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

Jun 2, 2023

Graham cited in Nature on global grain shortage from Russian invasion of Ukraine

Read the full article here.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Russia

In the News

Jun 1, 2023

Vershbow in The Washington Post on security guarantees for Ukraine

By Alexander Vershbow

On June 1, Transatlantic Security Initiative distinguished fellow Alexander Vershbow was quoted in The Washington Post discussing long-term deterrence and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Europe & Eurasia NATO

In the News

Jun 1, 2023

Graham and Lipsky cited by Table China on Russia-China trade

Read the full article here.

China Economy & Business

In the News

Jun 1, 2023

Zagorodnyuk in Foreign Affairs: To protect Europe, let Ukraine join NATO – right now

By Atlantic Council

Central Europe Eastern Europe

In the News

May 31, 2023

Garlauskas in Quartz

On May 30, Markus Garlauskas was quoted in Quartz on North Korean satellites: “Some of the things that North Korea is trying to do…things like ICBMs and [missiles with several warheads]—you’re talking about technology that’s over 50 years old.”

Korea Security & Defense

In the News

May 31, 2023

Shalomov in Manara Magazine: Netanyahu’s Israel is a Teetering Balancing Act

By Atlantic Council

Israel Middle East

In the News

May 31, 2023

Wieslander quoted in New York Times on Arctic tensions

Arctic Risks Loom Large as Blinken Tours NATO’s North: “There remains a concern that China, which now has even closer ties to Russia, remains active in the Far North, building big icebreakers. ‘China will reach Europe through the Arctic,’ Ms. Wieslander said.”

NATO Northern Europe

In the News

May 30, 2023

Kroenig in Foreign Policy analyzing Niccolò Machiavelli’s views on democracy

On May 27, Scowcroft Vice President and Director Matthew Kroenig penned an article for Foreign Policy assessing the efficacy of democracy and autocracy by invoking the international relations perspectives of renowned diplomat and author Niccolò Machiavelli. While Machiavelli is most famous for The Prince, a “guidebook for dictators,” his perspectives were best conveyed in Discourses […]

China Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

May 30, 2023

Roberts in DW

On May 29, IPSI Nonresident Senior Fellow Dexter Tiff Roberts was quoted in DW regarding export control measures on semiconductor trade with China and whether such measures could backfire. Roberts explains that “US companies can apply for special licenses and if their applications are approved, they can continue to sell semiconductors or presumably semiconductor manufacturing […]

China Economy & Business

In the News

May 29, 2023

Rich Outzen joins WION to discuss the Turkish elections

Elections Politics & Diplomacy