Europe & Eurasia

Europe & Eurasia

Stretching from the shores of the Atlantic to the mountains of Central Asia, the European and Eurasian landmass contains both some of the most stable and wealthy countries in the world, as well as some of the poorest and those led by repressive regimes. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022 has transformed the region’s security and launched economic, political, and defense issues into the global limelight, emphasizing the necessity of increased regional and transatlantic cooperation.

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Featured Reading

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

Dispatches
Jul 9, 2026

Eleven takeaways from the NATO Summit in Ankara 

By
Atlantic Council experts

Atlantic Council experts break down the most important developments coming out of the Ankara summit.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

Inflection Points
Jun 26, 2026

Secretary General Mark Rutte on Trump, Europe, and the future of NATO

By
Frederick Kempe

Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe sits down with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

Atlantic Council Strategy Paper Series
May 13, 2026

A US and allied strategy for Greenland

By
the Atlantic Council Task Force on Greenland

After US rhetoric about taking control of Greenland exacerbated tensions between Washington and European allies in January, the US, Greenland, and Denmark opened discussions about the US presence in the autonomous territory. In parallel, the Atlantic Council’s Task Force on Greenland brought together transatlantic expertise to explore the underlying issues and find a productive path forward.

Greenland
Northern Europe

featured events

Online Event
Thu, June 25, 2026 • 1:45 pm ET

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the Ankara summit agenda

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte lays out his priorities for the upcoming Ankara summit.

Europe & Eurasia
NATO
United States and Canada


Public Event
Wed, November 19, 2025 • 9:00 am ET

Intent to destroy: Confronting Russia’s campaign to erase Ukraine and its people

In this conference hosted by the Strategic Litigation Project and the Eurasia Center, experts will identify strategies to halt Russia’s campaign of atrocities against the Ukrainian people.

Civil Society
Conflict
Crisis Management
Security & Defense


The Russia Tomorrow series

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 challenged much of the common Western understanding of Russia. How can the world better understand Russia? What are the steps forward for Western policy? The Eurasia Center’s new “Russia Tomorrow” series seeks to reevaluate conceptions of Russia today and better prepare for its future tomorrow.

Read More

Russia Tomorrow

The CRINK: Inside the new bloc supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine

by Angela Stent

The latest report in the Atlantic Council’s Russia Tomorrow series details how Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought together a new set of partners–united not by shared values, but by shared grievances–on the international stage: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

In-depth Research & reports

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

Russia Tomorrow
Dec 12, 2025

The Russian economy in 2025: Between stagnation and militarization 

By
Elina Ribakova, Lucas Risinger

The latest report in the Atlantic Council’s Russia Tomorrow series examines the Russian wartime economy.

Economy & Business
Europe & Eurasia

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

Report
Jan 14, 2026

Digital sovereignty: Europe’s declaration of independence?

By
Frances Burwell, Kenneth Propp

In Brussels, “digital sovereignty” may be the new “strategic autonomy”: a push for Europe to go its own way and depend less on the United States. As US tech companies and EU regulators clash, catch up on a policy debate with consequences playing out online and in the halls of power.

Digital Policy
Economy & Business

programs

The Europe Center promotes the transatlantic leadership and strategies required to ensure a strong Europe.

EXPLORE THE PROGRAM

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

EXPLORE THE PROGRAM

Within the Atlantic Council’s longstanding commitment to strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the Atlantic Council Turkey Program conducts research, provides thought leadership, and offers a platform for strategic dialogue between the US, Turkey, and NATO allies to address the region’s toughest challenges and explore opportunities, including in the fields of energy, business & trade, technology, defense, and security.

Learn more

Explore the Power Vertical podcast

The Power Vertical

The Power Vertical is a blog and podcast for Russia wonks and Kremlin watchers by Brian Whitmore. It covers emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, shining a spotlight on the high-stakes power struggles, machinations, and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy today.

Explore the Debrief series

#AtlanticDebrief

#AtlanticDebrief hosts interviews with leading experts, policymakers, and newsmakers from both sides of the Atlantic to unpack the challenges and opportunities of the transatlantic relationship.

Explore the Series


#BalkansDebrief

The Atlantic Council Europe Center’s #BalkansDebrief series features timely conversations on key issues impacting the Western Balkans. Nonresident senior fellow Ilva Tare hosts newsmakers, experts, and officials for discussions on rule of law, energy security, cultural heritage, Russian and Chinese influence in the region, and more.

Explore the Series

Content

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2008

Wake Up, Gassiev is Calling!

