Atlantic Council

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VERIFIEDPRIMARY SOURCES
VERIFIED 2026-03-26
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think-tank centrist NATO defense-industry foreign-government-funding DFRLab Burisma class-analysis

related: Goldman Sachs

Who They Are

The Atlantic Council is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1961 by former Secretaries of State Dean Acheson and Christian Herter, along with Will Clayton, William Foster, and Theodore Achilles. Secretary of State Dean Rusk challenged the founders to create a unified voice supporting the Atlantic Alliance — NATO’s civilian cheering section dressed in policy language. The organization was formally established as the successor to earlier U.S. citizens’ groups supporting the Atlantic Treaty Association.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Atlantic Council reported $69.9 million in revenue and $68.4 million in expenses in fiscal year 2024, with total assets of $135.9 million, total liabilities of $69.3 million, and net assets of $66.6 million. Executive compensation totaled $3.55 million (5.2% of expenses), with other salaries and wages at $27.6 million (40.3% of expenses). A 2024 audit identified a material weakness in internal financial controls.

The organization is led by President and CEO Frederick Kempe ($700K+ estimated compensation), a former Wall Street Journal editor who has led the Council since 2007, during which time the organization quadrupled in size. The board is chaired by John F.W. Rogers, Executive Vice President of Goldman Sachs. Vice chairs include Adrienne Arsht (philanthropist and major donor), Stephen J. Hadley (former National Security Advisor under George W. Bush), and Alexander V. Mirtchev.

The honorary and lifetime directors read like a who’s who of the U.S. national security establishment: Henry Kissinger, George P. Shultz, Frank Carlucci, James A. Baker III, R. James Woolsey, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Robert Gates, and Leon Panetta. The International Advisory Board, founded by the late General Brent Scowcroft (National Security Advisor to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush), includes chief executives of major corporations and former heads of state from NATO allies.

The Atlantic Council operates through more than a dozen centers and programs including the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Global Energy Center, Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, Europe Center, Middle East Programs, and others — a sprawling policy apparatus that covers the full spectrum of transatlantic and global security issues.

Who Funds Them

The Atlantic Council’s funding model is a three-legged stool: defense contractors, foreign governments, and corporate sponsors — with the U.S. government providing a fourth, quieter leg. The mix makes the Atlantic Council the most foreign-government-funded and Pentagon-contractor-funded major think tank in the United States.

Pentagon Contractors ($10.2M, 2019-2023 — highest among all U.S. think tanks):

  • Northrop Grumman: ~$5.6M (2019-2023)
  • SAAB: $1.2M+
  • General Atomics: $850K
  • RTX (formerly Raytheon): $750K cumulative, plus $100K-$250K annually in recent years
  • Lockheed Martin: $100K+ annually
  • General Dynamics: $100K+ annually
  • Airbus: Corporate Members Program ($250K+ annually)
  • Booz Allen Hamilton: “Foundational Sponsor” of Defense Innovation Adoption Commission

Foreign Government Funding (~$21M, 2019-2023 — highest among all U.S. think tanks):

  • United Arab Emirates Embassy: $1M+ annually for 5+ consecutive years
  • UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs: $100K-$250K
  • Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC): $250K-$500K
  • British Foreign and Commonwealth Office: $1M+ (2019)
  • Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs: $250K-$500K
  • Qatar: significant (specific amounts undisclosed)
  • Additional funding from European NATO allies

U.S. Federal Government ($15.3M, 2021-2025):

  • Department of Defense
  • Department of State
  • USAID

Corporate & Individual Mega-Donors ($1M+ tier, 2024):

  • Goldman Sachs (board chair is Goldman EVP)
  • Adrienne Arsht (vice chair and major personal donor)
  • Facebook/Meta
  • Rockefeller Foundation
  • Cheniere Energy, Excelerate Energy, Tellurian (LNG cluster)
  • Google Poland
  • Hunt Consolidated
  • Splunk Inc.

Burisma Holdings (2017-2019):

  • $300K-$450K from Ukrainian energy company owned by Mykola Zlochevsky
  • Partnership announced January 2017
  • Hunter Biden served on Burisma board simultaneously
  • Atlantic Council board member Sally Painter co-founded Blue Star Strategies, consulting firm representing Burisma

Revenue Trajectory:

Fiscal YearRevenueExpensesNet Assets
2024$69.9M$68.4M$66.6M
2023$67.2M$63.8M$64.5M
2022$58.4M$53.1M$59.8M
2021$49.7M$44.2M$52.6M
2020$40.3M$38.6M$44.1M
2019$36.8M$35.1M$40.8M

Revenue has nearly doubled since 2019 ($36.8M → $69.9M), with growth accelerating after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — which validated the Atlantic Council’s core institutional reason for existing and opened the funding spigots from defense contractors and NATO-aligned governments alike.

