While the real possibility of this cataclysm never went away, it was supplanted in the minds of younger generations by existential concerns that seemed more pressing, such as the climate crisis and rogue artificial intelligence tools.
But the shadow of nuclear conflict has never disappeared, even if, thanks in part to the 56-year-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), nuclear weapons have not been used in war since two atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The return of nuclear rhetoric
And, in recent years, nuclear rhetoric has been making a comeback, prompting the UN to reach out to young activists and explain why these weapons can never again be used in a theater of war.
Members of the second cohort of the Youth Leaders Fund.
“To be honest, nuclear war was not a priority on my agenda,” says Natalie Chen, 30, “and the same goes for my peer group, but disarmament is definitely a major concern, in the context of current conflicts like the war in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran.”
Since becoming a member of the Youth Leaders Fund for a World Without Nuclear Weapons (YLF), a program run by the United Nations, Ms Chen, a UK-based Hong Kong arts producer, has been learning more about the complexities and key principles of nuclear disarmament, and why nuclear weapons continue to pose such a significant risk to world peace.
Ms. Chen participated in an event on Thursday at the Poster House museum in New York, organized by the Government of Japan and supported by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), featuring artworks developed by participants of the second YLF cohort.
The program aims to provide the knowledge activists need to be more effective in their advocacy for disarmament and peace and security. “I have learned that the political process can be powerful if we, as young people, are part of that process,” says YLF participant Abdul Mustafazade, an artist who uses digital media to make global issues more engaging.
“The language of disarmament can be very technical and I have learned to use art to make it understandable.”
Izumi Nakamitsu, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at a Youth Leaders Fund event in New York.
A new generation of threats
Izumi Nakamitsu, director of UNODA, argues that there is an urgent need to explain to young people why this is a key issue and bring in a new generation of experts who have grown up with modern threats, such as artificial intelligence and cyberspace hacking, that did not exist when the NPT was created.
“For about 30 years after the end of the Cold War, we were lucky not to have to worry too much about nuclear weapons,” says Ms. Nakamitsu, “but geopolitical tensions have returned, and one of the problems with the disarmament community is that they are always looking backwards to the way things were discussed in the past.
“But there are new challenges, such as integrating AI into nuclear command and control, that are very scary to talk about.”
The event took place on the sidelines of the 2026 NPT review conference, which will take place at UN headquarters until May 22.
Nakamitsu accepts that the technical language may be difficult to follow, but the half-century-old treaty remains as important as ever.
“A world without the NPT would be much less secure because many more countries would seek to possess nuclear weapons, making their use much more likely. Before the treaty was agreed, it was predicted that there would be 30 or 40 nuclear weapon states. That did not happen because of the NPT.”
The normalization of nuclear weapons
The Youth Leaders Fund is one of the ways the UN is helping young nuclear disarmament advocates understand complex military doctrines so they can have nuanced debates and be taken seriously by the deterrence community.
It is also a way to oppose the normalization of the use of nuclear weapons, something that deeply worries Ms. Nakamitsu, a Japanese citizen.
“You are creating a very dangerous narrative that a small, ‘low-yield’ nuclear weapon can be used on the battlefield. That is wrong. The bombs used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be classified today as low-yield nuclear weapons.
“It is absolutely crucial to keep the memory of what happened alive and I hope my country continues to do so.”