real-time, scenario-driven analysis.

Economy & Business Iran
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Latest in-depth research and reports

Issue Brief

Mar 20, 2026

The economic and political traps awaiting aging societies

By Markus Jaeger

Rapidly aging populations and falling birthrates create fiscal and economic headwinds that even advanced economies struggle to manage. Some middle-income countries are approaching the same “demographic cliff” at an even faster clip, while many lower-income countries face the opposite problem. Policymakers in all cases must be prepared to make politically tough decisions—and soon.

Economy & Business Fiscal and Structural Reform

Issue Brief

Mar 20, 2026

Aquatic Tiger: How long-range submarine drones could play a role in a Taiwan conflict

By Markus Garlauskas with contributions from Drew Holliday, Adam Kozloski, Nicholas Takeuchi, and Paul Vebber

Could submarine drones help the United States deter or counter a Chinese attack on Taiwan? The Aquatic Tiger wargame was designed to find out. The Atlantic Council's Indo-Pacific Security Initiative reports on the wargame's findings, with implications for the US government, the defense industry, and more. 

Conflict Defense Technologies

Issue Brief

Mar 19, 2026

Federal agencies under pressure need smarter systems, not tougher people

By Caitlin Thompson

Resilience is an important trait for national security practitioners, but it is not a solution for problems with agency and department design. Better systems and strategies can ensure that individuals are fully prepared and ready to respond to crises, rather than consistently under strain.

National Security Resilience
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Content

In the News

Dec 4, 2025

Grundman in Aviation Week on Pentagon acquisition reform

By Atlantic Council

Forward Defense Senior Fellow Steven Grundman authored an article in Aviation Week entitled “Can Hegseth Transform U.S. Defense Acquisition?,” highlighting the importance of speed and agility in acquisition reform.

Defense Industry Defense Policy

In the News

Dec 3, 2025

CBDC tracker cited in a research brief by the Congressional Research Service on central bank digital currencies

Read the full brief here

In the News

Dec 3, 2025

Ambassador Fried authored an op-ed in TIME on why US-Russia Ukraine negotiations are stalling and the path forward

Read the full article here

In the News

Dec 3, 2025

Hicks and Thornberry published in Defense News

By Atlantic Council

On December 2, Defense News published an op-ed by ReForge Commission Co-Chairs Kathleen Hicks and Mac Thornberry outlining why the United States must urgently rebuild an industrial base capable of outproducing and outlasting its adversaries. The piece highlights the strategic risks posed by today’s manufacturing shortfalls and the reforms needed to ensure the nation can […]

Defense Industry Defense Policy

In the News

Dec 2, 2025

Linderman in the Dispatch on Russia’s decreasing hold on the South Caucasus and how the US should respond

By Laura Linderman

On November 21, Laura Linderman, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, was published in the Dispatch on Russia’s decreasing influence in the South Caucasus and the path forward for US policymakers in the region.

Europe & Eurasia Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

In the News

Dec 2, 2025

Bayoumi in Just Security on solar geoengineering

On December 2, Imran Bayoumi, associate director of the GeoStrategy Initiative, published an article for “Just Security” titled “As Solar Geoengineering Enters its Startup Phase, Governments Must Address Emerging Security Risks” cowritten with Scott M. Moore. The article breaks down potential security risks associated with solar geoengineering and argues governments must act now to regulate […]

Climate Change & Climate Action

In the News

Dec 1, 2025

House quoted in Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty on Russia’s use of ruble-backed stablecoins to evade US sanctions

Read the full article here

In the News

Nov 30, 2025

Siegel authored an op-ed in MS NOW on growing concerns over recent rollbacks of financial safeguards

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In the News

Nov 28, 2025

Global Sanctions Dashboard cited by the Hudson Institute on Iran’s funding of terrorist groups

Read the full report here

In the News

Nov 28, 2025

Nikoladze, Yin, and Meng cited in Cambridge University Press on their analysis on Russia-China economic cooperation in discussion of UNGA votes condemning unilateral economic coercion

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