A World of Threats

{
  "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"
  ]
}

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.

By Jessica Tuchman Mathews

Published on Sep 4, 2008

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

Climate Change Foreign Policy North America United 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
Strategic Europe
Taking the Pulse: Has Meloni Broken MAGA’s Civilizational Axis?
When Giorgia Meloni very publicly rebuked Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about her, it surprised many who saw her as a European extension of Trumpism. Is the spat a sign of trouble in the radical right’s transatlantic axis?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
Commentary
Carnegie Politika
Lukashenko’s Concessions to Kyiv Reflect Russia’s Weakness
The recent damage inflicted by Ukrainian drones and missiles on Russia has made Belarus aware of its own vulnerabilities—and surprisingly amenable to Kyiv’s demands.
Artyom Shraibman
Paper
Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with China
After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.
Saheb Singh Chadha
Commentary
Emissary
Ahead of the Ankara Summit, NATO’s Mood Has Changed
European allies are less focused on appeasing Trump and more focused on smoothing the transition to a Europe-led alliance.
+1
Sophia Besch, Alper Coşkun, Nate Reynolds, …
Article
In the Middle East and North Africa, America and China Converge More Than They Diverge
Middle powers in the region will keep hedging between Washington and Beijing. It’s in the great powers’ interests to play along.
Amr Hamzawy, Kathryn Selfe

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Commentary

Strategic Europe

Taking the Pulse: Has Meloni Broken MAGA’s Civilizational Axis?

When Giorgia Meloni very publicly rebuked Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about her, it surprised many who saw her as a European extension of Trumpism. Is the spat a sign of trouble in the radical right’s transatlantic axis?

Rym Momtaz, ed.

Commentary

Carnegie Politika

Lukashenko’s Concessions to Kyiv Reflect Russia’s Weakness

The recent damage inflicted by Ukrainian drones and missiles on Russia has made Belarus aware of its own vulnerabilities—and surprisingly amenable to Kyiv’s demands.

Artyom Shraibman

Paper

Threading the Needle: India’s Path Forward with China

After the chill in ties between 2020 and 2024 that brought India–China relations to their lowest point in several decades, the two countries have engaged each other afresh. This paper argues that there are predominantly four imperatives guiding India’s approach to China, and they exist in an order of priority.

Saheb Singh Chadha

Commentary

Emissary

Ahead of the Ankara Summit, NATO’s Mood Has Changed

European allies are less focused on appeasing Trump and more focused on smoothing the transition to a Europe-led alliance.

- +1
Sophia Besch, Alper Coşkun, Nate Reynolds, …

Photo of commercial ship anchored near the Strait of Hormuz.

Article

In the Middle East and North Africa, America and China Converge More Than They Diverge

Middle powers in the region will keep hedging between Washington and Beijing. It’s in the great powers’ interests to play along.

Amr Hamzawy, Kathryn Selfe