Diplomacy and International Politics

On March 31,  the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies hosted a discussion with Wolfgang Ischinger, former Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Joseph S. Nye Jr., Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor, and Daniela Schwarzer, Executive Director for Europe and Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations, on how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as the brutality of its action has caused an unexpected reversal of Germany’s long time security policy and led to strong reactions in the rest of Europe, NATO, and the posture of the Biden administration. The seminar examined the dimensions and consequences of these developments for the future of the EU and the West. Karl Kaiser, Senior Fellow at the Project on Europe, moderated.

Please join the Future of Diplomacy Project's Fisher Family Fellow, Ambassador Peter Wittig, for a virtual study group that explores how and to what extent the first 100 days of the Biden presidency has reset the transatlantic partnership.

On May 11, 2021, the Project on Europe and the Transatlantic Relationship hosted a panel discussion on efforts to advance an anti-racist transatlantic agenda with three policymakers: Caroline Abadie, Member of the French National Assembly; Oona King, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Snap Inc and former Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom; and Desirée Cormier Smith, Senior Advisor in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. This discussion was moderated by Torrey Taussig, Research Director, and Erika Manouselis, Project Coordinator.

In a conversation with Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, we will explore how she employed cultural diplomacy while serving as U.S. Ambassador to Japan (2013-2017), our key ally in Asia. Ambassador (ret.) Nicholas Burns, Harvard Kennedy School professor and Faculty Chair of the Future of Diplomacy Project, welcomed and introduced Ambassador Kennedy. He and Carla Dirlikov Canales, 2021 Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow, co-moderated the discussion. Dr. Joe Nye, University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus at Harvard and who introduced the world to the concept of "soft power" in the late 1980s, was also be part of the discussion.

On April 8, 2021, Ambassador Nicholas Burns delivered the Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. Lecture on International Studies. 

On April 16, 2021, Fisher Family Fellow and  former EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014-2019, Federica Mogherini, hosted a study group that explored European strategic autonomy and the transatlantic (im)balance in security and defense through three case studies.

On November 20, the Future of Diplomacy Project's Fisher Family Fellow, Ambassador Peter Wittig, hosted a virtual study group that explored the key question of how much restoration of the old Western order is possible and desirable under a Biden presidency and how much re-invention is necessary to re-energize the transatlantic partnership.

Ambassador Peter Wittig is a five-time Ambassador. He served in Spain, at the UN, in Lebanon and Cyprus before working in the cabinet of two Foreign Secretaries at headquarters. Most recently he was the German Ambassador at the United Nations in New York (2009 - 2014) representing his country in the Security Council, in Washington (2014 - 2018) and in the United Kingdom (2018 - 2020).

On November 17, Ambassadors Nicholas Burns, Marc Grossman, and Marcie Ries officially launched their report, “A U.S. Diplomatic Service for the 21st Century,”published as part of the American Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.  These distinguished career Foreign Service Officers, and report co-authors, shared their recommendations on how to rebuild, reform, and reimagine the U.S. Foreign Service so that America can have the strongest and most effective diplomatic service to defend our country and advance its interests. 

On November 12, 2020, the Future of Diplomacy Project hosted a discussion with Dame Karen Pierce, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United States about the major foreign policy challenges facing the UK and the US after the 2020 election, including climate, free trade and international leadership in a seminar moderated by Faculty Chair, Nicholas Burns.

The panel considers how the US, UK and EU can contribute to a global response. It also asks what a global response to the health and economic crisis in the developing world would look like.