Introduction to nuclear non-proliferation archives

The goal for eliminating nuclear weapons has been pursued for as long as they have been in existence; the first resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1946 called for "...the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction".

Founded in 1984 by Peter Calvert and John Simpson, the Centre for International Policy Studies (CIPS) in the Department of Politics at the University of Southampton in 1987 developed into the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies (MCIS) under the direction of Professor John Simpson.  The Programme for Promoting Nuclear Non-Proliferation (PPNN) was a joint initiative co-founded by Professor Simpson and Ben Sanders, who was based in New York.  The work of the PPNN encompassed a range of activities.  It reported on the evolving non-proliferation situation through a range of publications including the quarterly Newsbriefs, annual issue reviews as well as series of occasional papers and studies.  It arranged a series of biennial meetings from 1987 onwards for a core group of experts and academics from a range of backgrounds met to discuss the situation.  It also was involved in briefing the diplomatic community as part of the review process for the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which came into force in 1970.

The Special Collections holds archives (MS 424) relating to the work of the Mountbatten Centre for International Studies; for the work of the Programme for Promoting Nuclear Non-Proliferation; and research papers collected by the journalist John Slater for a work on nuclear non-proliferation.  It also holds a related collection of papers of Milton Leitenberg, a leading expert in biological warfare (MS 355).