In 1995 the Pugwash Conferences and one of its co-founders, the physicist Sir Joseph Rotblat, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their decades-long work to reduce the threat of nuclear war and seek the abolition of nuclear weapons. As announced by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Pugwash and its then president, Joseph Rotblat, were being recognized "for their efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international politics and in the longer run to eliminate such arms. It is the Committee's hope that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1995 to Rotblat and to Pugwash will encourage world leaders to intensify their efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons" (Norwegian Nobel Committee Communique, 13 October 1995).

The purpose of the Pugwash Conferences is to bring together, from around the world, influential scientists, scholars, and public figures concerned with reducing the danger of armed conflict...