The purpose of the Pugwash Conferences is to bring together, from around the world, influential scholars and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict and seeking cooperative solutions for global problems. Meeting in private as individuals, rather than as representatives of governments or institutions, Pugwash participants exchange views and explore alternative approaches to arms control and tension reduction with a combination of candor, continuity, and flexibility seldom attained in official East-West and North-South discussions and negotiations. Yet, because of the stature of many of the Pugwash participants in their own countries (as, for example, science and arms-control advisers to governments, key figures in academies of science and universities, and former and future holders of high government office), insights from Pugwash discussions tend to penetrate quickly to the appropriate levels of official policy-making.

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, birthplace of the American philanthropist Cyrus Eaton, who hosted the meeting. The stimulus for that gathering was a Manifesto issued in 1955 by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein -- and signed also by Max Born, Percy Bridgman, Leopold Infeld, Frederic Joliot-Curie, Herman Muller, Linus Pauling, Cecil 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).

From that beginning evolved both a continuing series of meetings at locations all over the world -- with a growing number and diversity of participants -- and a rather decentralized organizational structure to coordinate and finance this activity. 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).

The mission of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is to bring scientific insight and reason to bear on threats to human security arising from science and technology in general, and above all from the catastrophic threat posed to humanity by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. It was in recognition of this mission that Pugwash and its co-founder, Sir Joseph Rotblat, were awarded the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.

Through meetings and projects that bring together scientists, scholars and individuals experienced in government, diplomacy and the military, Pugwash focuses on those problems that lie at the intersection of science and world affairs. In addition to seeking the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction, Pugwash objectives also include the reduction and strict control of conventional weaponry and the elimination of war and other forms of armed conflict. The Pugwash agenda also extends to ways of alleviating the conditions of economic deprivation, environmental deterioration and resource scarcity and unequal access, which are deplorable in themselves and which give rise to resentment, hostility and violence throughout the world.

These objectives of Pugwash are pursued through debate, discussion and collaborative analysis in an atmosphere of candor and mutual respect, at annual conferences, in specialized workshops and study groups, and through special projects carried out by small teams or individuals on well-defined topics. The resulting ideas and proposals are communicated to decision-makers and the general public through Pugwash publications, open letters to heads of government from the Pugwash leadership, press conferences, and - above all - from the personal interactions of individual Pugwash participants with political leaders and opinion makers.

Drawing its inspiration from the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955, which called upon leaders of the world to renounce nuclear weapons and "remember their humanity," Pugwash above all is an expression of the social and moral duty of scientists to promote the beneficial applications of their work and prevent their misuse, to anticipate and evaluate the possible unintended consequences of scientific and technological developments, and to promote debate and reflection on the ethical obligations of scientists in taking responsibility for their work.

The overriding peril which preoccupied the founders of Pugwash in 1955-1957, and which has claimed much of the attention of Pugwash participants in the intervening 45 years, is the danger posed to humanity by the vast destructive power of nuclear weapons, the accumulation of these weapons in huge numbers in the arsenals of the United States and Russia, and their spread into the possession of the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. To these ongoing challenges must now be added the increased threats posed by the possible acquisition and use of weapons of mass destruction by other states and by non-state groups.

Pugwash is strongly committed to the goal of abolishing all nuclear weapons. It is imperative that Pugwash constantly remind the international community of the immorality, illegality, and peril inherent in nuclear weapons, and to propose concrete steps towards their elimination.

Despite promising steps in the early 1990s to reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons, more recent developments give rise to serious concern about a reversal in this process of controlling, reducing and abolishing nuclear weapons. The nuclear peril, while somewhat abated, nonetheless persists:

• in the tens of thousands of weapons still deployed (many in rapid response alert),

• in doctrines calling for the first use of nuclear weapons, and also for the possible use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear countries,

• in the presence of nuclear weapons in regions having a significant risk of conflict

• in the risk of the further spread of nuclear weapons,

• in the risk of theft of nuclear weapons or nuclear-weapons material from widely dispersed and sometimes inadequately guarded stockpiles,

• in the risk of the use of nuclear weapons by international terrorist groups,

• in the development of new types of nuclear weapons, that may call for the resumption of nuclear tests,

• in the challenge to arms control and strategic stability posed by the development of missile defenses and the deployment of new types of weapons.

