In the history of the entanglement between modern science and international politics, 1955 is a very special time coordinate. In this year, three famous scientist's declarations were issued one after another. On April 12, 18 atomic physicists and Nobel Prize winners from the Federal Republic of Germany jointly issued the "G?ttingen Declaration". On July 9, the famous British philosopher B. Russell announced the Russell-Einstein Declaration in London, which he personally drafted and signed by 10 other famous scientists, including Einstein. On July 15, 52 Nobel Prize winners jointly issued the "Mainau Declaration" on the shores of Lake Constance in Germany.
The purpose and tone of the three declarations are very similar. They all warn that nuclear war using hydrogen bombs will bring devastating disasters to mankind, urge governments to abandon the use of force as a means to achieve political goals, and express the strong sentiments of scientists. sense of social responsibility. But their impact is not the same. Some are lively for a while and then disappear without attracting public attention. Only the publication of the Russell-Einstein Declaration led to an international conference, the Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, and triggered a famous international peace movement of scientists, the Pugwash Movement.
The publication of the "Russell-Einstein Manifesto"
The "Russell-Einstein Manifesto" originated from Russell's profound thinking and ideological changes after the explosion of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. He was the first to realize that nuclear war is no longer the continuation of politics through other means, as K. von Clausewitz claimed in "On War", but a bitter pill that leads to the common destruction of mankind. In mid-June 1954, Russell took the initiative to write a letter to the British Broadcasting Corporation, hoping to awaken the public and call on mankind to save itself from global self-extinction before it was too late. The British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast Russell's famous "The Woe of Man" speech on December 23. In his speech, Russell warned that in a world war using hydrogen bombs, friends, enemies, and neutrals would all be wiped out, and called on all people of conscience to remember their own humanity and forget everything else.
Russell issued a warning that the world was facing the destruction of nuclear war on Christmas Eve, the most festive time for people. It had a strong shock to government officials, scientists and ordinary people around the world. In early 1955, based on the suggestions of the German theoretical physicist M. Born and the French physicist J. F. Joliot-Curie, he began to rewrite the "Man's Disaster" speech into a manifesto. and seek signature support from other scientists.
Russell first sought Einstein's support. On February 11, 1955, he wrote to Einstein to discuss the matter. On February 16, Einstein wrote back to express his agreement and signed the declaration on April 11. A few days after Einstein signed, he died due to rupture of a sclerotic tumor in the abdominal aorta. Einstein's final signature was seen as "a final message from a man who symbolized the pinnacle of human intelligence, imploring us not to let our civilization be destroyed by human folly." The document drafted by Russell was originally called the "Declaration on Nuclear Weapons", later changed to the "Russell-Einstein Appeal", and is now commonly known as the "Russell-Einstein Declaration". The names of the two great men gave this document Special charm.
Scientists who later added their signatures include the 1954 Nobel Prize winner in physics, German theoretical physicist Born, and the 1946 Nobel Prize winner in physics, the founder of American high-pressure physics Bridge P. W. Bridgman, one of the founders of Einstein-Infeld-Hoffmann theory and Polish physicist L. Infeld, winner of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and French physicist Joliot Curie, winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, American geneticist H. J. Muller, winner of the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize, American chemist Pauling L. Pauling, winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physics, British physicist C. F. Powell, winner of the 1949 Nobel Prize in Physics, Japanese physicist Hideki Yukawa, 1995 Nobel Peace Prize The winner is British physicist J. Rotblat.
The number of scientists participating in the signatures is not large, but they come from Eastern and Western countries, including left and right. The declaration has no ideological bias and does not favor any political opposition.
On July 9, 1955, Russell held a press conference at Carston Hall in London and announced the "Russell-Einstein Declaration". Russell started from reality and rationality, put aside the prejudices of ideology, religious belief, region, country and race, maintained fairness and balance, stood from the standpoint of all mankind, and safeguarded the security interests of all mankind. The neutral position he expressed in the declaration was recognized by Eastern and Western scientists, and gradually gained the trust of governments. This recognition and trust was the reason why East-West conferences were held alternately in various countries during the Cold War and influenced the disarmament policies of various governments. premise.
The convening of the Pugwash Conference
The first appeal issued by the "Russell-Einstein Declaration" was directed at scientists from all countries. The declaration begins: “In the tragic circumstances facing humanity, we feel that scientists should assemble to assess the dangers posed by such weapons of mass destruction and discuss them in the spirit of the annexed draft with a view to reaching an agreement An agreement.” The meeting of scientists to which the declaration refers is an international meeting of scientists from the East and the West. Facing the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction to all mankind, scientists from different camps need to remain objective and neutral and discuss countermeasures together. During the Cold War period when political relations were tense, convening a meeting of scientists was a more realistic and feasible plan.
