In-depth research and reports

Our programs and centers deliver relevant, policy-focused research that matters to inform debate and action. Our focus is always on moving debate forward, integrating analysis with active, relevant conclusions throughout our published work.

Issue Brief

Oct 24, 2017

Managing the Korean conundrum

By Todd Rosenblum

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have vexed US policy makers for generations. But for American citizens, problems of stability on the peninsula, and North Korean threats to its neighbors were problems over there. Not anymore. North Korea’s dual advances in nuclear weapons and intercontinental delivery systems are edging the situation toward profound. Ever since the […]

Korea Nuclear Nonproliferation

Issue Brief

Oct 19, 2017

Aligning economic sanctions

By John Forrer

As part of the Atlantic Council’s “Economic Sanctions Initiative,” the issue brief examines the challenges to aligning economic sanctions, with a focus on the economic sanctions on Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea. The author also explains why achieving well-aligned economic sanctions should be an important foreign policy objective: Well-aligned sanctions are more […]

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Issue Brief

Oct 19, 2017

Aligning economic sanctions

By John Forrer

John Forrer's issue brief examines the challenges to aligning economic sanctions, with a focus on the economic sanctions on Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Report

Oct 19, 2017

A strategy for the Trans-Pacific century

By Matthew Kroenig and Miyeon Oh

According to some projections, the majority of all global economic activity could take place within Asia by 2050. Military might often follows economic power, and Asian countries are already spending more than European states on defense. Both of these developments reflect a broader shift in global power from West to East.

Europe & Eurasia Indo-Pacific

Issue Brief

Oct 19, 2017

Iran’s fingerprints in Yemen: real or imagined?

By Elisabeth Kendall

In Iran’s Fingerprints in Yemen: Real or Imagined?, Dr. Elisabeth Kendall, nonresident senior fellow with the Brent Scowcroft Center’s Middle East Peace and Security Initiative and senior research fellow in Arabic and Islamic studies at Pembroke College at Oxford University, investigates the true extent of Iran’s presence in Yemen, including both military and cultural aspects. […]

Iran Security & Defense

Report

Oct 10, 2017

US strategy options for Iran’s regional challenge

By Kenneth M. Pollack and Bilal Y. Saab

In their new paper, entitled US Strategy Options for Iran’s Regional Challenge, Kenneth M. Pollack, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and Bilal Y. Saab, senior fellow and director for defense and security at the Middle East Institute, present five alternative strategies that the United States could pursue to limit Iran’s destabilizing activities. After […]

Iran Security Partnerships

Report

Oct 5, 2017

What if NAFTA Ended? The Imperative of a Successful Renegotiations

By Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center

In the midst of NAFTA renegotiations, the United States, Canada, and Mexico are discussing changes that could impact millions of jobs, investments, and North America’s stance in the global stage. As negotiators work at breakneck speed, new Atlantic Council findings show what the United States would lose if NAFTA were not in place.What if NAFTA […]

Mexico Trade and tariffs

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series

Oct 4, 2017

US strategy toward China’s belt and road initiative

By Gal Luft

The balance in Eurasia is shifting. China’s President Xi Jinping has ambitious visions for Asia, while the rest of the world reshuffles to find its place in the rapidly changing global order. The United States would be better off engaging with the BRI and trying to influence its design and mechanics from within, rather than staying on the sidelines and witnessing its allies gravitating toward China.

Africa China

Issue Brief

Oct 3, 2017

Ukraine’s internally displaced persons hold a key to peace

By Lauren Van Metre, Steven E. Steiner, and Melinda Haring

This paper examines Ukraine’s IDP policies in the context of the largercrisis between Moscow and Kyiv, and is based in part on extensive fieldwork with displaced persons who have settled in Kyiv and Vinnytsia.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

Issue Brief

Oct 3, 2017

Ukraine’s internally displaced persons hold a key to peace

By Lauren Van Metre, Steven E. Steiner, and Melinda Haring

“Ukraine’s displaced persons can and should play a role in a sustained peace process, and many are already building bridges and fostering local reconciliation,” write authors Lauren Van Metre, Steven E. Steiner, and Melinda Haring, in “Ukraine’s Internally Displaced Persons Hold a Key to Peace,” a new issue brief by the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu […]

