International Dimensions of Anti-Nuclear Activism

This chapter explores how opposition to nuclear weapons has evolved since 1945. Looking at local, national, and international efforts of anti-nuclear activists, it investigates the various ways civil society has lobbied, educated, and protested as they advocated solutions to the dangers of the development, testing, and potential use of nuclear weapons. This is a history rooted in the national and international politics of the Cold War; yet the impact of nuclear weapons extends to the present. Canvassing national and transnational activism in the United States, western Europe, India, New Zealand, and Australia, this chapter considers how individuals, organizations, and campaigns engaged in various forms of activism as they sought different solutions to the dangers of nuclear weapons. It looks at how campaigners explored the political, diplomatic, military, economic, technological, and social influences that shape how nuclear weapons have been perceived around the world, and how solutions to their control have been campaigned for, dissected, and abandoned. Over time, individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds have explored how to confront the world’s nuclear powers; largely, thus far, most have been unable to dismantle our nuclear arsenals.