Elections

Atlantic Council experts are analyzing political dynamics around the globe and their ramifications for security, economics, democracy, and more.

Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

New Atlanticist May 7, 2025

What will Labor’s landslide mean for Australia’s foreign policy?

By Peter J. Dean

While Australian voters clearly rejected the Trump administration, both the country’s leaders and electorate still support close US ties.
Australia Elections
Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

New Atlanticist May 6, 2025

Is Merz’s double-take chancellor vote a sign of things to come in Germany?

By Jörn Fleck and Jurek Wille

It took two rounds of voting in the Bundestag to elect Friedrich Merz chancellor, a sign of division unprecedented in modern German history.
Defense Policy Elections
Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

New Atlanticist May 1, 2025

Foreign policy was a hot topic in Canada’s election. Now it’s on Carney to make it last.

By Imran Bayoumi, Maite Gonzalez Latorre

The campaign is over. Now, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney faces several important choices, from how to increase defense spending to what a new relationship with the United States should look like.
Elections Politics & Diplomacy

Transatlantic Horizons

Charting an ambitious agenda for the United States and Europe for 2025 and beyond.

Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

Inflection Points Today Feb 24, 2025

History’s clock is ticking (again) in Germany

Likely incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s election-night mention of the need for “independence” from Washington signals the stakes of this moment for Germany and Europe.

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Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

New Atlanticist Feb 4, 2025

The next German chancellor must lead from the front, not the middle, on European security

By Rachel Rizzo, James Batchik

From support for Ukraine to defense spending, German leaders would be wise to take the phrase Führung aus der Mitte permanently out of their vocabulary.
Elections Germany
Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

New Atlanticist Feb 19, 2025

Germany’s economy has gone from engine to anchor. Here’s what the next chancellor faces.

By Piotr Arak

Revitalizing growth in Germany’s economy, which appears increasingly mired in stagnation, will demand urgent action from the next chancellor.
Economy & Business Elections

Content

Dispatches

Mar 2, 2026

Willkommen to Germany’s ‘super election year.’ Here’s what to expect.

By Phyllis Berry

A series of state elections between March and September could see gains by the far-right Alternative for Germany, further challenging Germany’s centrist parties.

Elections Germany

Freedom and Prosperity Around the World

Feb 23, 2026

When growth outpaces accountability: Political volatility in the Philippines

By Cesi Cruz

Economic growth in the Philippines has largely taken place in the absence of sustained political stability. Political rights and accountability swing sharply with changes in leadership. The task ahead is to ensure that economic progress deepens democratic accountability.

Corruption Elections

Dispatches

Feb 13, 2026

What Bangladesh’s first post-Hasina election means for the country’s future

By Rudabeh Shahid, Michael Kugelman

Our experts explain what to expect from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party after it won a parliamentary majority—and what these elections mean for the region.

Bangladesh Elections

Dispatches

Feb 6, 2026

Why Bangladesh’s elections will echo far beyond its borders

By Rudabeh Shahid

The outcome of Bangladesh’s February 12 election will likely cast a shadow over other upcoming elections in Nepal and India.

Bangladesh Elections

Dispatches

Feb 3, 2026

Why the Trump administration is refusing to accept a third term for Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki

By Rend Al-Rahim, Victoria J. Taylor 

That the United States would seek to block Maliki from a third term as prime minister is unsurprising given the disastrous record of his premiership from 2006 to 2014.

Elections Iraq

Dispatches

Jan 16, 2026

Why Portugal’s upcoming presidential election has echoes of 1986

By Andrew Bernard

With three major candidates coming from outside the traditional center-left and center-right parties, the field is fractured and wide-open.

Economy & Business Elections

UkraineAlert

Jan 15, 2026

Veterans can shape the future of Ukrainian democracy

By Vasyl Sehin

The participation of military veterans in Ukraine's political life has the potential to dramatically strengthen Ukrainian democracy and safeguard the country's historic transition from centuries of Russian autocracy, writes Vasyl Sehin.

Conflict Democratic Transitions

Dispatches

Jan 9, 2026

Neither free nor fair: What Myanmar’s ‘sham’ elections mean for the country and its neighbors

By Rudabeh Shahid

The ongoing election staged by the ruling junta in Myanmar is structured less as a democratic exercise and more as a managed performance of legitimacy.

Conflict Elections

MENASource

Jan 8, 2026

Iraq’s pathway to stability relies on transfers of power

By Yerevan Saeed

The key question is not whether Sudani is like al-Maliki but whether a second term would reduce competition and weaken institutions.

Elections Iraq

Balkans Debrief

Dec 30, 2025

Will Kurti’s 4th victory reshape Kosovo’s foreign relations? | A Debrief with Yll Sadiku

Ilva Tare and Yll Sadiku break down the results of Kosovo's election and the foreign policy implications of Albin Kurti's victory on December 28, 2025.

Elections Europe & Eurasia
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Experts

Fellow

Patrick Quirk

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Freedom and Prosperity Center GeoStrategy Initiative

Civil Society Conflict

Staff

Valentina Sader

Director, Strategy and Programs

Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center

Brazil Corruption

Fellow

Omar Samad

Nonresident Senior Fellow

South Asia Center

Democratic Transitions Conflict

Fellow

Leslie Shedd

Nonresident Fellow

Eurasia Center

Eastern Europe Elections

Fellow

Wen-Ti Sung

Nonresident Fellow

Global China Hub

Australia China

Fellow

Ashutosh Varshney

Nonresident Senior Fellow, India

Nationalism Elections
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