ABSTRACT
This chapter looks narrowly at non government organisation (NGOs) antiwar and disarmament efforts and focuses on the post-World War II period, although peace and disarmament NGOs have a long history going back to the 19th century and a sizable literature thereof exists. It examines the effects of NGO activities in relation to the domestic and international political opportunity structures in which they unfold. The first antinuclear efforts aimed at preventing the use of nuclear bombs against Japan and the eventual dismantling of existing weapons and vesting authority for nuclear energy in an international agency. As organizations gained access to policymaking, they became more professionalized and less radical - a trend intensified by the opening of new international opportunities after the end of the Cold War. The Vietnam War engendered widespread and diverse opposition, which has been studied by historians, much less so by social movement scholars and political scientists, and has received close to nil attention in international relation.
