Search | Wilson Center Digital Archive

Switch to Visualization

Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) Press Clear All

Related Resources

Aerial view of National Mall

North America

United States

The Taj Mahal Shrine in Agra, India.

South Asia

India

Indian Nuclear History

Soviet soldier taking a photograph of another soldier in Red Square, Moscow, 1959

Eastern Europe

Soviet Union

Photograph of the Port of Jaffa in Israel.

Middle East

Israel

Photograph from the 1995 NPT Review Conference

The 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference

Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

Michal Onderco

Onderco, Michal

-

Placeholder image for when a places image is not available

Middle East

Placeholder image for when a places image is not available

Northern Africa

Group photo from the Arms Control and Regional Security Working Group Operational Basket Meeting, Antalya, Turkey, April 4-6, 1995.

ACRS Oral History Project

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS)

1989 -

Executive Committee of the National Security Committee during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Cuban Missile Crisis

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Fahmy, Nabil‏

-

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

United States. Department of State

-

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Levite, Ariel ("Eli")

-

South African Nuclear History

Placeholder image for when a portrait image is not available

Einhorn, Robert J.

-

Results:

1 - 10 of 103

Display:

Sort By:

Documents

April 4, 2024	Interview with Linnet Ng'ayu Linnet Ng’ayu, trained in law and sociology, worked with the African Council of Religious Leaders to promote nuclear disarmament through humanitarian advocacy. She collaborated with religious and grassroots leaders to build awareness and push for Africa’s participation in treaties like the TPNW. Ng’ayu highlights Africa's nuclear-free status under the Treaty of Pelindaba and the challenges of engaging governments often pressured by donor states. She advocates integrating disarmament efforts into broader peacebuilding initiatives while addressing pressing issues like small arms control. This document summary was generated by an artificial intelligence language model and was reviewed by a Wilson Center staff member.
December 2, 2022	Interview with Gerard de Korte In this interview, Bishop Gerard de Korte discusses the Catholic Church's stance on nuclear weapons, emphasizing moral opposition to their use and the Church’s complex stance on deterrence. He notes that while nuclear disarmament is important, it has taken a backseat to more pressing social justice and environmental issues, particularly in Dutch society. De Korte highlights that the Vatican and Church leaders condemn nuclear weapons, but Dutch Catholics often support NATO's deterrence strategy, reflecting a lack of unified consensus. He concludes that a nuclear-free world would still face significant security challenges due to conventional weapon threats and international tensions. This document summary was generated by an artificial intelligence language model and was reviewed by a Wilson Center staff member.
January 5, 1961	Seán MacEntee, 'Nuclear Weapons: Proposed Declaration. Statement from the Minister for Health' Frank Aiken was primarily responsible for originating the non-proliferation concept in 1958. He propelled the campaign with a heavy personal investment of time and energy in it. Although a senior and longstanding member of the Fianna Fáil government, closely aligned with the party’s elder statesman Eamon de Valera, his non-proliferation initiative was not immune from senior internal criticism. Seán MacEntee was another Fianna Fáil veteran and occupied the position of Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) from 1959. He formulated a cogent critique of Aiken’s non-dissemination designs in January 1961 that foreshadowed later criticisms of the NPT. MacEntee’s observations were pertinent to the constitutionalization of nuclear non-proliferation, and posed fundamental questions about national sovereignty, inequality, real politik, and implementation as Aiken entered his fourth year of advocacy for a treaty based on the Irish resolutions. Aiken had encountered such criticisms already and was relatively unperturbed. He overcame this divergent voice in the Cabinet to continue his efforts and persuade the incoming John F Kennedy Administration to support the drive for an NPT later that year.
November 20, 1958	Letter from Frederick H. Boland to Con Cremin (Dublin) (Private and Confidential), New York The report of Ireland’s permanent representative to the United Nations to his superior, the secretary of the Department of External Affairs, delivers his account of Aiken’s first (failed) attempt to generate support for a resolution in the Thirteenth UN Session. Recognizing the breadth and depth of opposition, he withdrew his draft resolution and instead requested a simple roll call vote in favor of the second paragraph on 31 October – a modest statement acknowledging that an expansion in the number of nuclear weapons states would be harmful to peace and increase obstacles to disarmament. The measure passed with 37 votes and no opposition, although 44 abstentions were recorded. The Soviet bloc supported the maneuver, while Western-aligned countries abstained.