By David Smith

In the predawn hours of August 7, Russia invaded Georgia.  Gassiev, a border guard of the separatist regime in the Georgian territory of South Ossetia, was at the southern end of the Roki Tunnel that leads from Russia.  At 3:52 a.m., he used his mobile telephone to tell his supervisor: “The armor and people . […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2008

Russia Back in the Game: It’s the West’s Move

By Ioan Mircea Pascu

With its invasion of Georgia, Russia demonstrated the determination to “come back into the game” in style. Regenerated through the surge of energy prices, Russia’s leaders want to make up their losses from the 1990s and get payback for the accompanying humiliation. Her aggressive policies, heralded by the political use of the energy weapon starting […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 22, 2008

NATO’s Tunnel Vision: Seeing Beyond Russia

By Nikolas Gvosdev

Perusing the media reports after the meeting of NATO defense ministers in London, I was most struck by what did not appear. For instance, no apparent discussion about what is a growing threat to the economic security of the entire Euro-Atlantic world—the increasing ability of both “rogue states” and non-state actors (warlords, rebels and terrorist […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 19, 2008

Financial Crisis: View from Europe

By James Joyner

The deepening and spread of the U.S. financial crisis and the government’s late move to step in to offer regulatory oversight and bailouts might reasonably have been expected to generate a round of “I told you so’s” from Europe. 

Economy & Business European Union

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Debate: Is Russia Rational?

By James Joyner

A question that has been raised repeatedly, both explicitly and implicitly, since Russia’s invasion of Georgia is the degree to which Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev are rational actors.  Surely, many argue, it makes no sense for Russia to risk isolating itself from the West to make a point?

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Russia a Rational Actor? Nyet!

By Robert Manning

After all the huffing and puffing about what civilizations don’t do in the 21st century (does Abu Ghraib ring a bell?) on the one side, and finger-wagging about spheres of influence on the other, what does the Georgia tragedy add up to? Is cooperation with Russia fading beneath a new Cold War? Is Russia facing […]

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 16, 2008

Russia a Rational Actor? Da!

By Christopher Harness

The world sat startled when Russia heavy-handedly violated the sovereignty of Georgia.  It is currently aggravated at Russian reluctance to promptly leave.  In the aftermath, everyone is hurriedly analyzing, grasping for reasons why Russia felt the need to go all in.

Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 15, 2008

Cold War II

By James Joyner

The dramatic escalation in tensions between NATO and Russia that followed the West’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia and, especially, Russia’s invasion of Georgia, have many analysts fearing a return to the bad old days of the Cold War.   Jim Townsend, the Atlantic Council’s vice president for international security programs, declared to a C-SPAN […]

NATO Russia

New Atlanticist

Sep 11, 2008

Russia’s Godfathers

By Fran Burwell

Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy negotiating with Don Corleone? Sarkozy, leading the European Union effort to secure a Russian withdrawal from Georgia, has returned from Moscow with another agreement. This time, Russian troops are to withdraw from the so-called “buffer zone” after the placement of 200 EU monitors in the regions outside South Ossetia and […]

European Union International Organizations

New Atlanticist

Sep 10, 2008

‘New’ Europe Outworks ‘Old’ — USA, Too?

By James Joyner

Workers in eastern Europe work more hours and take less vacation than their counterparts to the west.

Eastern Europe Economy & Business
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Experts

Staff

Iryna Adam

Research Associate

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Eastern Europe English

Fellow

Paul Adamson

Senior Advisor

Europe Center

Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Anca Agachi

Nonresident Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Africa Conflict

Executive Leadership Intensive participant

Raul Alcaide Alonso

Vice President, Goldman Sachs

Millennium Leadership Program

Africa Economy & Business

Fellow

Alexander Alden

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Policy English

Staff

Nika Aleksejeva

Resident Fellow, Baltics

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Belarus Disinformation
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Events

Online Event Wed, July 22, 2026 • 10:00 am ET

How Ukraine’s deep-strike campaign is causing cracks in the Kremlin
Europe & Eurasia Politics & Diplomacy Russia Security & Defense
Online Event Tue, July 28, 2026 • 11:30 am ET

Transforming IMEC in response to the Iran war
Critical Infrastructure Policy Europe & Eurasia India Iran
Flagship Event Fri, December 11, 2026 • 8:30 am ET

2026 Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics

The Transatlantic Forum on GeoEconomics is an annual flagship convening focused on issues at the nexus of economics, finance, foreign policy, and national security.
Digital Policy Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia European Union