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Media, podcasts and videos

The European Leadership Network regularly provides journalists with expert advice and commentary on key international foreign, defence and security issues.  

Our work has been covered by a variety of media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Economist, Die Welt, The Guardian, Politico, Newsweek, Deutsche Welle, Aftenposten, The Washington Post, among others.

To request to speak to an expert or network member, please email [email protected].   

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Check out our podcasts, videos and press releases below.

 

ELN Podcasts

Podcast

The Women Leaders podcast: Wide waves of war

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.

24 April 2026 | Ilana Bet-El and Florence Ferrando
IranMultilateral Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Podcast

The Women Leaders podcast: The final battle in the Middle East?

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. 

10 April 2026 | Ilana Bet-El and Florence Ferrando
IranMultilateral Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Podcast

The Women Leaders podcast: Iranians at war

As the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its third week, the situation appears bleak, with Iran and its neighbours’ infrastructure destroyed, the world’s energy market in turmoil, and the reputation of the US severely damaged in the eyes of its allies. ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Iran historian Dr Liora Hendelman-Baavur of Tel Aviv University and Maneli Mirkhan, strategist and Iran expert, to break down recent events and look to the future.

20 March 2026 | Ilana Bet-El and Florence Ferrando
IranMultilateral Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Podcast

The Women Leaders podcast: Destruction and disorder

Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 was a shock to the Middle East, with the Gulf states aligning with the US, and Iran cultivating a “Shia Crescent” in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Dina Esfandiary joins ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El to guide us through the historical and geographic complexities of Iranian-American hostilities.

6 March 2026 | Ilana Bet-El and Florence Ferrando
IranMultilateral Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Podcast

The Women Leaders podcast: Gisèle Pelicot and opposing objectification

Following the release of Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir and the revelations in the Epstein files still coming to light, we are reminded of a common theme: women remain the ultimate objects. Whilst most people feel deep outrage at these misogynistic crimes, they are often hard to talk about. In this episode of the Women Leaders Podcast, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by journalists Katrin Bennhold of the New York Times and Elisa Braun of Euractiv, to discuss how these stories are reported and how journalism shapes the public understanding of sexual violence.

20 February 2026 | Ilana Bet-El and Florence Ferrando
Podcast

The Women Leaders podcast: Iran at a crossroads

Iran is at a boiling point. In January, mass protests broke out across the country, and many thousands of people were wounded and killed. Meanwhile, the US has moved an aircraft carrier and a number of destroyers close to Iran in a military threat which remains unclear in its aims. To untangle these and many other threads, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El welcomes back Iran specialist Roxane Farmanfarmaian, her co-Senior Associate Fellow at the ELN, for a deep and fascinating examination of Iran at a crossroads.

6 February 2026 | Ilana Bet-El, Florence Ferrando and Roxane Farmanfarmaian
Iran
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ELN Media Coverage

Media coverage

YGLN Members Mourn the Loss of Mentor and Friend Robert E. Berls, Jr.

With the passing of Robert E. Berls, Jr., the YGLN and its members lost a valued mentor, friend, and role model. Bob Berls passed away on November 10, 2021. Bob Berls, who was a senior advisor for Russia and Eurasia at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, was one of the bright minds who brought...

29 November 2021
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