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 relationship can turn it from a source of fragmentation into a lever for stabilisation.
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.
On the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, former European Commission Vice-President Catherine Ashton reflects on the diplomacy behind the landmark JCPOA agreement, why it worked, and what its collapse means today. Ashton argues that collective leadership and renewed European engagement remain essential to securing long-term regional stability.
Balázs Csuday writes that Péter Magyar’s landslide victory has upended Hungary’s political order, opening the door to constitutional conflict, institutional upheaval, and a major foreign policy reset after 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule. The result could reshape Hungary’s relationship with the European Union and reverberate across Europe’s populist right.
This commentary collection compiles 11 articles by ELN network members and external collaborators as part of the ELN’s Protecting the Non-Proliferation Treaty project. The collection was published to align with the 2026 NPT Review Conference in New York City.
Germany is entering a new era in its relationship with the United States. The old Atlanticist reflex has not disappeared, however it no longer reflects the instincts of the next generation of senior officials. For them, the moral clarity of the Cold War is not the starting point. It is an era of disruption, doubt, and strategic volatility. Berlin should take this into account, writes Vincent Tadday. The future of the transatlantic relationship will not be secured by waiting for the past to return.
The evolving confrontation between Europe and Russia is not a temporary crisis but a long-term condition that must be managed. In this report, ELN Senior Policy Fellow Alexander Graef sets out a strategy for governing a prolonged and adversarial relationship with Moscow beyond the war, focused on strengthening European political agency, credible deterrence, and governing escalation risks.
This report by Ganna Pogrebna and ELN Senior Policy Fellow Rishi Paul presents findings from an ELN workshop that examined the ‘human’ and ‘machine’ components of bias and their points of interaction. The report highlights how human judgment and AI systems can interact in ways that reinforce, rather than reduce, risk.
Gender perspectives are integral to credible, effective, and inclusive disarmament and arms control. This policy brief by ELN Policy Fellow Jana Baldus examines the gender backlash in multilateral disarmament and arms control, and its implications. It suggests two approaches to preserve progress on gender equality and intersectional gender perspectives and calls on states, international organisations, and civil society to act collectively to defend and further advance gender perspectives.
With the Tisza party taking office in Hungary, attention has turned to how this victory was achieved – not as an abstract political question, but through the lived experiences of Hungarians who opposed Viktor Orbán’s illiberal democracy and came together to defeat it. Eva Cartwright and Flora Hevesi, two such activists, join us for a dynamic and heartfelt conversation exploring what life under Fidesz really meant in Hungary’s cities and villages, and how victory was finally achieved.
In the face of sustained conflict in the Persian Gulf, oil, gas, and fertiliser supplies are running low, and prices are running high. Nations across the globe are reevaluating their geostrategic partnerships in the face of this disruption. To unpack the full international implications of the US/Israeli-Iran war, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Shihoko Goto of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and Rebecca Christie of Bruegel.
Following the agreement of the ceasefire between Iran and the United States earlier this week, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Professor Lina Khatib of both the Harvard Belfer Center and Chatham House, to assess who “won” this war, the ramifications for Iran’s proxies across the region, and what the survival of the regime means for the wider world.
Former and serving senior officials, military leaders, and experts from across the Euro-Atlantic region call for strengthened fail-safe measures to prevent accidental nuclear use.
Former and serving senior officials, military leaders, and experts from across the Euro-Atlantic region call for support for space security and stability.
Former and serving senior officials, military leaders, and experts from across the Euro-Atlantic region put forward three urgent steps for nuclear-armed states to take to build on the essential principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
