At NATO headquarters and in European chancelleries, a new consensus has emerged: the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific is indivisible. Yet Europe’s major powers are responding to this reality in strikingly different ways. As Harvard Kennedy School Fellow Joel Christoph writes, this divergence is not a weakness to be papered over. It is an asset that should be organised.
Continuing our commentary series exploring different European perspectives ahead of the 2026 NPT Review Conference, Carmen Wunderlich writes that Germany’s current policy towards the NPT reflects not only a change in tone but also a gradual shift in priorities towards pragmatic measures such as risk reduction and confidence-building, while multilateral disarmament seems to have lost political salience.
In May, States Parties to the NPT will meet for the 11th Review Conference under difficult circumstances. While European support for and leadership in the NPT is more urgent than ever, it could be complicated by diverging priorities among European states. In the first of our commentary series exploring different European perspectives, YGLN member Federica Dall’Arche reflects on Italy’s perspective on the Treaty and its approach to the 2026 Review Conference. She writes that rather than focusing on ambitious normative breakthroughs, priority should be given to preserving the Treaty’s role as a stabilising framework.
As the Greenland episode winds down following President Trump’s announcement of a “framework for a deal,” former U.S. diplomat Paul Fritch argues the saga was never about territorial acquisition, but a stress test of alliance cohesion in a world where Washington no longer treats cooperation and restraint as strategic virtues. The episode has exposed the limits of Europe’s cautious response to an America guided by hard power and transactional logic; he argues European leaders need to better understand what Trump views as weakness, and change their approach accordingly.
2026 started with President Trump’s astonishing show of force in Venezuela, culminating in the seizure of President Maduro to face drug charges in the US. Whilst Venezuela’s future may be unclear, one thing that is now more than apparent is President Trump’s willingness to use might and ignore norms and laws to advance what he views as America’s foreign policy interests. To understand this better, Rachel Ellehuus, Director General of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), joins ELN Senior Associate Fellow Ilana Bet-El.
On Saturday, 10 January, Finland’s withdrawal from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention or ‘Ottawa Treaty’, will come into effect. This follows the earlier withdrawals of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Gary Toombs writes that while landmines may seem appealing as cheap, simple tools of defence, in reality, they are militarily outdated, strategically counterproductive, and devastating in humanitarian, economic, and environmental terms. States on the path to leaving the treaty should reconsider, as withdrawal would not strengthen their security but would undermine international law, erode alliances, and cause generational harm.