European Leadership Network (ELN) is a pan-European think-tank focusing on European foreign, defence and security issues based in London, United Kingdom. The ELN's Director is Sir Adam Thomson, former UK Permanent Representative to NATO.

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 Stat ...

and is directed by Sir Adam Thomson. In March 2015, Lord Browne and former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, 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. Carnegie Corporation has endowed or otherwise helped to establis ...

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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

. 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 the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

. 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; german: Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz) is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Bavaria, Germany since 1963. Former names are ''Wehrkundetagung'' and ''Münchn ...

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 2001 ...

, also a member of the European Leadership Network, publicly questioned Russian Foreign Minister

Sergei Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (russian: Сергей Викторович Лавров, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician who has served as the Foreign Minister of Russia since 2004. Lavrov served as the Permanent Represe ...

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 cooperation ...

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. The American foreign policy think tank was founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and describes itself as a "nonprofi ...

Supporters

* Nuclear Threat Initiative * Ploughshares Fund *

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...

(JRCT) * Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation (PPCF) *

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

ELN website
Think tanks based in the United Kingdom