The Pugwash Conferences take their name from the location of the
first meeting, which was held in 1957 in the village of Pugwash,
nova Scotia, Canada. The stimulus for that gathering was a "Manifesto"
issued in 1955 by Bertrand Russell and
Albert Einstein -- and signed also
by Max Born, Percy W. Bridgman, Leopold Infeld, Frederic Joliot-Curie,
Herman J. Muller, Linus Pauling, Cecil F. Powell, Joseph Rotblat and Hideki Yukawa -- which called upon scientists of all political
persuasions to assemble to discuss the threat posed to civilization
by the advent of thermonuclear weapons. The 1957 meeting was attended
by 22 eminent scientists (seven from the United States, three
each from the Soviet Union and Japan, two each from the United
Kingdom and Canada, and one each from Australia, Austria, China,France, and Poland).
At the first meeting the prevention of a nuclear war and the achievemnt of disarmament
were established as the prime objectives. Subsequent Pugwash meetings concentred on
reducing the danger of the nuclear arms race; calling for a total ban on the testing of nuclear weapons;
seeking measurese to constrain the proliferation of nuclear weapons to additional countries; and searching
for means of defusing crises to prevent their escalation into nuclear confilct.
In time it become evident that other questions relating peace and stabilty would be appropriate topics
for the Pugwash discussions, and the agenda was gradually broadened while retaining the central focus
on the avoidance of nuclear war. This new agenda includes chemical and biological weapons;
conventional forces; arms transfers; regional security problems and prospects; the economic disparity
between industrial and less developed countries, and ways to alleviate it; and other destabilizing issues
affecting society. Among these the global destruction of the environment now occupies a high place on the agenda.
From the beginning evolved both a continuing series of meeting
at locations all over the world -- with a growing number and diversity
of participants -- and a rather decentralized organizational structure
to coordinate and finance the activity. By the end of 1995 there
had been over 210 Pugwash Conferences, Symposia, and Workshops,
with a total attendance of some 10,000 (there are now in the world
over 3000 "Pugwashites", namely individuals who have
attended a Pugwash meeting and are hence considered associated
with Pugwash and receive our quarterly Newsletter).
The Conferences, which are held annually, are attended by 150
to 250 people; the more frequent topical Workshops and Symposia
typically involve 30 to 50 participants. A basic rule is that
participation is always by individuals in their private capacity
(not as representatives of governments or organizations.)