A Conversation with Bill Burns

Note: This event is at capacity.

Please join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs for a conversation with Bill Burns, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Drawing on his long career in intelligence and diplomacy, he will discuss the top national security challenges facing the United States today, including dynamics with Iran, the war in Ukraine, and U.S. relations with China. 

William J. Burns was the eighth Director of the CIA, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Deputy Secretary of State, and U.S. ambassador to Russia and to Jordan, among other distinguished positions. Ambassador Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a thirty-three-year diplomatic career. He holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service, career ambassador, and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become Deputy Secretary of State. Ambassador Burns is author of the bestselling book, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal. The book was awarded the Douglas Dillon Book Award by the American Academy of Diplomacy. He is also a contributing writer at the Atlantic. 

The seminar will be moderated by Belfer Center Director Meghan O'Sullivan, the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School. 

Attendance is in-person and for HUID holders only. Space is limited so please only RSVP if you plan to attend. This event is off-the-record. 

Submitting your registration does not confirm your attendance. If you are confirmed to attend this event, you will receive an email from a member of the Belfer Center Operations Team with arrival details ahead of the event.