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

UkraineAlert

Sep 23, 2025

Putin is escalating Russia’s hybrid war against Europe. Is Europe ready?

By Maksym Beznosiuk

Putin has clearly been encouraged by Trump’s efforts to downgrade America’s involvement in transatlantic security and feels emboldened to escalate his own hybrid war against Europe, writes Maksym Beznosiuk.

Belarus Conflict

MENASource

Sep 23, 2025

A geography of protest: Inside the rise of Iran’s minority factor

By Mohammed A. Salih

From the death of Mahsa Jina Amini to the Twelve Day War, the ethnic question has emerged as a significant dimension of Iran’s politics.

Civil Society Iran

MENASource

Sep 23, 2025

Iran’s minorities and policy complexity: A look at two communities

By David Sklar

Iran plays a significant role in Middle Eastern geopolitics. Policymakers should develop a sober, accurate mapping of its population.

Civil Society Iran
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Latest in-depth research and reports

Report

Sep 23, 2025

The critical minerals boom is an opportunity to integrate public health into mining operations

By Connor Gregory, Ciara M. Weets, and Rebecca Katz

Africa is central to the global push for cleaner energy, including the continent’s stocks of critical minerals that power green-energy technologies. But a race to extract more minerals poses public health risks, from the occupational hazards miners suffer to new disease outbreaks in mining camps. There’s a better course for investors and African governments.

Africa Economy & Business

Report

Sep 23, 2025

Natural gas has a small but important role in Africa’s energy transition

By Neil Ford

Limited access to electricity has long constrained both quality of life and economic growth across much of Africa. About 42 percent of the continent’s population still lives in homes without any access. While it is technically possible to rapidly increase African electrification rates through renewables, change on such a scale would require massive global investment that is not a realistic prospect in the foreseeable future. Africa’s untapped and associated gas reserves can provide part of the solution by supporting renewable energy in boosting electrification rates.

Africa Energy & Environment

Issue Brief

Sep 22, 2025

A three-pillar strategy for US democracy assistance in Central and Eastern Europe

By Stephen Nix and Megan Tamisiea

This paper is the first in the Freedom and Prosperity Center’s “Future of Democracy Assistance” series, which analyzes the many complex challenges to democracy around the world and highlights actionable policies that promote democratic governance.

Central Europe Democratic Transitions
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Content

In the News

Jul 28, 2023

Feldman-Piltch in Non-State Actress Podcast: Episode 1

By Maggie Feldman-Piltch

On July 28, Transatlantic Security Initiative nonresident senior fellow Maggie Feldman-Piltch published the first episode of the “Non-State Actress” podcast series in which she interviewed Anastasia Williams, a multiple Emmy-award winning producer and booker for Good Morning America. The Non-State Actress project is made possible by generous support from the German Federal Foreign Office, whom […]

Defense Technologies Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jul 28, 2023

Ullman in United Press International on finding a way to end the war in Ukraine

By Atlantic Council

On July 26, Atlantic Council senior advisor Harlan Ullman published an op-ed in United Press International on how the United States must identify possible resolutions to Russia’s war in Ukraine. He advocates for putting together an “Iraq-like study group similar to the George W. Bush initiative in 2006” and argues that—despite the difficulties the Biden […]

Politics & Diplomacy Security & Defense

In the News

Jul 28, 2023

Webster quoted in VOA Chinese on the rise of China’s soft power in Central Asia
Central Asia China

In the News

Jul 27, 2023

Kumar published by Intereconomics on China’s digital currency

Read the full piece here.

China Digital Currencies

In the News

Jul 27, 2023

Ellinas quoted in Trend News Agency on Azerbaijan’s opportunity to become Europe’s green hydrogen supplier
Economy & Business Energy & Environment

In the News

Jul 27, 2023

Lipsky published by Intereconomics on the geopolitics of CBDCs

Read the full piece here.

Digital Currencies Digital Policy

In the News

Jul 26, 2023

Liubakova quoted in Newsweek: Lukashenka looking to bolster his standing

By Atlantic Council

Belarus Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jul 26, 2023

Warrick joins Al-Arabiya to discuss the Knesset’s vote to curb the Supreme Court’s power

By Atlantic Council

Civil Society Democratic Transitions

In the News

Jul 26, 2023

Rudder in Semafor

On July 25, IPSI nonresident senior fellow Lieutenant General (Ret.) Steven Rudder was quoted in an article in Semafor about Russia’s and China’s joint military drills in Asia. Rudder explains, “Russia is just not a European and NATO problem […] With Russia at war and now aligned and getting support from China, we now squarely […]

China Indo-Pacific

In the News

Jul 26, 2023

Cooper in Politico on NATO’s push to equip Ukraine with F-16s

By Atlantic Council

Conflict Defense Policy
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