In these early years, its primary focus was on economic issues—mainly encouraging free trade between the two continents, and to a lesser extent to the rest of the world—but it also did some work on political and environmental issues.

The Council early on found a niche as "center for informal get-togethers" of leaders from both sides of the Atlantic, with members working to develop "networks of continuing communication".

[3][4] In February 2009, James L. Jones, then-chairman of the Atlantic Council, stepped down to serve as President Obama's new National Security Advisor and was succeeded by Senator Chuck Hagel.

[5] In addition, other Council members also left to serve the administration: Susan Rice as ambassador to the UN, Richard Holbrooke as the Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, General Eric K. Shinseki as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Anne-Marie Slaughter as Director of Policy Planning at the State Department.

Gen. Brent Scowcroft served as interim chairman of the organization's Board of Directors until January 2014, when former ambassador to China and governor of Utah Jon Huntsman Jr.[6] was appointed.

With a focus on achieving greater socioeconomic prosperity, the Center has integrated political economy issues into policy-making and fostered collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders, including governments, companies, and multilateral institutions.

Facebook helped fund the think tank's project in 2018, after donating a significant but undisclosed sum that placed it among top donors to the organization, such as the government of Great Britain.

In a meeting in Budapest that year, Atlantic Council members criticized Hungarian Foreign Ministry officials for limiting discussion of the state of democracy in Hungary.

[22] They produce cutting-edge data visualizations and research on a range of issues including digital currencies, China’s economy, sanctions, and the future of the Bretton Woods system.

The Center has hosted a range of leading financial policymakers for major policy speeches including Brian Deese, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Janet Yellen, Gina Raimondo, Kristalina Georgieva, David Malpass and many more.

He wrote that the Atlantic Council was one of a number of think tanks that received substantial overseas funds and conducted activities that "typically align with the foreign governments' agendas".

[38] A Spokesperson for the Atlantic Council told Politico that it had returned funds received in 2023 for future collaboration, and that it "made the decision to terminate our relationship with Mr Srivastava in May 2023 upon learning new information because of our donor review process.

The council's Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security has, held periodic events known as the Commanders Series, where it invites military leaders from the United States and Europe to speak about conflicts of interest to the Atlantic community.

[80] Upon failure, the organization pivoted to undermine the institutions that held that legislation in place by openly supporting the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff[81] and the ongoing lawfare against Petrobras.

[82][83] After the legislative victory, the success of the first auctions was announced in an event organized by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars[84] and the main contributors to the Atlantic Council on this endeavour,[85] Chevron,[86] ExxonMobil,[87] Shell plc[88] and BP,[89] were awarded with pre-salt exploration contracts.