World leaders must take action now to prevent nuclear war.
That is the message that Nobel Laureates and nuclear experts spoke with one voice on the 80th anniversary of the world’s first nuclear test explosion, the Trinity test in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Just 21 days later, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, killing between 150,000 and 246,000 people and sickening and injuring many more.
In July, Nobel Laureates and nuclear experts convened at the University of Chicago for the Nobel Laureate Assembly for the Prevention of Nuclear War. The Assembly produced and endorsed a list of thirteen achievable policy recommendations, calling on world leaders to take immediate and meaningful action.
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) was represented by Distinguished Professor of Practice Dr. Siegfried Hecker, East Asia Nonproliferation Program Director Dr. Jeffrey Lewis, Eurasia Nonproliferation Program Director Dr. Hanna Notte – all of whom were featured speakers – and Professor of the Practice Dr. Stephen Herzog and alum Dr. Sarah Bidgood (NPTS ‘16).
“Naturally, we are very proud to have made a major contribution to the important event,” said Dr. Bill Potter, the founding director of CNS, which is now the largest research and training center on curtailing the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the world.
The Assembly’s Declaration—endorsed by 100 Nobel Laureates and dozens of nuclear experts—urges nations to reaffirm the moratorium on nuclear testing, enhance human oversight of nuclear command and control, re-enter into arms control negotiations to replace the New START Treaty, and forgo massive investments in strategic missile defense. The final recommendation calls on scientists, academics, civil society, and communities of faith to help create the necessary pressure to compel global leaders to implement nuclear risk reduction measures.
The declaration closes by quoting Nobel Laureates Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein: “We appeal as human beings to human beings: remember your humanity, and forget the rest.”
James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies
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On August 6, 2025, the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) is hosting an event to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, honoring and elevating the voices of people impacted by nuclear use and testing.
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Nuclear nonproliferation and Middle East experts from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies shared their knowledge across national and international media.
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Professor Jeff Knopf is coauthor of Coercing Syria on Chemical Weapons, which explores the impact of credibility and the balance of motivations and assurances in efforts to keep Syria from using chemical weapons.
