stay updated


Featured Reading

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

Dispatches
Feb 2, 2026

To increase its autonomy, Europe must look to its strengths

By
Piotr Arak

The challenge for Europe in the coming decade is not to imitate the United States and China, but to mobilize its own considerable strengths.

Economy & Business
European Union

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

Dispatches
Jan 27, 2026

The India–EU trade deal is worth watching, but not overhyping

By
Mark Linscott

The newly announced free trade agreement is an important accomplishment, even if it is unlikely to be transformational.

Economy & Business
European Union

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

Dispatches
Jan 26, 2026

Time matters: Why Europe needs Ukrainian defense innovation

By
Oleksiy Honcharuk

For Europe to gain genuine defense autonomy, it will need to combine the continent’s capital with Ukraine’s speed and military innovation.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

featured events

Online Event
Wed, January 14, 2026 • 12:00 pm ET

The future of EU-Mercosur trade

A panel of experts unpack the EU-Mercosur trade deal and what it means for competitiveness, climate-linked trade rules, and the future of transatlantic strategy.

European Union
Latin America
Trade and tariffs


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

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

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

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

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

The Atlantic Council Turkey Program aims to promote and strengthen transatlantic engagement with the region by providing a high-level forum and pursuing programming to address the most important issues on energy, economics, security, and defense.

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

In the News

May 9, 2018

Shaffer Quoted in DW on Russian-German Gas Pipeline

By Brenda Shaffer

Read the full article here

Germany Russia

New Atlanticist

May 9, 2018

Russia’s 2017 Defense Spending Cut Is Not What It Seems

By Brooks Tigner

BRUSSELS — The May 2 announcement by SIPRI, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, that Russia’s defense budget in 2017 fell by 20 percent made many headlines across the West, with predictions of major fallout for Moscow’s military modernization goals, operations, and tactics and its international influence. However, the reality is far from that scenario […]

NATO Russia

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2018

No Longer a Soldier: Ukraine’s Returned Volunteers Are Embracing Second and Third Careers

By Ruslan Minich

“Finding myself in Kyiv now, I smell blood and diesel from time to time. These triggers will always be there,” says Alina Viatkina, a paramedic for the volunteer Hospitallers Medical Battalion. “But you can’t lose control for three days every time. You are learning how to calm yourself: OK, this is the smell of blood. […]

Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2018

Ukraine’s Least Celebrated Oligarch-Free Institution That You Haven’t Heard Of

By Oksana Bedratenko

As Ukraine’s economy begins to grow modestly, its Central Bank is striving to become an anchor of stability. The country needs to preserve the fragile macroeconomic stability it has achieved and use the upswing in the global economy to conduct reforms and stimulate economic growth. The task, however, still meets formidable obstacles; a number of […]

Ukraine

Report

May 9, 2018

Georgia’s path westward

By William Courtney, Daniel Fried, and Kenneth Yalowitz

Georgia has overcome many challenges and now stands as a striking example of a reforming and Western-oriented country transcending the limitations of decades of Soviet rule.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

May 9, 2018

Unreality TV: Why the Kremlin’s Lies Stick

By Diane Francis

In 2014, Russian-backed rebels used a Moscow-supplied missile to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. Russian state TV made wild claims such as the passengers were already dead, a Ukrainian fighter jet shot down the plane, and the CIA was behind the plot. Since 2016, Russian […]

Russia Ukraine

UkraineAlert

May 8, 2018

Here’s How Ukraine Should Remember Victory Day

By Iuliia Mendel

Ukraine’s post-Maidan leadership has focused on building patriotism to unite the nation as it suffered from turbulence and war. The patriotism that emerged from the Euromaidan promoted a nationalistic symbolism that rejected and replaced the prevailing Russian and Soviet identities. But instead of uniting the country, the current effort has expanded the divide between Ukrainians […]

Ukraine

In the News

May 8, 2018

Stein Quoted in The Middle East Eye on Turkey’s Anti-PKK Operation in Iraqi Kurdistan

By Aaron Stein

Read the full article here

Iraq Turkey

In the News

May 8, 2018

O’Toole Quoted in Bloomberg on a Russian Oil Company’s Detour around Sanctions

By Brian O'Toole

Read the full article here

Russia

Report

May 8, 2018

Making America first in the digital economy: The case for engaging Europe

By Frances Burwell

In an age of transatlantic tensions over the Iran deal, trade balances, and steel tariffs, digital policy is uniquely poised to offer opportunities for greater US-EU cooperation. At the same time, the digital arena also has the potential to be a policy minefield, with issues such as privacy, digital taxation, and competition policy still unresolved. […]

Digital Policy Economy & Business
Load More

Experts

Fellow

Andrea Clabough

Nonresident Fellow

Global Energy Center

Climate Change & Climate Action Energy & Environment

Millennium fellow

Alexandra Clare

CEO and Co-Founder, Re:Coded

Millennium Leadership Program

Education Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Gavin Clough

2023-24 Senior US Navy Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Policy Eastern Europe

European Leadership Accelerator Participant

Chiara Cocchiara

Senior Innovation Officer, European Space Agency

Millennium Leadership Program

Europe & Eurasia Resilience & Society

Executive Leadership Intensive participant

Noel Coenraad

Strategy Advisor, Vattenfall AB

Millennium Leadership Program

Energy Transitions Germany

Fellow

Ariel Cohen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Central Asia Politics & Diplomacy
Load More

Events

Online Event Tue, March 3, 2026 • 10:00 am ET

POSTPONED – Holding enablers accountable: The Islamic Republic of Iran’s role in Russia’s drone war
Civil Society Conflict Crisis Management Iran
Public Event Wed, March 4, 2026 • 3:00 pm ET

EXIM Bank Chairman John Jovanovic on US priorities for global competitiveness

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—John Jovanovic, president and chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, discusses EXIM’s role in supporting US manufacturing, strengthening supply chains, and recalibrating trade.
Economy & Business Europe & Eurasia Geopolitics & Energy Security Trade and tariffs
Public Event Thu, March 5, 2026 • 9:30 am ET

Navigating a new era in Syria: Strategic opportunities for the US and Turkey
Conflict Defense Policy Iraq Middle East
Load More