Diplomacy and International Politics

Foreign Affairs has recently published a number of articles on how the United States should engage with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, extremist forces within the regime, how the West can help ordinary Afghans, and the fate of the country’s women. To complement these essays, Foreign Affairs asked a broad pool of experts for their take. As with previous surveys, Foreign Affairs approached dozens of authorities with expertise relevant to the question at hand, along with leading generalists in the field. Participants were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed with a proposition and to rate their confidence level in their opinion. Two Belfer Center experts participated, International Security Executive Editor Jacqueline L. Hazelton and Future of Diplomacy Project Senior Fellow Paula Dobriansky.

The first 100 days are key to understanding where any presidency is going. Now more than a third of the way into that timeframe, how is President Joe Biden doing in the international policy arena? The World’s host Marco Werman speaks with Nicholas Burns, a former US under secretary of state for political affairs and a former ambassador to NATO.

American officials in China, Cuba and Russia say U.S. agencies are concealing the true extent of the episodes, leaving colleagues vulnerable to hostile actions abroad.

The SAIS Review interviews Nicholas Burns on June 10, 2020.

Few nations elicit such fatalism among American policymakers and analysts as Vladimir Putin’s Russia. For some, the country is an irredeemable pariah state, responsive only to harsh punishment and containment. Others see a wronged and resurgent great power that deserves more accommodation. Perspectives vary by the day, the issue, and the political party. Across the board, however, resignation has set in about the state of U.S.-Russian relations, and Americans have lost confidence in their own ability to change the game.

Ambassador Nicholas Burns giving a speech on "Restoring the Transatlantic Relationship" to the Senat Der Wirtschaft in Munich, Germany on November 30, 2019.

Nicholas Burns, former US Ambassador to NATO and Greece, says American foreign policy has been "turned on its head" this week. How could national security be impacted by an impeachment inquiry of President Trump?

A change of government in Israel may create room for a US policy rethink.

The United States looks to Greece to “maintain stability” in the Eastern Mediterranean, former American ambassador to Greece Nicholas Burns tells Kathimerini in an interview. He adds that following the Prespes agreement, there are now no more obstacles blocking Greece from expanding its role in Southeastern Europe. At the same time, he notes that Turkey has become a “major headache” for Washington.

When the July 24 congressional testimony of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III deflated the impeachment hopes of Democrats, President Trump crowed “no collusion” and claimed vindication from accusations that he had conspired with Russia in the 2016 election.