Because American industrialist C. Eaton took the initiative to fund the first international meeting of scientists advocated by the Russell-Einstein Declaration, held in Pugwash from July 7 to 10, 1957. , so the subsequent conference has been called the "Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs", referred to as the "Pugwash Conference", and this movement of scientists is known as the "Pugwash Movement".
The first Pugwash Conference was chaired by Powell and Robert Bratt. After the general discussion of the first plenary session, 22 scientists from 10 countries were divided into three committees for group discussions. The First Committee assessed the dangers caused by the use of atomic energy in peace and war and concluded that: the impact of nuclear test fallout is global, affecting citizens of all countries; a certain amount of nuclear test fallout will have an impact on genes, causing genetic mutations , its impact will last for generations; the catastrophic impact of a nuclear war will be thousands of times greater than nuclear test dust, and billions of people will be killed by explosions, high temperatures, and ionizing radiation at once, and global radioactivity The dust will cause widespread genetic and other damage. For the first time, Eastern and Western scientists have agreed on the radioactive dangers of nuclear testing.
The Second Committee discussed nuclear weapons control and quickly concluded that the issue was too complex and controversial to make specific recommendations within the allotted time, but it outlined the overall goal of disarmament: all countries must abolish War, abolish the threat of war to human life; stop the arms race and immediately suspend atomic bomb testing; use political solutions to eliminate the risk of local wars breaking out among small countries and prevent the intervention of big countries that lead to nuclear wars.
The Third Committee specifically discussed the responsibilities of scientists, reached an 11-point consensus on public policy, human security, youth education, international cooperation, freedom of thought, etc., and concluded that scientists are responsible for Their most important responsibility outside of their professional work is to try to prevent war and help establish a permanent and universal peace; they can contribute by educating the public about the destructive and constructive potential of science, and they can also use it to help formulate national policy opportunities to play a role.
On the last day, each committee prepared a report for discussion at the plenary session and attached to the final statement. At the conclusion of the meeting, a five-member standing committee was formed to direct the continued organization of similar meetings, and Russell was elected chairman. After the meeting, many scientific magazines reprinted the full text of the statement issued by the meeting, and its views were accepted by other scientist groups and people in many countries. In the Soviet Union and China, the conference statement was widely publicized and endorsed by many scientists. In the West, the main ideas of the conference were gradually accepted by many scientists.
From December 18th to 20th, 1957, the Pugwash Standing Committee met in London and determined that future meetings would take three forms: holding large-scale meetings to discuss universal issues, and announcing plans for world events. Solutions to scope problems; holding small-scale meetings to clarify scientists' own thinking and studying the social implications of scientific development; holding small-scale meetings to discuss direct political issues, mainly those affecting national governments. According to the recommendations of most scientists, the first type of meeting was held occasionally, the second type of meeting was later determined to be the annual Pugwash meeting, and the third type of meeting was a small symposium, each related to a specific topic. The meeting also established Pugwash's three goals, namely to influence government, establish communication channels among scientists, and educate public opinion.
Since the first Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, the President has held the 55th Pugwash Annual Meeting. The Pugwash Conference has long since developed into an enduring international peace movement of scientists. The basic principle of the Pugwash Conference is that scientists only participate in the conference as individuals, neither representing an organization nor a country or government, so that participants can exchange ideas freely and as they please, and achieve mutual understanding and trust; Natural scientists, humanities and social scientists work closely with government decision-makers to discuss how to solve complex problems caused by the development of science and technology from a multi-disciplinary and inter-professional perspective; stay away from the sight of the news media to maintain the informal and unofficial nature of the meeting , to create an atmosphere conducive to mutual trust and frank dialogue for conference participants; seek diversification of sponsorship, and have Pugwash groups from various countries take turns hosting the conference to prevent being restricted by others in terms of funding and maintain independence and objectivity.
Urges governments to abandon nuclear war plans
The second appeal issued by the Russell-Einstein Declaration is directed at governments. The declaration concluded: "Given that any future world war will inevitably involve the use of nuclear weapons, and that such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind, we urge the governments of the world to recognize and publicly acknowledge that their purposes can never be achieved through a world war. Therefore, We also urge them to seek peaceful means to resolve all disputes between them." After the declaration was issued, Russell sent copies to the heads of government of the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, France, and Canada. It is much more difficult to urge governments to abandon war to resolve disputes than to call on scientists to attend meetings to assess the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction to humanity. Scientists did not keep this call purely literal, but took a series of practical actions to prevent the outbreak of nuclear war.
