Our intergenerational Network is setting out to preserve the multilateral nuclear non-proliferation regime and prevent further erosion of the nuclear taboo and non-proliferation treaty (NPT). We’ll work to identify pathways to success in the eleventh review cycle, taking a holistic approach to the NPT and its three pillars.
What?
The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It provides the framework through which states seek to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, advance disarmament, and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
In 2022, the ELN established the Protecting the Non-Proliferation Treaty project with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Drawing on our expert network, this project brings together senior policymakers, practitioners, and next-generation experts to support the current NPT review process, strengthen dialogue across divides, and develop practical measures to reduce nuclear risks and advance multilateral nuclear disarmament.
Why?
International structures are resilient but not indestructible. Established in 1968, the NPT has achieved remarkable success and demonstrated long-term institutional stability, yet the multilateral non-proliferation regime faces significant challenges requiring renewed investment and practical cooperation. Nuclear risks have risen in recent years: Arms control is eroding, great-power competition is rising, and proliferation pressures are mounting.
How?
The project combines analysis, convening, and direct engagement.
It supports relevant initiatives that help sustain progress within the NPT, engages policymakers and practitioners to identify practical pathways for diplomatic success, and invests in the next generation of arms control experts.
Priorities are identified by project members coming from our intergenerational network, who shape our work and approach. These include strengthening the review process, reinforcing the nuclear taboo, reducing nuclear risks, and assessing the implications of a changing European and global security environment in light of emerging and ongoing conflicts.
Project journey
Over time, the project has developed from constructing a network of senior policymakers, practitioners, and next-generation experts on the NPT, generating ideas to strengthen the NPT, to actively engaging in policy discussions. Interaction with governments, international organisations, and expert communities has remained consistent throughout a challenging period internationally. The project has developed across the following phases:
Looking ahead
As the 2026 Review Conference nears, the project is focused on turning its insights into practical recommendations. It continues to work closely with policymakers and practitioners, fostering dialogue across political and regional divides even in times of political turmoil.
Our aim remains consistent four years on: to help ensure that the NPT continues to function as an effective and credible framework for reducing nuclear risks and advancing multilateral nuclear disarmament.
To this end, we will host a further two formal, state-sponsored side events addressing support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty as a vital element of the NPT, and the role and impact of emerging technologies on nuclear weapons and decision-making.
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.
