3 Review(s)

Japan is the only country in the world to have been attacked with nuclear weapons. Her anti-nuclear Civil Society Organisations, with their experiences of coping with the fallout of the atom bomb blasts, are passionately committed to their cause. While international treaties are final objectives, there is another effective diplomatic approach towards nuclear disarmament: CSO diplomacy might open the window of deadlocked inter-states negotiations. The role of civil society in the field of security is relatively new, coming to prominence during the establishment of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines, the so-called Ottawa Treaty. The Treaty also signalled that the role, presence and decision of governments are essential. This is an investigation of the influence that Japanese CSOs have on Japanese official policy in respect of nuclear disarmament. Significantly, it focuses on the private diplomacy of CSOs, on the mitigation of inter-state conflicts that lie behind nuclear issues, and on the involvement of governments in social movements of nuclear disarmament. To explain and understand this effectively could lead to the resolution of half-a-century of failed attempts at nuclear disarmament.