The ELN’s first impact report details the organisation’s accomplishments in reducing the risk of existential conflict and the power of our unique network, even at moments of deep geopolitical tension.
In times of eroding arms control measures, nuclear-weapons states should consider enhancing transparency around their nuclear safety, security and reliability mechanisms (‘fail-safe’) to strengthen the risk reduction agenda. This policy brief, by ELN Senior Policy Fellow Julia Berghofer, shows how France and the UK can advance fail-safe individually and bilaterally, as well as in the P3 and P5 contexts. Non-nuclear-weapon states parties to the NPT and members of NATO could also support this.
Fail-safe reviews aim to strengthen safeguards to prevent the unauthorised, inadvertent, or mistaken use of a nuclear weapon. In collaboration with NTI, EASLG, and APLN, the ELN has been working to highlight the benefits of independent, internal “fail-safe” reviews in nuclear-armed states. These summaries are from ELN and APLN nuclear fail-safe workshops with non-governmental partners in China, India, Pakistan, France, and the UK.
The integration of AI into nuclear command and control seems all but inevitable. While there are benefits, there are also considerable risks. Experimental wargaming—realistic simulations with controlled variables—offers a powerful tool for investigating how AI could affect nuclear decision-making. Peter Rautenbach suggests three paths forward for how policymakers can use wargaming to generate quality data around AI and nuclear risks.
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.
Artificial intelligence, much like nuclear technologies, has the capacity to transform our world for the better, offering breakthroughs in several fields whilst simultaneously posing catastrophic risks. Nuclear policy experts, skilled in managing existential threats, are well-suited to guide AI governance. ELN Network and Communications Manager Andrew Jones argues that urgent, coordinated international action and further collaboration between experts in the nuclear and AI fields is needed before AI outpaces our ability to control it.