Abstract : Nuclear weapons remain an existential threat to humanity. Yet despite renewed risks following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, no revival of anti-nuclear mobilization has emerged comparable to Cold War movements. This paper investigates this phenomenon, which it terms nuclear apathy. Drawing on survey data from nine European countries in 2019 and 2024, it explores empirical evidence to explain the gap between expert alarm and general risk awareness on the one hand, and public inaction on the other. Three explanations are considered : 

A) Intergenerational shifts in baselines normalizing large nuclear arsenals and nuclear risk.

B) Ideological divides, with the left’s typical support for anti-nuclear movements muted in this case by its perception that Putin’s Russia, not Western governments, is responsible for the problem. 

C) Overload, where other urgent global problems like climate change crowd out attention or people may feel powerless to influence nuclear policy.