118 Items

A fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, stands inside a post where U.S. troops were based, in Tel Abyad town, at the Syrian-Turkish border, Syria, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019. 

AP Photo/Ahmad Baderkhan

Analysis & Opinions - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Impacts of U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Syria

Following President Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria, Belfer Center experts discussed the impact on America, our allies and adversaries, and the region.

A U.S. Marine carries cold weather equipment as he begins to march across the Icelandic terrain in preparation for NATO’s Trident Juncture 2018 exercise, October 19, 2018. 

NATO Photo

Report - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

NATO at Seventy: An Alliance in Crisis

| February 2019

At 70, NATO remains the single most important contributor to security, stability and peace in Europe and North America. NATO allies, however, are confronting daunting and complex challenges that are testing both their purpose and unity. NATO’s leaders need to act decisively in 2019 to meet these tests and heal the widening divisions within the Alliance before it is too late.

Afghan National Army-Territorial Force members prepare for an exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 11, 2018. (Tech. Sgt. Sharida Jackson/Air Force)

Associated Press

Analysis & Opinions - Miami Herald

Peace with the Taliban? Trump Warned of Afghan Pullout Risks

| Jan. 30, 2019

Trump administration claims of progress in talks with the Taliban have sparked fears even among the president's allies that his impatience with the war in Afghanistan will lead him to withdraw troops too soon, leaving the country at risk of returning to the same volatile condition that prompted the invasion in the first place.

teaser image

Magazine Article - Vanity Fair

"Trial By Fire”: Will John Bolton Push Trump Toward War in Syria?

| Apr. 09, 2018

According to Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. ambassador who served Bill Clinton and in both Bush administrations, Trump’s approach in Syria has more in common with Obama’s than either would likely admit. “I think that the president’s tweet yesterday was specific enough that he has effectively drawn a red line as well. I think that the president needs to respond to this.”

Donald Trump

Michael Vadon

Analysis & Opinions - Financial Times

Donald Trump’s welcome show of U.S. global leadership

| Apr. 07, 2017

Nicholas Burns's April 7 op-ed in the weekend edition of the Financial Times on the U.S. cruise missile strikes against the Syrian Air Force. His major points are:

  • He supports President Trump's decision. The U.S. should not tolerate Asad's use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
     
  • The Trump Administration needs a strategy for what comes next. They may consider working with Turkey to establish safe havens for civilians protected by a No Flight Zone. This carries enormous risk. Tread carefully.
     
  • The U.S. should push hard to resume UN-sponsored negotiations for a cease-fire and an eventual settlement to end the war. It may take years. But this is how the war will end.
     
  • Trump should reverse course and admit Syrian refugees into the U.S. This is the most direct way to help in the most horrific refugee crisis since World War Two.
     
  • Finally, this often brash and impulsive President should not conclude that the Syria strikes can be replicated easily elsewhere, such as in North Korea.  

teaser image

Analysis & Opinions - NPR

WBUR's Radio Boston: Nicholas Burns on U.S. Military Strike On Syria

| Apr. 07, 2017

On Thursday, President Trump ordered a military strike on "the airfield in Syria where the chemical weapons attack was launched." He said that "it is in the vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons." It was the first direct American assault on President Bashar al-Assad's regime since the Syrian civil war began six years ago.

Nicholas Burns talks with WBUR/Radio Boston. 

Ambassador Douglas E. Lute

U.S. Department of Defense/Senior Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz

Press Release - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Ambassador Douglas E. Lute Named Senior Fellow by Belfer Center's Future of Diplomacy Project

The Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named Ambassador Douglas E. Lute a Senior Fellow. While at the Kennedy School, Ambassador Lute will initiate a research project focused on NATO and transatlantic relations that will address the multiplicity of challenges facing the alliance as it approaches its 70th anniversary. He will also share his expertise in security and diplomacy by conducting seminars and study groups with students and fellows.

Syria Chemical Attacks

AP

Analysis & Opinions - NPR

Nicholas Burns and Gary Samore on WAMU's 1A: Is Syria’s President Getting Away With Murder? How Should the U.S. Respond?

| Apr. 06, 2017

Reports suggest Syria’s president Bashar Al-Assad was behind this week’s deadly chemical weapons attack that left dozens of people dead, some of them children. Guests Nicholas Burns and Gary Samore weigh-in: Should the U.S. and other Western nations act now to protect Syrians from further harm?