Dr. Jessica Mathews on the World Students Will Live In
The noted policy expert speaks on the evolution of international relations during a special Upper School assembly.
“I want to talk about where the world has been and where it is going over the course of your lifetimes,” said Dr. Jessica Mathews, at the start of her talk at NCS Upper School assembly on March 31. Dr. Mathews, a distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and formerly its president for 18 years, appeared at NCS as part of this year’s Center for Ethical Leadership and Service speaker series. (See below for more about Dr. Mathews’ distinguished career.)
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In clear, direct terms, Dr. Mathew gave a sweeping analysis of the evolution of international relations since the end of the Cold War. She described the Cold War as a period of clarity in relations between nations, which disappeared with it, and the 1990s as a period of “unilateralist sentiments,” when the U.S. chose to not participate in multilateral agreements. By 2000, globalization and the Internet were well underway, with the world much more tied together, and “civil society and NGOs vastly more powerful.” She stated that 9/11 was an “enormous shock,” leaving the U.S. with an ”exaggerated sense of threat, which has shaped your lives.”
Dr. Mathews explained that since the beginning of our nation’s history, there has been a tension between short-term interests in foreign policy and values that hold that the “US has a unique role as a shaper of the global human commons, a moral obligation to intervene, and to set the framework for others.” According to Dr. Mathews, those tensions will continue. Looking to the future, she stated:
“The world you are inheriting is fundamentally different than the world of the last 350 years, which was defined by the relationships of nation-states. The future will be different in two respects: in a connected world, things that used to be domestic policy, like energy, are now international issues; and states have more interest in collaboration than competition. Borders are porous. Problems of trade, protection of intellectual property, and terrorism will only be solved by international cooperation. There are powerful actors who are not states, such as businesses and NGOs. These are the parameters of the world in your lifetime—the tension between the old system dominated by nation-states and this new world, how they rub against each other. This era is only about 20 years old, and we’re not very good at it yet. You will lead in this world.”
A lively Q&A session followed, in which Dr. Mathews fielded students’ questions about the situation in Syria, the Middle East, and recent Congressional actions. At a reception held afterwards, she said that throughout her career, she found that the advantages of being a woman far outweighed the disadvantages, and told students that it is “a great time to be a woman” in terms of professional opportunities.
We are grateful to Dr. Mathews for her time and being such an inspiring example of a “woman for the world.”
Dr. Jessica Mathews
Prior to serving as president of the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, Dr. Mathews was director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Washington program. While there she published her seminal 1997 Foreign Affairs article, “Power Shift.” From 1982 to 1993, she was founding vice president and director of research of the World Resources Institute. She served on the Editorial Board of the Washington Post from 1980 to 1982, covering arms control, energy, environment, science, and technology. From 1977 to 1979, she was director of the Office of Global Issues at the National Security Council, covering nuclear proliferation, conventional arms sales, and human rights. She then returned to government as deputy to the undersecretary of state for global affairs.
Dr. Mathews explained that since the beginning of our nation’s history, there has been a tension between short-term interests in foreign policy and values that hold that the “US has a unique role as a shaper of the global human commons, a moral obligation to intervene, and to set the framework for others.” According to Dr. Mathews, those tensions will continue. Looking to the future, she stated:
“The world you are inheriting is fundamentally different than the world of the last 350 years, which was defined by the relationships of nation-states. The future will be different in two respects: in a connected world, things that used to be domestic policy, like energy, are now international issues; and states have more interest in collaboration than competition. Borders are porous. Problems of trade, protection of intellectual property, and terrorism will only be solved by international cooperation. There are powerful actors who are not states, such as businesses and NGOs. These are the parameters of the world in your lifetime—the tension between the old system dominated by nation-states and this new world, how they rub against each other. This era is only about 20 years old, and we’re not very good at it yet. You will lead in this world.”
A lively Q&A session followed, in which Dr. Mathews fielded students’ questions about the situation in Syria, the Middle East, and recent Congressional actions. At a reception held afterwards, she said that throughout her career, she found that the advantages of being a woman far outweighed the disadvantages, and told students that it is “a great time to be a woman” in terms of professional opportunities.
We are grateful to Dr. Mathews for her time and being such an inspiring example of a “woman for the world.”
Dr. Jessica Mathews
Prior to serving as president of the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, Dr. Mathews was director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Washington program. While there she published her seminal 1997 Foreign Affairs article, “Power Shift.” From 1982 to 1993, she was founding vice president and director of research of the World Resources Institute. She served on the Editorial Board of the Washington Post from 1980 to 1982, covering arms control, energy, environment, science, and technology. From 1977 to 1979, she was director of the Office of Global Issues at the National Security Council, covering nuclear proliferation, conventional arms sales, and human rights. She then returned to government as deputy to the undersecretary of state for global affairs.
Dr. Mathews is a member of the Harvard Corporation, the senior governing board of Harvard University. She has served as a trustee of leading national and international nonprofits including, currently, the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Since 2001 she has served as a director of SomaLogic, a leading biotech firm in the breakthrough field of proteomics. She is also a director of Hanesbrands Inc.
Mathews has published widely in newspapers and in scientific and foreign policy journals, and she has co-authored and co-edited three books. She holds a PhD in molecular biology from the California Institute of Technology, and graduated magna cum laude from Radcliffe College.
Mathews has published widely in newspapers and in scientific and foreign policy journals, and she has co-authored and co-edited three books. She holds a PhD in molecular biology from the California Institute of Technology, and graduated magna cum laude from Radcliffe College.
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Dr. Jessica Mathews, distinguished fellow at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace.
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Dr. Mathews speaking at the March 31, 2015 Upper School assembly.
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With students at the reception in her honor. (Click on image to enlarge it.)
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Students kept the questions coming after her talk.
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