• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Jessica Tuchman Mathews"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "ctw",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "SCP",
  "programs": [
    "Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North America",
    "United States"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Climate Change",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

A World of Threats

Climate change is one of the most pressing threats the next president will face. While the current debate focuses on alternatives to oil, the next administration must recognize that the key priority is demand management.

Link Copied
By Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Published on Sep 4, 2008
Program mobile hero image

Program

Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics

The Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program explores how climate change and the responses to it are changing international politics, global governance, and world security. Our work covers topics from the geopolitical implications of decarbonization and environmental breakdown to the challenge of building out clean energy supply chains, alternative protein options, and other challenges of a warming planet.

Learn More

Source: Minnesota Public Radio

The next president must confront nuclear proliferation and climate change immediately, argued Jessica Mathews during a forum hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations on the foreign policy challenges facing the next president. Energy issues in particular must be a priority, and reducing American demand for energy "is the precondition for doing something serious about climate change."

Tackling climate change will require an immense expenditure of political capital, given that the current debate focuses on alternatives fuels, while the only viable long-term solution is demand management. "Nothing will work to replace fossil fuels as long as our energy needs remain on the demand curve that they currently are on…and I don’t see a readiness to confront that curve," Mathews said.

Other forum participants were Madeline Albright, Richard Haass, Richard Holbrooke, and Vin Weber. Tom Brokaw moderated the discussion. 

Click here to listen.
 

About the Author

Jessica Tuchman Mathews

Distinguished Fellow

Mathews is a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She served as Carnegie’s president for 18 years.

    Recent Work

  • In The Media
    Washington Already Knows How to Deal with North Korea

      Jessica Tuchman Mathews

  • Commentary
    Trump Wins—and Now?

      Jessica Tuchman Mathews

Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Distinguished Fellow
Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Climate ChangeForeign PolicyNorth AmericaUnited States

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Aerial view of shipping containers at a port
    Commentary
    Emissary
    The Fallout of the U.S.–Canada Trade War Won’t Be Limited to North America

    U.S. trading partners in Asia are closely watching the dispute for signs of how it may affect their own interests.

      • Barbara Weisel

      Barbara Weisel

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Europe Fails to Learn the Lessons from Ceuta

    The aftermath of the Ceuta crisis shows Europe has drawn the wrong lessons. Rather than doubling down on failed migration policies, the EU needs to address the underlying roots of such episodes.

      Richard Youngs

  • US President Donald Trump waves as he leaves after speaking at a campaign rally
    Paper
    America Walks Away from Global Democracy

    By abandoning past U.S. pro-democracy policies and adopting several lines of pro-autocratic action, the Trump administration has fundamentally repositioned the United States vis-à-vis democracy in the world.

      Thomas Carothers

  • olice officers and residents stand in front of a shopping mall while a large outdoor screen broadcasts a military welcome ceremony featuring U.S. and Chinese flags for U.S. President Donald Trump hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026
    Paper
    American Power: A View from China

    Chinese strategists are once again debating whether American power is declining and whether U.S. hegemony is experiencing irreversible decay.

      Wu Xinbo

  • Trump and MBS walking across a stage
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Is the U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal Moving From the Gold Standard to a Gilded Standard?

    Congress should ask tough questions about the agreement’s more unique features and whether they advance U.S. interests or compromise them.

      • Jane Darby Menton

      Jane Darby Menton

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.