93 Items

President Donald Trump, left, poses for a photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

A Financial Statecraft Strategy for the United States to Address the Rise of China

| July 01, 2019

Washington should adjust its coercive economic strategy to reflect a broader use of tools beyond sanctions. Given the degree of political interference in China’s banking system via formal state ownership and the indirect influence of opaque party committees, penalties imposed against the country’s banks are unlikely to produce a meaningful change in behavior.

(Economic Research Forum)

(Economic Research Forum)

Journal Article - Economic Research Forum

Is Oil Wealth Good for Private Sector Development?

| March, 2019

When do autocratic rulers in oil-producing countries support private sector development? We argue that the size of oil rents per capita has an important effect on ruler support for the rule of law, respect for private property rights, and other factors that promote private investment.

(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Lebanon Finally Has a New Government. Here are Three Reasons for Cautious Optimism.

| Jan. 31, 2019

After a nine-month deadlock marked by political bickering, a struggling economy and massive growing public debt, Lebanon’s political elite finally agreed Thursday on the formation of a new government. The compromise among Lebanon’s sectarian political factions will certainly inject some much-needed social normalcy and stability, and the new government will historically include four women ministers, among them Raya al-Hassan, leading the influential Ministry of Interior.

(POMEPS Studies)

(POMEPS Studies)

Report Chapter - Project on Middle East Political Science

A landing strategy for Saudi Arabia

| January, 2019

With rising population and incomes, the “rentier” mode of development in Saudi Arabia has long been unsustainable. While the issue of fiscal stabilization will occupy policy-making in Saudi Arabia in the short and medium terms, the long-term challenge of finding new sources of growth to complement oil has only been made starker by the recent drop in oil prices. Analysis of the prospects for such reforms in KSA has long been divided between two opposite camps: those who believe that the inadequacies of the rentier model will necessarily usher a doomsday scenario sooner or later, regardless of economic policies; and those who believe the impending crisis can be met by moving from the current mono-sector economy to a modern and diversified knowledge based economy OECD-style.

Professor Nicholas Burns, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Ambassador Susan Thornton at the JFK Jr Forum

Martha Stewart

Analysis & Opinions

Conversations in Diplomacy: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Ambassador Susan Thornton

| Oct. 22, 2018

In this installment of “Conversations in Diplomacy," the Future of Diplomacy Project's Faculty Chair Nicholas Burns is joined by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Ambassador Susan Thornton, former Acting Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, for a conversation on the current situation on the Korean peninsula and prospects for a peaceful denuclearization.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation

Analysis & Opinions - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

New US sanctions against Russia over Skripal poisoning

| Aug. 09, 2018

The United States is hitting Russia with new sanctions to punish President Vladimir Putin's government for using a nerve agent against a former spy and his daughter in Britain. The US State Department says the Trump Administration has determined that Russia has used chemical or biological weapons in violation of international law, but the action comes five months after the US expelled more than 50 Russian diplomats in retaliation for the same poisoning.

Nicholas Burns on Andrea Mitchel Reports/MSNBC

MSNBC.com

Analysis & Opinions - MSNBC

What Does Trump’s ZTE Decision Say About His Foreign Policy?

| May 15, 2018

President Trump's abrupt decision to bail out a major Chinese phone maker has been raising eyebrows, especially since the pledge came days after China approved money for a Trump project. Ambassador Nick Burns, Former Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs and Former Ambassador to NATO, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss.

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Analysis & Opinions - EastWest Institute

Podcast: A Changing U.S. Foreign Policy

Mar. 28, 2018

Staffing gaps and significant personnel changes at the State Department have raised concerns about the direction of U.S. foreign policy, especially amid public statements by President Donald Trump concerning American alliances and positions on issues around the world. Ambassador Cameron Munter invites Ambassador Nicholas Burns to share his insights and ideas, including on timely topics such as the U.S.-Russia relationship following the re-election of Vladimir Putin, Transatlantic relations and changing perceptions about the future role of NATO, and a possible meeting between President Trump and his North Korean counterpart on nuclear nonproliferation and security.

Ambassador Burns was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under President George W. Bush. Prior to that assignment, he was also U.S. Ambassador to NATO. Currently, Burns is the Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and also director of The Future of Diplomacy Project.