Lawrence S. Wittner

State University of New York at Albany

How should we explain the fact that there has been a surprising degree of nuclear restraint since the atomic bombings of 1945? Not only has nuclear war been averted, but over three-quarters of the world’s nuclear weapons have been destroyed and the vast majority of the world’s nations have chosen to forgo developing nuclear weapons. The explanation for these developments lies primarily in a massive public campaign to curb the nuclear arms race and avert nuclear war. Now that even former and current government officials have come around to supporting the creation of a nuclear weapons-free world, public pressure could provide the crucial factor in bringing it to fruition.