The Ninth and Tenth Pugwash Quinquennia 1997–2007

Mimma de Santis and Claudia Vaughn in the Rome office
Powers Initiative led by Douglas Roche. It took place at
Thinkers Lodge, site of the first meeting in 1957, at
Pugwash, Nova Scotia (July 2007), which addressed the
fundamental aim of Pugwash – the elimination of nuclear
weapons worldwide. Details of all these meetings are given
in the List of Pugwash Meetings, 1957-2007 and the
names of participants are included in the List of Participants
in Pugwash Meetings, 1957-2007. Further material
on these activities can also be found in the July 2007
special 50 th anniversary issue of the Pugwash Newsletter.
In 1970, Pugwash made a conscious decision to establish
a student network. The fact that Pugwash exists half
a century past its founding is in no small part due to its
ability over the years to bring in younger people. One could
say that Russell himself placed a priority on engaging
younger people, since Joseph Rotblat, the youngest signatory
of the Manifesto, was instantly given an important
role and served as chair of the press conference in July
1955 that released it. Likewise, Joseph Rotblat in turn
encouraged young people and acted as a faithful mentor to
Student/Young Pugwash over many years. This spirit lives
today throughout the Pugwash network.
We have been limited by time and technology for this
edition of the newsletter. Those of you who are familiar
with Joseph Rotblat’s format for such publications may be
disappointed by our lack of statistical analysis of trends
over the past ten years. However, it is obvious by looking
through the meeting list, and by glancing down the
“country” column, that these past ten years have
witnessed a broadening of the Pugwash community. More
meetings have been held in more parts of the world. As it
did during the Cold War, Pugwash is involving people
across ideological and political barriers, and from parts of
2 Pugwash Newsletter SPECIAL EDITION, October 2007
the world that are too often
talked about, but not included
in discussions. The current
Pugwash leadership, led by
Secretary-General Paolo Cotta-
Ramusino, has prioritized
meetings to help defuse
tensions in nuclear hot-spots,
where political disagreements
could lead toward the use of
nuclear weapons. All of this is
in the Pugwash spirit.
The lists that follow are by no means complete, and we
apologize in advance for anticipated inaccuracies. We rely
on your goodwill to point out errors, omissions, and additions
that can help make this as accurate as possible.
The form in which the Pugwash history will be told in
the future is evolving, though these lists will forever be the
underpinning. And yet, mere statistical overviews are not
enough. Joseph Rotblat knew this, and asked for more. At
his request, Sandy is currently researching a full-length
history of Pugwash and is also writing shorter length
issues of the Pugwash History Series. Sally and Robert
Hinde have just co-edited with colleagues a book about
Joseph Rotblat, containing essays written by many
Pugwashites around the world (Joseph Rotblat: Visionary
for Peace, Wiley Press, 2007).
We thank Jeffrey Boutwell for editing this special issue
of the newsletter, and we urge everyone to consult the
special July 2007 issue of the Pugwash Newsletter and the
Pugwash website for more information on all the 50 th
anniversary activities taking place in 2007. In addition to
everything else Jeffrey does for Pugwash, he has been the
driving force behind the upgrading of the Pugwash publications
and web site in the past decade, and for that we all
owe him our thanks. Claudia Vaughn has been invaluable
in helping to sort through the participant lists. It is
primarily through her careful and dedicated work over the
past decade, and that of her colleagues in the Rome office,
that we are able to track such involvement at all.
In the meantime: Happy 50th Anniversary Pugwash.
SANDRA IONNO BUTCHER SALLY MILNE
Director, History Project Joint Executive Secretary
Joint Executive Secretary British Pugwash
British Pugwash
London, September 2007
Sally Milne in the London
offfice