Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world : proceedings of the forty-fifth Pugwash conference on science and world affairs, Hiroshima, Japan, 23-29 July, 1995

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. A Number Of Politicians In The Nuclear-weapon Countries Are Beginning To See That Such A World Could Be In Their Best Interests. The Disintegration Of The Soviet Union And The Collapse Of The Communist Regime Have Removed The Main Purpose Of Existing Nuclear Arsenals. The Threat To World Security Now Comes From Nuclear-weapon Proliferation, And The Only Effective Way Of Stopping This Is To Have An Enforceable Worldwide Ban. The Authors - Many Of Whom Are Experts With Long Experience In The Field Of Nuclear Weapons - Seek To Answer Two Key Questions Regarding The Concept Of A Nwfw: Is It Desirable? Is It Feasible? They Outline What They See As The Essential Provisions Of A Nwfw Treaty And Examine The Inevitable Problems Of Enforcement. All Stocks Of Weapon-usable Materials - Civilian As Well As Military - Would Have To Be Closely Monitored And Guarded. Any Technological Or Official Efforts Would Have To Be Supported By Societal Verification. That Is, It Would Be The Duty Of All Citizens To Notify Authorities Of Any Suspected Violations. Despite The Problems Of Creating Such A Treaty And Enforcing It, The Idea Of A Truly Nuclear-weapon-free World Is No Longer Fanciful. It Deserves Extensive Discussion, And This Book Provides A Solid, Informed Beginning Of The Debate. Past Attempts To Abolish Nuclear Weapons / Joseph Rotblat -- Nuclear Weapons After The Cold War / Carl Kaysen, Robert Mcnamara, And George Rathjens -- A Nuclear-weapon-free World : Is It Desirable? Is It Necessary? / Jack Steinberger, Essam Galal, And Mikhail Milstein -- Technological Problems Of Verification / Theodore Taylor -- The Breakout Problem / Marvin Miller And Jack Ruina -- Societal Verification / Joseph Rotblat -- A Nwfw Regime : Treaty For The Abolition Of Nuclear Weapons / Maxwell Bruce, Horst Fischer, And Thomas Mensah -- Verification And Enforcement In A Nwfw / James Leonard, Martin Kaplan, And Benjamin Sanders -- International Security In A Nwfw / Shalheveth Freier -- Making Nuclear Weapons Illegal / Jozef Goldblat. Nuclear Weapons For The United Nations? / Richard Garwin -- An International Nuclear Security Force / Vitalii Goldanskii And Stanislav Rodionov -- An Asymptotic Approach To A Nwfw / Francesco Calogero -- Approaches Towards A Nuclear-weapon-free World / Bhalchandra Udgaonkar, Raja Mohan, And Maj Britt Theorin. Edited By Joseph Rotblat, Jack Steinberger, And Bhalchandra Udgaonkar ; Executive Editor, Frank Blackaby. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In this volume, scientists write on the desirability and feasibility of eliminating nuclear weapons, including reflections 50 years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs. The following topics are discussed: strategies for preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; ways and means to monitor and control the arms trade; the need for global governance; specific aspects of security in the Asia-Pacific region; and interactions between the problems of meeting the world's energy demand, reducing environmental pollution, and promoting sustainable development. A collection of papers on the desirability and feasibility of eliminating nuclear weapons, including reflections 50 years after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Topics discussed include: the need for global governance; and specific aspects of security in the Asia-Pacific region. There are prospects for massive reductions in the number of nuclear warheads stockpiled around the world. This work contends that compliance with a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons can be achieved by a system of technological verification.