What They Produce

The Atlantic Council produces three things: defense industry policy legitimation, foreign government influence laundering, and content moderation infrastructure.

1. The Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security: The Council’s flagship defense policy shop, named after General Brent Scowcroft. Produces strategy papers, war games, and policy recommendations on NATO, nuclear deterrence, defense acquisition, and great-power competition. The Center’s Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption is the sharpest example of donor-to-policy alignment: co-chaired by Mark Esper (former Raytheon lobbyist, Trump Defense Secretary) and Deborah Lee James (former Air Force Secretary, ex-SAIC executive), with nine “industry commissioners” representing companies that collectively gave $810K-$1.6M to the Atlantic Council. Eight of those companies are listed as official “Sponsors” of the Commission whose recommendations they helped write.

2. The Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab): Incubated at the Atlantic Council in 2016, DFRLab has conducted 1,000+ investigations on disinformation and digital threats. DFRLab became a core partner on the Virality Project during COVID-19, which coordinated with seven Big Tech platforms on content moderation. The Twitter Files revealed DFRLab’s role in labeling content as “disinformation” — including stories of true vaccine side effects — that platforms then suppressed. DFRLab also partnered directly with Facebook/Meta to identify and remove accounts it deemed inauthentic, giving a defense-contractor-funded think tank direct editorial power over a social media platform used by billions.

3. The Global Energy Center: Produces policy on energy security, LNG exports, nuclear energy, and climate — with a donor base heavy on LNG companies (Cheniere, Excelerate, Tellurian) and Gulf state oil producers (ADNOC). The Center’s output consistently favors natural gas as a “bridge fuel” and promotes U.S. LNG exports — positions that align precisely with its funders’ business models.

4. Regional Centers (Middle East, Europe, Latin America, Africa, South Asia): Produce region-specific policy analysis and convenings. The Middle East programs are particularly notable given the Council’s massive UAE/Gulf funding — the organization that takes $1M+ annually from the UAE Embassy produces the analysis that shapes U.S. Gulf policy.

The Policy Pipeline

The Atlantic Council’s pipeline operates through a distinctive mechanism: it provides the intellectual infrastructure for the transatlantic security consensus, and that consensus is then implemented by the same people who rotate between the Council and government positions.

Donation-to-Policy Timeline

DateRecipient/TargetAmountPolicy ReturnTime Gap
2017-2019Atlantic Council operations$300K-$450K (Burisma)Reputation laundering for corruption-stained Ukrainian energy company; Atlantic Council ignored warnings from Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk about Burisma’s bribery allegationsImmediate
2019-2023Defense policy programs$10.2M (Pentagon contractors)Atlantic Council regularly reaches out to Pentagon on behalf of defense contractor donors; Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption co-chaired by former Raytheon lobbyist, with $810K-$1.6M in industry commissioner donationsImmediate to ongoing
2019-2023Middle East / Gulf programs$1M+/year (UAE Embassy) + ADNOCCEO Frederick Kempe published favorable op-ed for UAE despite $1M+ annual donations; Gulf policy analysis consistently favorable to donor governmentsOngoing
2020-2023DFRLab / Virality ProjectMeta/Facebook funding + governmentDFRLab gained direct editorial power over Facebook content moderation; Virality Project coordinated suppression of vaccine side-effect stories across seven platformsImmediate
2022-2024Ukraine/NATO programsDefense contractor + NATO gov’t surgeRussia invasion validated Atlantic Council’s institutional mission; revenue spiked from $58.4M to $69.9M as defense contractors and NATO allies poured in funding for Ukraine-related policy workImmediate
2023 JulDefense Innovation Commission$810K-$1.6M (industry commissioners)Nine defense industry commissioners wrote recommendations for Pentagon procurement reform — recommendations that benefit the companies that funded themImmediate
2024Energy policy programsLNG cluster (Cheniere, Excelerate, Tellurian)Global Energy Center promotes U.S. LNG exports and natural gas as “bridge fuel” — directly serving the business model of its three largest energy donorsOngoing
OngoingCongressional testimonyAggregate defense/foreign fundingAtlantic Council staff testify before Congress on defense, foreign policy, and tech regulation — while receiving millions from the industries and governments their testimony concernsContinuous

