European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom.

History and organisation

The ELN was founded as part of a project by the Nuclear Security Project in an effort to "help create the political space for dialogue, education and action on the vision and steps toward a world without nuclear weapons". At the end of 2013 the ELN broadened its focus and remit of work to address a much wider range of foreign and security policy challenges facing Europe. The ELN is currently chaired by former UK Defence Secretary

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

. In March 2015, Lord Browne and former Russian Foreign Minister

Igor Ivanov Igor Sergeyevich Ivanov (; born 23 September 1945) is a Russian politician and diplomat who was Foreign Minister of Russia from 1998 to 2004 under both the Yeltsin and the Putin administrations. Early life Ivanov was born in 1945 in Moscow t ...

, both won the prestigious Nunn-Lugar Award for Promoting Nuclear Security, in part for their work with the European Leadership Network. The ELN specialises on security issues. On 27 March 2015, the

Carnegie Corporation of New York The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic fund established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to support education programs across the United States, and later the world. Since its founding, the Carnegie Corporation has endowed or othe ...

announced that it was funding the European Leadership Network for 24 months, as part of its philanthropic efforts.

Activities

The ELN operates through a network of former European political, military, and diplomatic leaders and supports this network with in-house research and events. The network itself contains members not just from the EU but also

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. Such a scope has as its basis a conception of a Greater Europe similar to that of the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

. In 2014 the European Leadership Network has expanded to tackle broader European and global security issues, including the Ebola crisis, near-misses between Russian and Western militaries, and the expanding Russo-Chinese relationship A report published by the European Leadership Network in 2015, title ''Dangerous Brinkmanship: closer military encounters between Russia and the West in 2015'' generated considerable attention around the world. At the 2015

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC), formerly Munich Conference on Security Policy, is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Germany, since 1963. Over the past four decades the Munich Security Con ...

in February 2015, conference chairman

Wolfgang Ischinger Wolfgang Friedrich Ischinger (born April 6, 1946) is a German diplomat who served as chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 to 2022. From 2001 to 2006, Ischinger was the German ambassador to the United States, and from 1998 to 200 ...

, also a member of the European Leadership Network, publicly questioned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the findings of the ELN report. In May 2015, 68 members of the European Leadership Members signed a global statement in support of the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

ahead of its Review Conference in New York. The statement was also signed by senior figures from Latin America, the United States and Asia-Pacific. The European Leadership Network administers the Top Level Group of UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (TLG)

Partners

* Top Level Group *

Nuclear Threat Initiative The Nuclear Threat Initiative, generally referred to as NTI, is a non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. NTI was founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and philanthropist Ted Turner and describes itself as a "a nonprofit, ...

Supporters

* Nuclear Threat Initiative * Ploughshares Fund * Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) * Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation (PPCF) * The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

References

{{Reflist

External links

ELN website
Think tanks based in the United Kingdom