Diplomacy and International Politics

As Sri Lanka reels from a series of deadly Easter Sunday attacks, the problem of violent extremism enters the spotlight once again. How can the U.S. and the world anticipate and counter the threat of terrorism, which experts agree cannot be addressed by military means alone? Amna Nawaz talks to former diplomat Farah Pandith, whose new book “How We Win” outlines a strategy for keeping us safe.

During the Trump administration, the usual ways of conducting diplomacy have been upended. Many positions in the State Department have never been filled, and meetings with foreign leaders such as Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin have been undertaken with little advance planning. What effect are these changes having now, and how will they affect ongoing relationships between the United States and its allies and adversaries?

Former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos spoke at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics on Thursday, reflecting on his experiences pursuing peace in Colombia and offering advice for attendees in light of the current international political climate.

On the occasion of Remembrance Day, Nicholas Burns delivers a speech at Saint Clement’s Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania about The Great War when, between July 1914 and November 1918, over eighteen million men, women and children perished.

Former ambassador Nicholas Burns, Harvard Kennedy School professor, predicts a 'fractured' Iraq for the next five or ten years.

In this book review, Nicholas Burns writes that “Gorbachev: His Life and Times” by William Taubman is "a fascinating, perceptive, and compelling account of the life of a brilliant, driven, but flawed leader who remains to this day, in the Amherst College professor’s eyes, a 'tragic hero.'" 

North Korea’s nuclear weapons challenge is as serious a crisis an American president has faced since the end of the Cold War. That is why President Trump should tread carefully and wisely before hurtling us toward conflict in Asia.