Money

The Atlantic Council’s business model is selling the appearance of independent security analysis while being funded by the defense contractors, foreign governments, and tech companies that benefit from the analysis. The $10.2M from Pentagon contractors purchases policy recommendations that recommend more Pentagon spending. The $21M from foreign governments purchases favorable regional analysis. The $15.3M from the U.S. government creates the feedback loop: the government funds the think tank that tells the government what the defense contractors want to hear. The Defense Innovation Commission is the model in miniature — companies pay $810K-$1.6M to write the recommendations that will benefit them, co-chaired by their own former lobbyist.

The Revolving Door

The Atlantic Council’s revolving door operates at the highest level of the U.S. national security establishment — not policy analysts cycling through mid-level positions, but Secretaries of State, Defense Secretaries, CIA Directors, and National Security Advisors rotating onto the board and back into government.

Board-Level Revolving Door (Honorary/Lifetime Directors):

  • Henry Kissinger: Secretary of State (Nixon/Ford) → Atlantic Council
  • James A. Baker III: Secretary of State (Bush Sr.) → Atlantic Council
  • Condoleezza Rice: National Security Advisor / Secretary of State (Bush Jr.) → Atlantic Council
  • Robert Gates: CIA Director / Defense Secretary (Bush Sr./Obama) → Atlantic Council
  • Leon Panetta: CIA Director / Defense Secretary (Obama) → Atlantic Council
  • Colin Powell: National Security Advisor / Secretary of State (Reagan/Bush Jr.) → Atlantic Council
  • R. James Woolsey: CIA Director (Clinton) → Atlantic Council
  • Frank Carlucci: National Security Advisor / Defense Secretary (Reagan) → Carlyle Group → Atlantic Council

Active Revolving Door:

Stephen J. Hadley (Vice Chair):

  • National Security Advisor (Bush Jr., 2005-2009)
  • Principal, RiceHadleyGates LLC (consulting firm with Rice and Gates)
  • Atlantic Council executive vice chair
  • NSA → private consulting → think tank leadership — carrying defense industry relationships across all three

Mark T. Esper (Commission Co-Chair):

  • Raytheon VP for Government Relations (lobbyist)
  • Secretary of Defense (Trump admin, 2019-2020)
  • Co-chair, Atlantic Council Defense Innovation Adoption Commission
  • Defense contractor lobbyist → Pentagon chief → think tank commission chair recommending defense procurement reform

Deborah Lee James (Commission Co-Chair):

  • SAIC executive
  • Secretary of the Air Force (Obama admin, 2013-2017)
  • Co-chair, Atlantic Council Defense Innovation Adoption Commission
  • Defense contractor executive → Air Force Secretary → think tank commission chair

John F.W. Rogers (Board Chair):

  • Executive Vice President, Goldman Sachs
  • Assistant to President Reagan / Under Secretary of State for Management (Reagan admin)
  • Atlantic Council board chair
  • Wall Street → State Department → think tank chairman — Goldman Sachs chairing NATO’s civilian policy shop

Frederick Kempe (CEO):

  • Wall Street Journal editor/reporter (25+ years)
  • Atlantic Council President/CEO (2007-present)
  • Media → think tank leadership. Kempe’s media background provides the cultural credibility that makes defense contractor-funded analysis look like independent journalism.

Contradiction

The Atlantic Council claims to produce “nonpartisan” analysis, yet its board and commission leadership consists almost entirely of former Republican and Democratic national security officials who implemented the very policies the Council now analyzes — and who maintain financial relationships with the defense contractors that fund the Council. The Defense Innovation Commission is co-chaired by a former Raytheon lobbyist and a former SAIC executive, writing procurement recommendations funded by their former (and possibly future) employers. The revolving door isn’t a bug — it’s the product being sold.

What Their Funders Got

The Atlantic Council’s funders receive returns calibrated to each funding stream:

Specific Returns:

  1. Defense Contractors — Procurement Advocacy: The $10.2M from Pentagon contractors purchases policy recommendations that consistently argue for increased defense spending, faster procurement, and expanded weapons systems. The Defense Innovation Commission’s recommendations — written by industry commissioners from companies that gave $810K-$1.6M — call for reforms that would accelerate defense acquisition, directly benefiting the companies that funded the recommendations. Northrop Grumman’s $5.6M investment produces analysis supporting the bomber, satellite, and nuclear modernization programs that Northrop builds.