The initial action was to conduct an objective and in-depth assessment of the dangers of nuclear war to mankind by holding a series of meetings of scientists, and draw scientifically based conclusions and recommendations that were recognized by both Eastern and Western scientists and influence the strategies of governments of various countries. decision making. At the Pugwash Symposium, scientists and arms control experts from various countries made scientific, objective, frank and clear analyzes and assessments of the possible results of nuclear arms races and nuclear weapons attacks, which will help hostile camps maintain strategic balance and abandon preemptive strategies. Attempts, especially to dissuade political leaders from making rash and risky decisions. Scientists also directly participate in behind-the-scenes mediation to help resolve war crises and end armed conflicts as soon as possible. The Pugwash Standing Committee directly writes letters, sends telegrams or interviews with the heads of government to mediate regional armed conflicts.
After the end of the Cold War, scientists participating in the Pugwash Conference continued to work to maintain world peace and prevent the outbreak of nuclear war. In August 2002, the 52nd Pugwash Annual Meeting was held at the University of California, USA. At the plenary meeting, the overall goals of the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2002-2007) were adopted. One of the goals was to continue to Scientists, technical experts and decision-makers from countries or groups of countries with different security concepts, ideologies, conflicting interests, and religious hostility are brought together to discuss countermeasures and measures to avoid the involvement of countries that possess or may possess weapons of mass destruction. In armed conflict or tense situations.
Today, natural scientists, humanistic sociologists and former senior government officials from both opposing sides attended Pugwa at seminars on Middle East security, terrorism, Kashmir, North Korea and the Iranian nuclear issue. debates and discussions at meetings, to increase communication, understanding and trust, and to ease antagonism and tension.
Promoting a series of arms control agreements
Advocating nuclear disarmament agreements and easing international tensions is the third call made in the Russell-Einstein Declaration. This appeal was a direct result of the first call, which convened a meeting of scientists, and the second, which urged governments to abandon the precautionary measures of war. However, since disarmament agreements and other agreements ultimately need to be signed by governments, and disarmament measures also need to be implemented by each government, if scientists want to implement this call, they must first try to persuade governments to accept the scientific analysis and reasonable suggestions of scientists.
Scientists play an important role in promoting disarmament treaties and arms control negotiations. By holding a series of seminars, expert group meetings and secret meetings, they conduct scientific analysis, objective exploration, and debate the methods of stopping and easing the arms race. Specific measures, first agreed among scientists before official negotiations, pave the way for official negotiations and official agreement at government level. As some scientists and scholars with ties to the government and influence on the development of the situation, especially more and more official scientists and government advisers, attend the Pugwash Conference, the views discussed at the Pugwash Conference are more likely to be closer to official formulation. level of policy.
In addition, Pugwash's agenda includes general and complete disarmament, a complete ban on nuclear testing, a ban on missile flight tests, nuclear-weapon-free zones, cutting off the production of nuclear materials, anti-submarine warfare, a counterforce strategy, restrictions Strategic weapons talks, etc. The Pugwash Conference has always provided a forum to promote understanding between East and West, help clarify issues, propose new ideas and solutions, and lay the foundation for government-level negotiations. The more official negotiations reach a deadlock or even break down, and the relationship between East and West becomes more tense, the more scientists seize the opportunity to hold meetings and repeatedly discuss strategies to solve difficult problems.
During the Cold War, the international treaties to which scientists contributed more or less wisdom mainly included the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. These international treaties and arms control measures did not provide a final solution, but they acted as a "brake" on the escalating nuclear arms race during the Cold War.
After the end of the Cold War, the Pugwash Conference continued its efforts to prevent the proliferation of any weapons of mass destruction; recommended concrete steps to eliminate all nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons; and strengthened the protection of conventional weapons against civilians. International monitoring and restrictions on development, production and transfer; minimizing the incidence of war itself and ultimately eliminating it; seeking creative ways to resolve disputes before armed conflicts break out and quickly end armed conflicts that have already occurred, Make it minimally damaging.
Although the conclusion of the nuclear disarmament treaty and the negotiation of other arms control measures were the result of a combination of factors, the scientists who participated in the Pugwash Conference played a special role. On December 10, 1995, Nobel Committee Chairman F. Sejersted said at the ceremony to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Rothblath and Pugwash for the Science and World Affairs Conference: "Page The Gerwash movement played a significant role in the process that led to arms control agreements such as the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the 1972 START Phase I Talks, and the Biological Weapons Agreement over a long period of time. For their tireless efforts, it has also been a major contributor to such fundamental changes in thinking on nuclear disarmament since the end of the Cold War... The Norwegian Nobel Committee wanted to award them for that work and expressed the hope that the work would continue so that it had begun "Disarmament will truly lead to a more peaceful world without nuclear weapons at some time in the future." Pugwash scientists have won world recognition for their long-term unique contributions to disarmament and peace.
