We aim to bolster the multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament regimes, particularly the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We provide ideas, analysis and research resources that support the efforts of serving diplomats in the NPT process. We also focus on specific regional challenges to the multilateral non-proliferation and disarmament system, including the future of nuclear diplomacy with Iran, and (in partnership with our sister Asia-Pacific Leadership Network) understanding Indo-Pacific perspectives on strategic risks. The ELN’s work has supported the P5 Dialogue, with a view to encouraging the NPT nuclear weapon states to engage jointly in strategic risk reduction. We also work to support the CTBT and encourage its entry into force and want to deepen the understanding of the concept of irreversibility in nuclear disarmament.
Eighty-one years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, what questions should the arms control community be asking itself? In this collection of reflections, ELN staff consider how the anniversary informs their work and what it means to keep the human consequences of nuclear weapons at the centre of debates on international security.
Despite failing once again to adopt a final document, the 2026 NPT Review Conference revealed both troubling fractures and surprising resilience within the Treaty regime. From geopolitical polarisation and competing visions of the NPT to constructive discussions on AI and risk reduction, Emmanuelle Maitre writes, the conference offered reasons for concern and cautious optimism.
After 16 years without a consensus final document, write Carmen Wunderlich and Leonardo Bandarra, the challenge facing the NPT is less about disagreement on specific issues than about growing doubts over the role and value of the review process within an increasingly complex nuclear order, and amid geopolitical shifts and the renewed prominence of nuclear deterrence in global security policy.
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.
Building on our work throughout the review cycle, join the ELN for two state-sponsored side events at the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, United Nations, New York.
At the 2025 NPT PrepCom, the European Leadership Network (ELN) convened experts and officials to explore practical steps for strengthening the treaty, including reducing nuclear risks and addressing emerging technologies.
Join the ELN for two side events at the third NPT PrepCom in New York.