  2. UAE/Gulf States — Human Rights Whitewashing: The UAE’s $1M+ annual donations purchase favorable Middle East analysis and CEO-level advocacy. When CEO Kempe published a glowing op-ed about the UAE, he was writing about a country whose embassy had given his organization over $1M annually for five consecutive years. The Gulf funding purchases silence on human rights and active promotion of Gulf state interests in U.S. policy circles.

  3. Burisma — Reputation Laundering: Burisma’s $300K-$450K purchased association with a prestigious Washington institution to rehabilitate a company under corruption investigation. Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Daria Kaleniuk explicitly warned the Atlantic Council that Burisma was using the partnership to “clear up its reputation” — the warning was ignored. Board member Sally Painter’s Blue Star Strategies connection created a direct lobbying pipeline through the think tank.

  4. Tech Companies — Content Moderation Power: Facebook/Meta’s funding of DFRLab purchased a credibility-laundering operation: rather than making content moderation decisions directly (which would invite regulatory scrutiny), Meta outsourced the work to a “nonpartisan” think tank — one funded by defense contractors and foreign governments — giving corporate censorship the appearance of independent expert judgment.

  5. U.S. Government — Consensus Manufacturing: The $15.3M in federal funding purchases the appearance of independent validation for government policy. When the State Department or Pentagon cites Atlantic Council analysis supporting their position, they are citing analysis they helped fund — a closed loop disguised as independent review.

Class Analysis

The Atlantic Council is NATO’s ideological apparatus — the institutional mechanism that converts defense contractor money and foreign government influence into the appearance of independent policy analysis. Its founding purpose was to build public support for the Atlantic Alliance, and 65 years later that mission has expanded into a $70M-per-year operation that provides intellectual cover for the entire transatlantic security establishment.

The funding structure tells the story. The $10.2M from Pentagon contractors and $21M from foreign governments (both highest among U.S. think tanks) don’t purchase “research” — they purchase the manufacturing of consensus. When the Atlantic Council produces a report recommending increased defense spending, written by a commission funded by defense contractors and co-chaired by a former Raytheon lobbyist, the recommendation carries the weight of “nonpartisan expert analysis.” When the same conclusion would carry no weight if Raytheon published it directly, the Atlantic Council provides the credibility laundering that makes the recommendation politically actionable.

The DFRLab represents a newer and more dangerous function: the privatization of information control. By positioning itself as a “disinformation” authority, the Atlantic Council — funded by defense contractors, foreign governments, and tech companies — gained direct editorial power over what billions of people see on social media platforms. The Virality Project’s coordination with seven Big Tech platforms to suppress content labeled as “disinformation” (including true information about vaccine side effects) demonstrates how a defense-industry-funded think tank can become a censorship apparatus with no democratic accountability.

The Goldman Sachs board chairmanship is the quiet tell. John F.W. Rogers — Goldman Sachs EVP — chairs an organization nominally dedicated to “transatlantic security.” Goldman’s interest is not national security per se but the financial architecture that undergirds the Atlantic Alliance: defense procurement contracts, energy markets, sovereign debt, and the dollar-denominated global financial system that NATO protects. Goldman chairing the Atlantic Council is Wall Street ensuring that the security consensus serves financial interests, not just military ones.

The Burisma scandal reveals the corruption beneath the prestige. A Ukrainian energy company under corruption investigation gave $300K-$450K to purchase association with the Atlantic Council’s brand, while a Council board member’s consulting firm simultaneously represented Burisma’s interests — and the Council ignored explicit warnings from a Ukrainian anti-corruption activist that Burisma was exploiting the partnership. When the institution designed to promote democratic values sells its credibility to an oligarch’s energy company, the gap between mission and function is total.

Money

The Atlantic Council is the defense industry’s policy laundromat. Its $70M annual budget converts defense contractor money ($10.2M), foreign government influence ($21M), and federal funding ($15.3M) into “independent” analysis that consistently recommends the policies its funders want: more defense spending, more weapons sales, more NATO expansion, more U.S. military engagement. The Goldman Sachs board chair ensures the financial interests are served alongside the military ones. The DFRLab adds a new product line: censorship-as-a-service for tech platforms that want to suppress content without taking the political heat. Every dollar spent at the Atlantic Council purchases not a policy paper but the appearance that the defense industry’s preferred policies are the product of disinterested expert judgment.

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