European Leadership Network (ELN)

28/05/2026

The upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro will test whether the European Union can turn geopolitical urgency into credible enlargement policy, writes Serbian politician and diplomat Goran Svilanović. He contends that integrating the Western Balkans is now a strategic necessity amid great power competition and growing uncertainty in transatlantic relations.

The upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit in Montenegro will test whether the European Union can turn geopolitical urgency into credible enlargement policy, writes Serbian politician and diplomat Goran Svilanović. He contends that integrating the Western Balkans is now a strategic necessity amid great...

22/05/2026

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine drags on and battlefield realities continue to evolve, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Hanna Shelest and Yuliia Shaipova from Ukrainian Prism to examine the growing toll the war is taking on Russia and how Ukraine has continued to innovate in the face of Russian attacks.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine drags on and battlefield realities continue to evolve, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Hanna Shelest and Yuliia Shaipova from Ukrainian Prism to examine the growing toll the war is taking on Russia and how Ukraine has continued to in...

19/05/2026

New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) member Florian Ulrich Jehn has written for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists about the impact of nuclear war on global food supply. Check it out below ⤵️

Food security expert Florian Ulrich Jehn explains how nuclear war would impact the global food trade, arguing that it is not morally misplaced for countries that do not possess nuclear weapons to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear winter.

19/05/2026

As US President Donald Trump rejected out of hand Iran’s response to Washington’s proposal to end hostilities (with Trump’s memorable justification: "I looked at it, and if I don't like the first sentence I just throw it away"), Iranian analysts are debating the scope of any future agreement with the US, the sequence of steps to be taken, and the leverage both sides have in the short- and long-term. Seen from Tehran, Europe continues to play a marginal role. As our latest Iran Briefing outlines, some Iranian observers believe that, in the short term, the economic pressure from the naval blockade could prompt US allies to push Washington toward an agreement. Others worry that Iran could overplay its hand, as Europeans and other actors may eventually adapt to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, diminishing Iran’s leverage over the longer term.

Subscribe to the ELN's Iran briefing here
https://mailchi.mp/europeanleadershipnetwork/iranbriefing0924-9372490?e=[UNIQID]

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18/05/2026

At a time of heightened nuclear risk, the credibility of the non-proliferation regime increasingly depends not on treating the NPT and TPNW as rival models, but on finding ways for them to function in a mutually reinforcing way. As Younger Generation Leaders Network on Euro-Atlantic Security (YGLN) member Sims Nono Simabatu Mayele writes, reshaping the NPT-TPNW relationship can turn it from a source of fragmentation into a lever for stabilisation.

At a time of heightened nuclear risk, the credibility of the non-proliferation regime increasingly depends not on treating the NPT and TPNW as rival models, but on finding ways for them to function in a mutually reinforcing way. As Simabatu Mayele Sims Nono writes, reshaping the NPT-TPNW relationshi...

13/05/2026

Amid mounting geopolitical tensions and deepening scepticism about multilateral diplomacy, diplomats, experts, and civil society representatives are gathering in New York for the 2026 NPT Review Conference to confront growing divisions over disarmament and non-proliferation. In these reflections, ELN staff who attended the RevCon examine the mounting risks facing the global nuclear order and consider what they reveal about the future of the NPT regime based on their experiences at the conference so far.

Featuring contributions from ELN Head of Programme (Nuclear & Multilateral Disarmament) Oliver Meier, ELN Policy Fellow (Nuclear & Multilateral Disarmament) Jana Baldus, ELN Head of Strategic Engagement Sophie-Jade Taylor, and ELN Policy Fellow (Nuclear Weapons & New Technologies) Nikita Gryazin.

Amid mounting geopolitical tensions and deepening scepticism about multilateral diplomacy, diplomats, experts, and civil society representatives gathered in New York for the 2026 NPT Review Conference to confront growing divisions over disarmament and non-proliferation. In these reflections, ELN sta...

08/05/2026

What happens when illiberal democracy takes hold, and can it be defeated?

In the latest episode of The Women Leaders Podcast, the conversation turns to Hungary, democratic backsliding, media control, political power, and the wider implications for Europe’s future.

Listen now: https://europeanleadershipnetwork.org/multimedia/the-women-leaders-podcast-hungary-and-the-defeat-of-illiberal-democracy/

30/04/2026

, Dr Rishi Paul, outlines the risks posed
Emerging disruptive technologies have profound implications for nuclear weapons technologies and decision-making.

ELN Nuclear Deterrence and Risk Reduction Programme Lead, Dr Rishi Paul, outlines the risks posed by these technologies.

29/04/2026

At NATO headquarters and in European chancelleries, a new consensus has emerged: the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible. Yet Europe’s major powers are responding to this reality in strikingly different ways. As Harvard Kennedy School Fellow Joel Christoph writes, this divergence is not a weakness to be papered over. It is an asset that should be organised.

At NATO headquarters and in European chancelleries, a new consensus has emerged: the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible. Yet Europe's major powers are responding to this reality in strikingly different ways. As Harvard Kennedy School Fellow Joel Christoph writes, this....

28/04/2026

As the gets underway, ELN Senior Network member Jan Hoekema continues our collaboration with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. He writes that despite low expectations, small victories remain attainable.

In a dark world of wars and shifting geopolitical alignments, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is needed more than even some state parties may realize.