The whole system of nuclear arms control is, moreover, under strain, with treaties that are renounced by one party (the ABM Treaty), treaties that are not ratified (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty), proposed treaties where no apparent progress is made (Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty), and commitments for nuclear arms control and disarmament, such as the 13 steps of the 2000 NPT Review Conference, that are assumed but largely disregarded in practice. Most importantly, the implementation of Article VI of the NPT that mandates nuclear disarmament is far from being the basis of the policy of the nuclear powers.

Thus the Pugwash goal of reducing and eliminating the nuclear peril will be more important than ever in the Tenth Quinquennium. Specific points on the Pugwash agenda will include prescriptions for much deeper cuts in nuclear arsenals, for the effective dismantlement of retired warheads, for much greater transparency and control of all the deployed forces and warheads in storage, for stronger non-proliferation measures and verification, especially regarding the safety of nuclear materials, for fast disposal of fissile material, for the entry into force of the nuclear test ban, for a stop to the production of new weapons and new weapon-grade material, and for the abandonment of nuclear policies that allow an early use or a first use of nuclear weapons. Pugwash will also consider as an essential element of the non-proliferation agenda the prevention of the proliferation of expertise, where nuclear weapons experts may be induced to work for countries or subnational groups wishing to acquire nuclear weapons.

In the case of chemical and biological weapons, there is also the risk of proliferation to state and non-state actors. This risk is enhanced by the fact that some CB agents can be produced with relatively limited means and that some of the CBW material deriving from past activities of many countries is still stockpiled in precarious conditions and its destruction delayed. Pugwash is committed to the prevention of the spread of any weapons of mass destruction and to the elimination of all such weapons; this applies to nuclear weapons as well as to chemical and biological weapons.

Nuclear, chemical and biological weapons do not, however, exhaust the categories of weaponry that will continue to be of concern to Pugwash in its Tenth Quinquennium. Conventional weapons, ranging from small arms to antipersonnel mines to new high-technology weapons, are all too often the instruments of indiscriminate destruction, especially for civilians. Accordingly, the pursuit of further international monitoring and restriction of conventional arms development, production, and transfer will remain an important priority for Pugwash.

One of the great strengths of Pugwash during the Cold War was the ability to bring together scientists, experts, and policy makers from countries situated at opposite sides of world politics. Through continuous, patient work Pugwash was able to create a climate of mutual understanding and trust, which eased East-West tensions and avoided war. Pugwash needs now to use its international membership to carry on the same policy of bringing together scientists, experts and policy makers belonging to countries or groups of countries divided by different perceptions of security, antithetical interests, different ideologies or religious hostility of any kind. This task is particularly significant for Pugwash if these potential conflicts or tensions involve countries that possess or may possess weapons of mass destruction as is the case in South Asia, the Middle East and Northeast Asia.

At a more general level, Pugwash has recognized from the start the indispensability of the goal of minimizing and finally eliminating the incidence of war itself. As Pugwash has historically done in a wide variety of contexts, this means seeking creative ways for resolving disputes before they break out in armed conflict, and for ending quickly and with minimum destruction those armed conflicts that do occur.

It also means working to transform and reverse the conditions of economic deprivation, environmental deterioration, and resource scarcity and unequal access that are deplorable in themselves and give rise to despair, resentment, hostility, and violence around the world. Pugwash will continue to address this broad web of inter-related dangers, and to work for the sustainable use of energy and natural resources and the constraint of anthropogenic disruption of climate.

Ways have to be found to address the causes and motivations for terrorism, other than by military action. To that end, Pugwash in its Tenth Quinquennium will strengthen its efforts at finding and promoting solutions that reduce the dangerous gaps within and between countries. Pugwash will seek means of maximizing the benefits of new developments in science and technology, and conversely, of foreseeing the possible negative consequences of developments and applications of new technologies that could endanger humankind and the environment and exacerbate tension and strife in the world community.

From weapons of mass destruction to new developments in biotechnology and other sciences, Pugwash will continue to stress the ethical and moral responsibility of scientists in furthering the beneficial applications of their work and preventing their misuse. The global community at the start of the 21st century stands on the threshold of an era that holds great promise for advancing the human condition. Following the dictum of Rabelais that "science is but the conscience of the soul," it will remain the enduring task of Pugwash to ensure that science and technology are employed for the benefit of humankind, and not its destruction.