Diplomacy and International Politics

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.

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.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered his take on global leaders and hotspots, from Iran and Saudi Arabia to North Korea and Syria. He was joined by Professor Nicholas Burns, Professor James Sebenius and Professor Robert Mnookin.

Ambassador Nicholas Burns shares his perspective and details implications on the recent Saudi Oil Attack and Israel's high-stakes elections.