ABSTRACT
Austria has been a neutral country since 1955 when, ten years after the end of World War II, the allied forces left the country. The Austrian constitution prohibits the production, possession, and transport of nuclear weapons. In the 1980s International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Austria campaigned for a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, sending protest letters and faxes to the embassies of nuclear-armed states whenever they conducted a test. In the mid-1990s the anti-nuclear movement persuaded the UN General Assembly to request the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to advise on the legality of nuclear weapons under any circumstances, resulting in the 1996 ICJ Advisory Opinion. The Austrian experience shows that it is worthwhile to consistently engage with government officials and persevere in advocacy around the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, in anticipation that the right moment and the right people will appear.