The significance of the "Russell-Einstein Manifesto" fifty years later
Fifty years after the publication of the "Russell-Einstein Manifesto", the world is no more different than it was during the Cold War. Security, mankind still faces the danger of weapons of mass destruction, especially the danger of international terrorist organizations seeking nuclear weapons. This era needs the Russell-Einstein Manifesto as a guide for human action.
Today’s nuclear powers still regard nuclear weapons as a magic weapon to ensure national security. Although the United States and Russia have signed an agreement to reduce strategic nuclear weapons, the number of nuclear weapons stockpiled in the arsenals of the two countries is still staggering. The strategic nuclear weapons of both sides have always been in a state of combat readiness. Nuclear war exercises are also held from time to time to develop new tactical nuclear weapons. , strengthen nuclear deterrence strategy.
From the aborted "Star Wars" plan of the Reagan administration to the "National Missile Defense" (NMD) system and the "Theater Missile Defense" (TMD) system vigorously promoted by the George W. Bush administration, today the world's only superpower is the basis for formulating international strategies. It has not yet broken away from the Cold War mentality of "nuclear deterrence." Russia, which is not willing to be reduced to a second-tier power militarily, is trying to form a counter-restrictive force to compete with the United States by constantly updating its Topol (SS) series of strategic missiles. On December 13, 2002, the United States announced its unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1972, thus ending the agreement reached by generations of U.S. and Soviet leaders and countless scientists and arms control experts in the last century. Efforts to limit the arms race will be in vain, and the world may regress into an era of disorderly and dangerous nuclear weapons competition.
At the same time, nuclear weapons have long spread to other countries. Members who have publicly announced their entry into the nuclear club include the United Kingdom, France, China, India, and Pakistan. Israel's possession of nuclear weapons is a well-known secret. In addition, there are some potential nuclear countries that are working hard to develop their own nuclear armament programs, and some non-state groups may or have obtained weapons of mass destruction. There is always the risk of nuclear materials losing control and falling into the hands of illegal elements. It is worth noting that biological and chemical weapons, as "cheap atomic bombs", can easily be mastered by some irresponsible interest groups or political madmen.
At the same time, worldwide economic exploitation, environmental degradation, poverty and hunger, resource shortages and unfair distribution can easily become a breeding ground for despair, resentment, hostility and violence, stemming from cultural, religious and racial bigotry. It leads to intolerance, provides spiritual misdirection to extreme behaviors, and also increases the possibility of regional conflicts and local wars expanding. After the "9·11" incident, international terrorism has become the most dangerous enemy threatening the well-being of all mankind. Attempts to rely on force deterrence and strategic thinking based on preemptive strikes have not fundamentally solved the problem in the new international political landscape and the international fight against terrorism. .
In the face of various dangers and potential adverse effects brought to mankind by the development of science and technology, scientists still need to carry out international cooperation and interdisciplinary research, and actively influence the mass media through scientific analysis and rational discussion , the international scientific community and government decision-makers, to contribute new wisdom to the abolition of nuclear weapons and the elimination of all wars, the fight against international terrorism, and the maintenance of the survival and security of all mankind. It is the eternal social responsibility of scientists from all countries to promote the use of science and technology for human welfare rather than destruction.
Faced with the complex and ever-changing international situation and the various dangers that affect human survival and social development, any responsible politician still needs to adopt peaceful dialogue to resolve international politics, as the declaration calls for. problems and prevent local wars and regional conflicts from turning into nuclear disasters; even if they have the advantages of science, technology, economic strength and military strength, government leaders should not give priority to the use of war methods and implement a "preemptive" military strategy to solve national conflicts. disputes between.
Building a beautiful world without nuclear weapons, wars, and permanent peace is the joint efforts of natural scientists, engineering and technical experts, social scientists, politicians, militaries, diplomats, and industrialists from all over the world. The highest goal is also the unshirkable mission of the Chinese people who take "peaceful rise" as their strategic goal.
The "Russell-Einstein Manifesto" calls on all mankind to "remember your humanity and forget the rest", which is the eternal motto of mankind!
"Russell-Einstein Declaration": "In view of the fact that nuclear weapons will definitely be used in future world wars, and such weapons will definitely threaten the survival of mankind, we call on all governments around the world to realize And publicly declare that their purpose cannot develop into a world war, while we call them, and therefore any disputes between them should be resolved by peaceful means.
”
The English version is: In view of the fact that in any future world war nuclear weapons will certainly be employed, and that such weapons threaten the continued existence of mankind, we urge the Governments of the world to realize, and to acknowledge publicly, that their purpose cannot be furthered by a world war, and we urge them, consequently, to find peaceful means for the settlement of all matters of dispute between them."