October 17, 1958	Press Release containing a Speech by Minister of External Affairs Frank Aiken and Draft Resolutions on Nuclear Disarmament Aiken’s first step was a modest paragraph calling for the formation of a UN commission to recommend measures to the next session. However, global attentions were focused on nuclear tests and their health effects, so Aiken linked his initiative with the American-led seventeen-power resolution requesting all states to suspend testing voluntarily. Aiken proposed an amendment to that motion that included the notion of brokering an understanding between nuclear weapons powers and non-nuclear powers. He submitted that the former voluntarily desist from supplying nuclear weapons to other countries, while non-nuclear powers reciprocated and volunteered not to develop such weapons during a test suspension. This proposed quid pro quo became a staple in the Irish resolutions subsequently and eventually be inscribed into the NPT. Aiken’s speech invoked recognizable tropes such as a ‘geometric’ increase in nuclear powers, creating an urgent need to halt the spread. His speech was seminal in identifying themes he and international opinion would rehearse in future years. He conjured up fears about small states and revolutionary groups with a bomb acting as ‘the detonator for world-wide thermonuclear war’. Aiken was perceptive – he expected criticisms about institutionalized equality between states (nuclear “haves” and “have nots”), harms to alliances, the sufficiency of test bans, and the absence of monitoring. He sought to disprove the validity of such critiques, and these issues were worked through gradually, eventually leading to the finalization of the NPT ten years later.
September 19, 1958	Address by Mr. Frank Aiken to the United Nations General Assembly Official, 23th Session, 751st Plenary Meeting Aiken’s landmark address to the plenary of the UN General Assembly on 19 September 1958 launched his non-proliferation campaign. It is the first time he publicly identified stopping the spread of nuclear weapons as a concrete step in the collective interest to unblock the disarmament impasse, preventing a runaway arms race among the powers of the Earth. It was clearly framed as part of his wider campaign for global governance based on the rule of law rather than the threat of force. For Aiken, the challenge was stabilizing the arms race and generating trust to construct a world order based on justice and law – “to preserve a Pax Atomica while we build a Pax Mundi.” This speech was a critical departure. The widespread positive reception encouraged Aiken, persuading him to draft a formal resolution.
December 1989	MN [Moscow News] Interview: SEMIPALATINSK-NEVADA as Vewed by a People’s Deputy of the USSR An interview between Moscow News journalist Yuri Dmitriyev and the founder of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement Olzhas Suleimenov. Suleimenov explains the origins and aims of the Nevada-Semipalatinsk movement. He also discusses how official authorities relate to the movement.
May 1990	Programme for the International Citizens Congress for a Nuclear Test Ban This shortened program for the International Citizens Congress for a Nuclear Test Ban broadly describes the daily activities of congress participants. According to the program, the congress will include a variety of receptions, working committees, dinners, press-conferences, and speakers.
April 17, 1963	American Embassy Ankara Telegram 1270 to the Secretary of State, Washington, DC Reporting on the visit of the Polaris submarine U.S.S. Sam Houston to Izmir, the Embassy finds it to be a “success from all points of view.” The press provided “maximum favorable coverage,” with one headline stating that the “Submarine which scares Soviets is in Izmir.” The press coverage emphasized the “power of atomic sub weapons as deterrent,” the “warmth of welcome extended to ship,” and the “importance of the dignitaries” who visited the ship. This document is possibly an incomplete cross reference copy, and the original version was not found.
March 30, 1963	Department of State Telegram 1905 to the American Embassy Rome The State Department instructs the embassies in Ankara and Rome of the importance of avoiding “fallacious comparison between Jupiter dismantling and withdrawal Soviet missiles from Cuba.” To help do that, the embassies should ensure that “no official facilitation will be given press or photo coverage of missile dismantling.” In response to any press queries, the embassies could state that “dismantled missiles will be transported over period several weeks.” To avoid an “air of mystery” around the dismantling, the Department opposed efforts to block media coverage of missiles in transit. The embassies should approach Italian and Turkish officials “along [those] lines.”