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

Econographics

Oct 30, 2026

As energy prices threaten inflation again, Lagarde’s European Central Bank legacy offers lessons

By Hung Tran

Christine Lagarde's European Central Bank legacy reflects strong crisis management and efforts to strengthen the euro, but a mixed record on inflation.

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

MENASource

Oct 30, 2026

Libya’s maritime deal with Turkey may be the key to reunification

By Mohamed Eljarh

The deal, and the rise of Saddam Haftar, represent a new approach to Libya’s divided domestic politics and foreign relations.

Libya Maritime Security

UkraineAlert

Oct 29, 2026

Ukraine’s drone defenses debunk the myth of inevitable Russian victory

By Mykola Bielieskov

Ukraine’s emergence since 2022 as a drone superpower has made international headlines, but the role of drone-based air defenses on the battlefield has not yet received as much attention as it arguably deserves, writes Mykola Bielieskov.

Conflict Defense Industry
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Latest in-depth research and reports

Report

Nov 3, 2026

Religion as statecraft: What a decade of research reveals about the geopolitics of religious soft power

By Peter Mandaville

The post-Cold War assumption that international politics was converging toward a secular liberal framework in which religion would play at most a marginal role has not survived contact with the evidence. From China to Turkey to Saudi Arabia and Russia, states are integrating religion into their foreign policy in strategically significant ways.

China India

Issue Brief

Nov 2, 2026

How to prevent an energy quarantine of Taiwan

By Joseph Webster

An all-of-the-above energy strategy in Taiwan can help the United States and allies deter a Chinese energy quarantine of the island.

China Energy & Environment

Issue Brief

Oct 29, 2026

The relationship between female leadership, political freedom, and the rule of law

By Helena Fee Rasch

How is female leadership in public service associated with two institutional outcomes: political freedom and rule of law? Understanding the broader implications of women’s representation in leadership roles can inform strategies to preserve and promote freedom, democracy, and prosperity.

Freedom and Prosperity Political Reform
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Content

In the News

Jan 24, 2023

Heilbrunn in National Interest: Germany’s Leopard-2 tanks will help crush Russia

By Atlantic Council

Germany International Security Assistance Force

In the News

Jan 23, 2023

Kumar, CBDC tracker cited by Coindesk on cryptocurrency regulation

Read the full article here.

Digital Currencies Economy & Business

In the News

Jan 23, 2023

Kumar cited in Politico on new central bank digital currency projects

Read the full article here.

Digital Currencies Economy & Business

In the News

Jan 23, 2023

CBDC tracker and article on US bank-to-bank digital currency were cited by New America

Read the full article here.

Digital Currencies Economy & Business

In the News

Jan 22, 2023

Tran, Bhusari, and Nikoladze cited in University of Hong Kong policy paper on digital finance

Read the full article here.

Economy & Business Macroeconomics

In the News

Jan 20, 2023

CBDC Tracker cited in a research paper by the Harvard National Security Journal on cross-border payment systems

Read the full article here.

Digital Currencies Economy & Business

In the News

Jan 19, 2023

Graham cited by the Frankfurter Rundschau on economic growth in developing countries

Read the full article here.

Digital Currencies Economy & Business

In the News

Jan 19, 2023

Younus in Newlines Institute: With no help from Kabul, Pakistan faces the TTP threat

By Atlantic Council

Afghanistan Pakistan

In the News

Jan 19, 2023

Khakova quoted in The Economist on Ukraine war connections in the Baltic region
Conflict Eastern Europe

In the News

Jan 19, 2023

Wieslander in Carnegie Europe’s “Judy Asks: Is European strategic autonomy over?”

“Yes, at least in the short term, it seems as if ‘reality killed the cat,'” wrote Wieslander. “Already before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, France adopted a more sobering stance…The recent EU initiatives on defense tend to be complementary to NATO and draw on the particular strengths of the union, which is a step in […]

NATO Northern Europe
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