The world total of some 50,000 nuclear warheads is beginning to fall off sharply. It should be well below 10,000 by the year 2000. Should the ultimate target be zero? The idea of a nuclear-weapon-free world (NWFW) was put back on the world agenda by President Gorbachev in 1986. President Reagan also had a vision of a world without nuclear weapons.

In this book, scientists write on: nuclear disarmament, including warhead dismantlement, test ban monitoring, and verification measures; the proliferation of small arms, including the UN register of conventional arms; systems for regional defence, including the future of NATO; global approaches to the problem of anthropogenic climate change; strategies for developing in peace; and the future of global govenance, in particular the UN Security Council and peace keeping operations.

The Pugwash Conferences bring together, from around the world, scientists, other scholars, and individuals experienced in government, diplomacy, and the military, and concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions to global problems lying at the intersection of science and world affairs. The Pugwash Movement is an expression of the awareness of the social and moral duty of scientists to help to prevent and overcome the actual and potential harmful effects of scientific and technological innovations, and to promote the use of science and technology for...

This volume of essays, a map of the road to zero, gives the reader a primer on the current state of nuclear disarmament, provides an up-to-date argument for the merits of a nuclear-weapon-free world, and outlines the steps needed to attain that goal. Its editor is Joseph Rotblat, the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner. The volume assesses recent efforts by scholars, military leaders, and political figures in advocating the elimination of nuclear weapons. It brings to focus the major dilemmas of disarmament, including verification, nuclear theft, and diplomatic and security issues; and argues for...