• 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

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Vučić’s Downfall in Serbia Is Fatal to Russia’s Influence in the Balkans

    The new Serbian leadership may have promised to keep on cooperating with Russia, but soon they will have to make a choice between fighting corruption and sealing lucrative deals with Moscow. The two are mutually exclusive, even if the new leaders in Belgrade haven’t yet realized it.

      Maksim Samorukov

  • men sitting in an ornate room
    Commentary
    Emissary
    The Gulf States Are Looking for an Exit in Iran

    The six GCC members’ unity would be a valued—if not essential—asset for negotiating an end to the simmering regional conflict.

      • Andrew Leber

      Sam Worby, Andrew Leber

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Taking the Pulse: Is Burnham’s EU Policy Bold Enough?

    Resetting relations with the EU is a central plank of the UK’s current foreign policy. Is Andy Burnham being bold enough or is he falling into the same trap as his predecessors, misreading the power dynamic?

      • Rym Momtaz

      Rym Momtaz, ed.

  • empty chairs and posters in front of a stage, with a big screen showing the Israeli flag
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Israel’s Election Had No Clear Winner. What Comes Next for the Region?

    Carnegie’s Middle East Program scholars reflect on the impasse and its potential impacts on the Middle East.

      • +9

      Nathan J. Brown, Alper Coşkun, Amr Hamzawy, …

  • Wide shot of people standing on a stage
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Can America First Be Exported to Europe?

    The illusion of reproducing the ideology would come at the cost of the continent’s prosperity.

      • Giovanna De Maio

      Giovanna De Maio

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.