By Julia Cooper, Policy Intern, Fall 2025
When I was 13, at a luncheon for DACOR, I heard military leaders saying that having more nuclear weapons makes the United States safer — which didn’t seem quite right to me. This piqued my interest in nuclear weapons, and I had my first taste of the nuclear field at 15 as an intern with Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND). My internship with WAND was deeply impactful and inspired me to continue working with non-proliferation, so I was devastated when the organization moved to volunteer-only and essentially ceased to exist in 2022.
While my passion for non-proliferation continued, I had almost lost hope that change could be made. On my first day with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, I noticed a commemorative plaque on their wall for one of WAND’s previous Presidents and immediately felt at home here. The plaque reminded me that, while WAND may not exist anymore, the contributions that its advocates have made to the non-proliferation field remain. I have moved through my internship with the Center with welcome reminders of my previous work in non-proliferation and the message that advocacy is always worth doing, and I have been proud to see how my understandings of the field have evolved. During my time with the Center, I have learned about perceptions of nuclear threats, how central human experiences and human rights are to the field and, perhaps most importantly, how to approach non-proliferation advocacy with hope.
When Leo Szilard founded the Council for a Livable World, the Center’s sister organization, in 1962, nuclear weapons were a paramount concern for the American public. I have always struggled to understand why today — though they remain a salient, ever-evolving threat — nuclear weapons are no longer a part of the American consciousness. My time with the Center led me to understand that the normalization of nuclear weapons has been a decades-long process, dating to the end of the Cold War.
This normalization undermines the sense of urgency that nuclear weapons once created and upon which non-proliferation advocacy is built. Though there are fewer of them in the world than there were during the Cold War, the threat of nuclear weapons has become far more complex — as is exemplified by tactical nuclear weapons, which have become a key consideration in Russia’s war with Ukraine. Tactical (also called non-strategic) nuclear weapons are widely understood as being intended for battlefield use, which allows them to be perceived as more “usable” even though they could cause widespread devastation and potentially lead to all-out nuclear war. This perception of tactical nuclear weapons is dangerous and is reflective of the normalization of nuclear weapons that undermines non-proliferation advocacy. Something unexpected I learned during my time with the Center is that the perceived political value of these weapons means that the United States maintains a small number at a great expense, despite the fact that they have no military value.
To revive the sense of urgency around nuclear weapons that the Center understands is critical to non-proliferation advocacy, it is imperative that I remain vigilant and not allow myself or others to succumb to nuclear normalization.
In my time with the Center, I have also learned the importance of taking a human-focused approach to non-proliferation. During my first week with the Center, I was tasked with listening to past episodes of the Nukes of Hazard podcast and was particularly struck by an episode commemorating the 80th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the episode, Communications Director Anna Schumann interviews the granddaughter of a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima and details why survivor stories matter and how they can deeply connect with people. Getting caught up in the sheer numbers associated with nuclear weapons is easy, but this episode reminded me that real humans ought to be central parts of nuclear advocacy. I carried this lesson with me throughout my internship, and ultimately wrote a blog post with Jules Zacher, the Council for a Livable World’s Board Chair, on the intersection of non-proliferation advocacy and human rights law. In an often jargon-filled, numbers-focused and political sphere, it is critical to center human experience and dignity.
My internship with the Center has been transformative and marked not only by extensive learning but also by hope. My coworkers at the Center have been my favorite part of my experience, and I was continually impressed by their ability to inject hope into their work. Nuclear weapons are a dangerous and global threat, yet the people who know this all too well and work tirelessly on their non-proliferation remain positive and believe that tangible change can be made. I’m reminded every day by the images on the Center’s walls that true progress has been made: with the passages of international treaties, domestic laws and through tireless advocacy.
The Center confirmed that I would be thrilled to work in the nuclear advocacy space when I graduate from college in a few short months, but more importantly it helped me understand that no matter where my unknown next phase of life may lead me, I will succeed if I am guided by hope.
