The Pugwash Movement
How scientists organized across Cold War divides to advocate for nuclear disarmament, and why the Pugwash model of science diplomacy remains relevant today.
The Russell-Einstein Manifesto
In July 1955, Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein (who had signed it shortly before his death) issued a manifesto calling on scientists worldwide to assess the dangers posed by nuclear weapons. The manifesto's central question was stark: 'Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?' Signed by eleven prominent scientists, including several Nobel laureates, it called for a conference where scientists could meet across political divides to discuss the threat.
In 1957, 22 scientists from ten countries gathered in the small Nova Scotia fishing village of Pugwash, Canada, for the first Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs. Funded by American industrialist Cyrus Eaton, the conference brought together scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain to discuss nuclear dangers in an informal, non-governmental setting. This was remarkable in the context of the 1950s, when official US-Soviet communication was limited and adversarial.