Aims and objectives
Founded in 2011, the ELN builds better security for wider Europe through its research, publications, events, practical policy advocacy, media reach and high-level networks. It concentrates on what it judges to be the gravest risks to Europe’s security and on the risks where it assesses that it can make the greatest difference.
It was formed by pragmatic people in pursuit of this vision. They believed that a network of experienced public figures committed to practical, cooperative solutions to common existential security problems could make as much of a difference as national governments.
Why networks are at the heart of the ELN
The ELN’s active networks of former and emerging European political, military, business and diplomatic leaders from across the continent, its expert team’s high-quality research, publications and events, and its institutional partnerships across Europe, North America, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region give it security policy impact like no other non-governmental organisation.
Our policy focus
Inspired by US President Obama’s 2009 call in Prague for progressive multilateral nuclear disarmament, the ELN’s scope of action quickly widened to the gravest threats on a continent that in the 20th century was the bloodiest on the planet – the loss of cohesion between states, peoples and institutions; the dangers of unintended war; the risks from new military technologies; the absence of dialogue and arms control.
The ELN’s members and its multinational team of experts, currently headquartered in London, work collectively and individually alongside governments to achieve practical, positive progress towards better security.