Conflict Democratic Transitions

Issue Brief

Oct 2, 2017

The roots and evolution of Iran’s regional strategy

By Suzanne Maloney

Understanding what drives Iran’s regional policies is crucial to confronting its challenges. In her new paper, entitled The Roots and Evolution of Iran’s Regional Strategy, Suzanne Maloney, deputy director of foreign policy and senior fellow for Middle East policy at the Brookings Institution, explores how the Islamic Republic operates throughout the Middle East, and the […]

Iran Politics & Diplomacy

Issue Brief

Sep 29, 2017

The new Russia sanctions law: What it does and how to make it work

By Daniel Fried, Brian O’Toole

In “The New Russia Sanctions Law–What It Does and How to Make It Work,” authors Ambassador Daniel Fried, distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council and former coordinator for sanctions policy at the US State Department, and Brian O’Toole, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, explain that Congress primarily adopted the law to block […]

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Russia

Issue Brief

Sep 27, 2017

The ties that bind

By Alina Polyakova and Henning Riecke

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel enters her fourth term in office, the US-German relationship will need to overcome trade and policy disagreements in order to thrive in today’s uncertain political climate.

Germany

Issue Brief

Sep 27, 2017

The ties that bind

By Alina Polyakova and Henning Riecke

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel enters her fourth term in office, the US-German relationship will need to overcome trade and policy disagreements in order to thrive in today’s uncertain political climate. The administrations in Berlin and Washington, DC should seek new opportunities for closer cooperation, particularly related to security around NATO, policy toward Russia, bilateral […]

Germany

Report

Sep 26, 2017

The MADCOM future

By Matt Chessen

Emerging artificial intelligence (AI) tools will provide propagandists radically enhanced capabilities to manipulate human minds. Human cognition is a complex system, and AI tools are very good at decoding complex systems. Interactions on social media, browsing the Internet, and even grocery shopping provide thousands of data points from which technologists can build psychological profiles on nearly […]

Americas Civil Society

Issue Brief

Sep 21, 2017

Using citizen-based observations to plan for climate change

By Sarah Abdelrahim

As a global challenge with profound implications at the local level, climate change provides new opportunities for individual engagement.

Issue Brief

Sep 21, 2017

Using citizen-based observations to plan for climate change

By Sarah Abdelrahim

As a global challenge with profound implications at the local level, climate change provides new opportunities for individual engagement. Communities around the world have their own unique experiences with the effects of climate change, as well as drastically different climate adaptation needs. This gives individuals an unprecedented role to play in sharing information and guiding […]

Report

Sep 14, 2017

The Euro’s Difficult Future

By Luigi Bonatti

In The Euro’s Difficult Future – Competitiveness Imbalances and the Eurozone’s North-South Divide author Luigi Bonatti, a professor of economics at the University of Trento in Italy, stresses that the existing North-South competitiveness divide creates growing tensions between member countries and fuels hostility towards European Union institutions. The paper illustrates why this competitiveness divide is […]

European Union Fiscal and Structural Reform

Report

Sep 14, 2017

Revolution unveiled: A closer look at Iran’s presence and influence in the Middle East

By Phillip Smyth, Tim Michetti, and Owen Daniels

Revolution Unveiled: A Closer Look at Iran’s Presence and Influence in the Middle East, by Phillip Smyth, Tim Michetti, and Owen Daniels, pieces together snapshots of Iran’s influence in the region using photographic analysis, geolocation, social media monitoring, and other methods. Through four case studies, this report systematically examines new or lesser-known methods Iran employs […]

Iran Middle East

Report

Sep 13, 2017

Transforming the power sector in developing countries: Indonesia’s diversification challenge

By Robert F. Ichord, Jr.

Although often overshadowed by significantly larger energy systems in India and China, Indonesia is assuming an increasingly important role in international energy markets and global efforts to address climate change. What challenges does Indonesia face in the energy sector and what can be recommendations can be made for policy makers and other stakeholders on strategic priorities?

Energy & Environment Energy Transitions
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