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.
This commentary collection compiles 11 articles by ELN network members and external collaborators as part of the ELN’s Protecting the Non-Proliferation Treaty project. The collection was published to align with the 2026 NPT Review Conference in New York City.
This commentary collection compiles 10 articles by ELN network members and external collaborators as part of the ELN’s Protecting the Non-Proliferation Treaty project. The collection was originally published for the 2026 NPT RevCon.
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.
As the US behaves with increasing unpredictability, it is becoming necessary for its allies to develop more independent foreign policy paths. Taking a leadership role on the TPNW could be part of that shift, writes Davis Ellison. This does not mean allies should immediately join the treaty, but rather that the assumption of incompatibility has unnecessarily constrained debate.
In the fifth in our series exploring P5 perspectives on the forthcoming 2026 NPT Review Conference, former Soviet and Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs official Nikolai Sokov sets out Russia’s position, highlighting its response to US and Israeli military actions, emphasis on sovereign equality and peaceful nuclear rights, and increasingly assertive framing of proliferation risks, alongside growing alignment with China and outreach to the Global South.