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

Jul 18, 2023

Webster in The Diplomat: Russia, China, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Energy & Environment Nuclear Energy

In the News

Jul 18, 2023

Roberts in the Missoulian

On July 18, IPSI Nonresident Senior Fellow Dexter Tiff Roberts published a piece in the Missoulian on China’s economic coercion. This article is based on his interview with US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. Roberts emphasizes the importance of finding a unified approach in the face of coercion.

China Economy & Business

In the News

Jul 18, 2023

Kroenig in Foreign Policy on Machiavelli’s Art of War

On July 16, Scowcroft Vice President and Director Matthew Kroenig was featured in Foreign Policy’s 2023 Summer Reading List, recommending Niccolò Machiavelli’s Art of War. Despite it being published in the 16th century, Kroenig argues that it has contemporary relevance in its discussion of emerging technologies that will revolutionize security, militaries, and war. After all, […]

Defense Technologies Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jul 18, 2023

Kroenig in Marketplace discussing the recent defense bill

On July 14, Scowcroft Vice President and Director Matthew Kroenig was featured in Marketplace discussing the House of Representatives’ recent authorization of an $886 billion defense bill. Kroenig argues that, atypical of most defense bills, the 2023 bill includes various amendments and provisions pertaining to social issues that are completely unrelated to defense or security.

Defense Industry Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jul 18, 2023

Kumar quoted in Axios on cryptocurrency regulation

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Digital Currencies Digital Policy

In the News

Jul 18, 2023

Rich Outzen joins Aljazeera to discuss Russia’s exist from the grain deal

Europe & Eurasia Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jul 18, 2023

Yevgeniya Gaber joins The Wall Street Journal for an article on Russia’s strikes on Odesa port

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jul 17, 2023

Webster in The China-Russia Report: Xi aims to institutionalize bilateral ties “between our countries and peoples”

Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jul 17, 2023

Morningstar quoted in The Epoch Times on The CCP lowering US Dollar interest rates to stabilize the Yuan.

In the News

Jul 17, 2023

Kroenig and Ashford debate the potential of NATO membership for Ukraine

On July 14, Foreign Policy published its biweekly "It's Debatable" column featuring Scowcroft Center Vice President and Senior Director Matthew Kroenig and Emma Ashford assessing the latest news in international affairs.

NATO NATO Partnerships