As I attended my eighteenth Munich Security Conference as president and CEO of the Atlantic Council this past weekend, I reflected, like everyone else, on the Trump administration’s accelerated actions on global affairs, which are manifesting themselves in US-Russia talks this week in Riyadh aimed at ending Russian President Vladimir Putin’s murderous war in Ukraine.
At the same time, I reflected on the dramatic changes in global affairs in the more than thirty years since the Cold War’s end, which have included a rising China, a revanchist Russia, closer relations among US adversaries, an intensifying competition for technology’s commanding heights in the age of artificial intelligence, and so much more.
The Atlantic Council’s mission of “shaping the global future” alongside partners and allies has not just endured through all these changes but also become even more essential. We’ve grown and remained relevant—and, in some matters, preeminent—because we’ve responded to global challenges that have become more complex and multifaceted. To do so, we’ve expanded our regional programs to reach most corners of the globe. We’ve also expanded our substantive work by deepening our global focus on issues that include technology, energy, economics, and interlocking security issues, which have always been a particular strength.
We have grown our work alongside the US government as well amid questions around whether and how the United States will continue to lead as it faces advancing rivals. It is in this context that we have responded to the Trump administration’s decision through executive order on January 20 to pause US foreign assistance for ninety days.
First and foremost, it’s not surprising that President Donald Trump, following his electoral victory, is insisting that such assistance be aligned with US interests and his own foreign policy goals. Beyond that, Trump isn’t the first US president who has wanted to reduce federal waste and increase government efficiency, though the speed, tools, and means with which he is doing so may be unprecedented.
We hope that after this pause and review, the Trump administration will green light ongoing work that advances US interests. We are committed to working with the Trump administration to further those interests, just as we have worked with the previous twelve US presidential administrations since the Atlantic Council’s founding in 1961. That includes our work during the first Trump administration, on high-priority issues such as responding to a new era of sharper great power competition with China, deepening diplomatic normalization in the Middle East through the Abraham Accords, enhancing economic engagement between the United States and Africa, making sure the United States remains at the forefront of artificial intelligence, and countering the increasing influence of authoritarian adversaries around the world in a digital age.
We welcome Trump administration scrutiny because we firmly believe that our work advances US economic, geopolitical, and national security interests, consistent with the administration’s goals. As a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, the Atlantic Council always strives to execute its work in the public interest, not for shareholders or profits. Although federal funds comprise a relatively small amount of the Atlantic Council’s total funding, they support some of our most robust and meaningful work.
As a result of stop-work orders, for example, we have had to suspend projects on top Trump administration priorities, such as countering the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party, increasing pressure on Iran, and ensuring US technological leadership.
In Latin America, we have paused the training of local journalists to better monitor Chinese Communist Party actions, including corruption, influence campaigns, and problematic infrastructure projects. We also have paused a planned project to counter Chinese intellectual-property theft of advanced technologies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, as well as another project to reduce growing Chinese financial influence in the Western Balkans.
Additionally, we have paused work that applies pressure on Iran for its repression at home and malign activities abroad, including Tehran’s targeting of US nationals who speak out against its actions. This initiative expands efforts to hold Iran and its officials accountable by isolating them on the international stage. Another paused project focuses on investigating and documenting evidence of Tehran’s criminal activities in Syria—work that has heightened importance after the fall of the Assad regime and as a new Syrian government takes power, ideally stripped of malign Iranian influence.
We have halted multiple programs aimed at advancing US leadership in an era of rapid technological change in places around the world where the way that China designs, funds, and governs technology is gaining ground. These programs help align partners with the United States, build capacity in emerging markets to adopt US technology, and demonstrate the high stakes of tech competition in an age of artificial intelligence—with each outcome critical to US security and prosperity.
In these cases and others, we often are chosen for these awards due to our capability to effectively and economically support US policy goals. At a time when China has been increasing its overseas spending to disrupt US leadership around the world, permanently cutting off funding for this sort of independent research, engagement, and action would only weaken US influence. China, Iran, Russia, and other adversaries would be the biggest winners. Alternatively, a continuation of these programs will allow us to enhance and promote US interests abroad in line with the administration’s policy goals.
Trump’s second term comes at a far more perilous moment than his first. He confronts a war in Europe, a continued conflict in the Middle East, and increasing tensions with China. At the same time, he must rise to an ever-fiercer contest over technological change and a coalition of aggressors—China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran—that have made clear they are working in common cause. Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have boasted of a “no limits” partnership designed to counter and ultimately replace US global leadership.
As a nonpartisan organization, the Atlantic Council steers clear of party politics, but we have never been shy about advocating for US interests. We equip policymakers with the insights and analysis necessary to make informed decisions in an increasingly complex global environment.
We are driven by our enduring mission of galvanizing constructive US leadership and engagement in the world, in partnership with allies and partners, to shape solutions to generational challenges. In that spirit, we embrace the US president’s view, expressed in his World Economic Forum speech in 2018 and repeated since then: “‘America first’ does not mean ‘America alone.’”
Though we are nonpartisan, we are not neutral. We have always been guided by enduring US values and principles, such as a strong national defense and strong alliances, respect for individual rights, free and fair market economies, and rule of law. Our work reflects the complexity of the issues we address, and the Atlantic Council maintains strict intellectual independence for all of its projects and publications. Our experts are sometimes constructively critical of the policies of both Democratic and Republican administrations, while working alongside elected leaders to bring about the best possible outcomes. We seek to provide light, not heat. We have carried out this work for more than six decades, through presidential assassination, wars, impeachments, a pandemic, and civil strife. This is who we are.
Whatever is decided following the ninety-day pause in foreign-assistance funding, we will double down on our efforts at this challenging moment in history to work alongside the Trump administration to advance US interests in a better, freer, fairer, safer, and more prosperous world.
Frederick Kempe is president and chief executive officer of the Atlantic Council. You can follow him on X: @FredKempe.
This edition is part of Frederick Kempe’s Inflection Points newsletter, a column of dispatches from a world in transition. To receive this newsletter throughout the week, sign up here.
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Image: Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe speaks at the Atlantic Council on January 14, 2025.