Jessica Tuchman Mathews
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"North America",
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}Source: Getty
Foreign Policy Challenges in 2010
Efforts to combat terrorism largely defined the global security agenda during the past decade, when small terrorist groups, with as few as three hundred active members, were able to inflict enormous amounts of damage on regional, national, and international scales.
Source: The Diane Rehm Show

In a panel discussion on the Diane Rehm Show, Jessica Mathews examined the challenges of international terrorism. Explaining that the roots of terrorism cannot be boiled down to merely the issue of poverty, she argued that instead, more attention must be paid to the role of bad governance and corruption which fuels a sense of injustice and anger that finds its outlet in extremism.
Mathews cautioned against drawing too close of a comparison between the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for lessons in combating terrorism. The topography of Iraq and the primarily urban nature of al-Qaeda’s presence there, coupled with a local backlash against al-Qaeda, created a situation that was more favorable for international forces than the situation in Afghanistan.
She also explained that while the situation in Yemen is deteriorating and deserves attention, the greatest concern was the situation in the nuclear-state of Pakistan. “As terrible as the Yemen situation is, if you put it up against Pakistan, that’s where we ought to be focusing our attention,” she said. Preventing terrorists from gaining access to a nuclear weapon has to be the chief concern of antiterrorist forces. The best ways to achieve that goal include preventing terrorists from maintaining a foothold in Pakistan and then taking the long and difficult measures necessary to strengthen the world’s nonproliferation system.
“I think there are historical tidal waves that pass over us, and terrorism is one of them,” she said. “It is the curse of the times in which we live and it will continue to be for many, many years.”
About the Author
Distinguished Fellow
Mathews is a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She served as Carnegie’s president for 18 years.
- Washington Already Knows How to Deal with North KoreaIn The Media
- Trump Wins—and Now?Commentary
Jessica Tuchman Mathews
Recent Work
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.
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