Ilana Bet-El is a strategic adviser, writer and historian. A former UN official and senior adviser on the Balkans, she has worked extensively with both governments and clients in the private sector on geostrategic and policy issues related to security, defence and energy in the EU, Russia, Turkey and broader Europe, the Middle East and the Trans-Atlantic community. With a background in the media and academia, she has published widely, including a weekly column on EU defence and security. She holds a PhD in history from UCL, is a member of the WIIS (Women In International Security) Senior Advisory Board in Brussels, and a Visiting Fellow at King’s College London Department of War Studies.
Ilana Bet-El
Senior Associate Fellow
Content by Ilana Bet-El
Podcast
The Women Leaders podcast: Bad plans come unstuck
Last week, President Trump announced his 28-point plan for peace to end Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. His proposal has attracted much controversy, with opponents alleging that it prioritises Russia’s demands first, American financial interests second, and Ukraine’s sovereignty and security third. To break down what Trump’s plan would mean for Ukraine and the world, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El is joined by Dr Hanna Shelest, Director of Security Programmes at the Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian Prism”, and Iryna Krasnoshtan, Programme Director at the International Centre for Ukrainian Victory.
Podcast
The Women Leaders podcast: Ukraine inside and out
In the latest episode of the Women Leaders podcast, ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El speaks with Kristina Zeleniuk (TSN) and Kim Barker (The New York Times) about reporting from Ukraine’s war zones. They explore how journalists effectively balance truth, safety, and state security whilst navigating frontline realities, civilian risks, and the pressures a long, brutal conflict places on independent journalism.
Podcast
The Women Leaders podcast: Talking about a revolution
In the face of global trade wars, geopolitical realignments, weakening democracies and strengthening autocracies, wars both hybrid and kinetic, and increasingly fragile multilateralism, the world as we know it is undergoing a profound transformation. Professor Janice Stein, founder of the Munk School of Global Affairs, joins ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El in a fast-paced discussion on our age of revolution, from the US to China and Europe, and from the past to the future.