Content Type: In-Depth Research & Reports

Raising US climate ambition in advance of COP26: An economic and national security imperative

By Margaret Jackson, Zachary Strauss

In advance of the annual UN Climate Summit in Glasgow this November, the United States must raise its clean energy and climate ambitions and reassert global climate leadership. If left unchecked, climate change will continue to exact a heavy economic toll on the United States and threaten US national security interests and American lives.

The role of the private sector in catalyzing inclusive economic opportunities in the Northern Triangle

By María Fernanda Bozmoski and Domingo Sadurní

As in every democratic country in the world, the private sector in Central America’s Northern Triangle (Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador) has a central role in generating employment, driving economic growth, and spurring innovation. But in a region plagued by one of the highest levels of economic informality, weak government institutions, and pervasive corruption, private enterprises—both decades-old industry behemoths and newer startups—can have a more positive influence in steering the Northern Triangle toward inclusive and sustainable economic development.

Putin’s Mediterranean gambit: Endgame unclear

By Mark N. Katz

For more than 250 years, Russian leaders have sought to project power and influence in the Mediterranean region. Sometimes these efforts have met with a significant degree of success. At times, though, Russia has pulled back from the Mediterranean because of setbacks in the region, events in Europe, or convulsions inside Russia. These pullbacks, however, have never been permanent and have always been followed by renewed Russian efforts to gain influence in the region.

Broken trust: Lessons from Sunburst

By Trey Herr, Will Loomis, Emma Schroeder, Stewart Scott, Simon Handler, and Tianjiu Zuo

The story of trust is an old one, but the Sunburst cyber-espionage campaign was a startling reminder of the United States’ collective cyber insecurity and the inadequacy of current US strategy to compete in a dynamic intelligence contest in cyberspace.

Europe’s geostrategic sovereignty and Turkey

By Bahadır Kaleağası

A more positive relationship between the European Union and Turkey is a decade-long project of advocates from all over Europe and across the Atlantic. Drawing on history, witnesses see how this relationship can be an excellent win-win algorithm, as much as it can rapidly turn out to be a lose-lose situation or even a triple win-or-lose equation—with political, economic, and social resonance reaching far beyond the Continent.

NATO partnerships for Women, Peace, and Security

By Lisa Aronsson

Lisa A. Aronsson outlines the achievements and the implementation challenges NATO faces, and offers three sets of recommendations for overcoming institutional hurdles, leveraging non-NATO members, and reviving NATO's sense of purpose on the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

Biden and Ukraine: A strategy for the new administration

By Anders Åslund, Daniel Fried, Melinda Haring, John E. Herbst, William B. Taylor, Alexander Vershbow

The United States has been an essential partner for Ukraine since the Kremlin's invasion in 2014. Now that Joe Biden has taken office, he has a real chance to move past the difficult detour that US-Ukraine relations took under his predecessor.

It’s time to get serious about a pressure strategy to contain North Korea

By Andrea R. Mihailescu

A Biden administration North Korea Strategy should continue dialogue with Kim's government, backed by a variety of pressure and enforcement tactics, in order to strive for the goal of arms reduction.

New Atlantic Council poll: Insights on Venezuelan and Cuban American sentiments regarding US policy toward Venezuela

By Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center

Venezuelan-American and Cuban-American voters support an alternative policy approach that places the alleviation of human suffering at the core of US efforts.

The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Election

The executive summary of the Election Integrity Partnership's collaborative report, "The Long Fuse: Misinformation and the 2020 Election."