Articles

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Great Decisions Cover

Foreign Policy Association

Journal Article - Foreign Policy Association

The State of the State Department and American Diplomacy

| Jan. 03, 2019

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?

During, "Intelligence gathering in the 21st century," Nick Burns (from left) and Ash Carter listen as John Sawers, former head of MI6, discusses the challenges of the modern intelligence industry.

Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

Newspaper Article - Harvard Gazette

Goodbye James Bond, Hello Big Data

    Author:
  • Christina Pazzanese
| Feb. 28, 2018

Following a distinguished career in diplomacy (he also was British ambassador to the United Nations and Egypt), Sawers is at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) this week speaking about national security, intelligence, diplomacy, and public service as a Fisher Family Fellow. During a talk Monday, he encouraged listeners thinking of pursuing a career in government to look beyond the typically modest pay such work affords compared with careers in business or the law.

Sen. Angus King of Maine

Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Newspaper Article - Harvard Gazette

Senator Angus King: ‘We know’ Russia Hacked Election

    Author:
  • Christina Pazzanese
| Nov. 28, 2017

Though President Trump says he is not convinced that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine said Monday that he and his colleagues on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which is probing the matter, have “no doubt whatsoever” of Moscow’s involvement.

Newspaper Article - The Boston Globe

Gorbachev: a tragic hero

| Sep. 24, 2017

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.'" 

“Personal relationships do ease things a lot,” said former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in conversation with the Harvard Kennedy School's Nicholas Burns (left), one of the three faculty directors of the American Secretaries of State Project.

Russ Campbell

Magazine Article - Harvard Gazette

Albright, on negotiating

    Author:
  • Robert O'Neill
| April 3, 2015

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Harvard on April 2-3, 2015 as part of the "American Secretaries of State Project," a joint venture with Harvard Kennedy, Law and Business Schools. She spent three intensive sessions attended by hundreds of Harvard students and faculty and led by the Project chairs (Nicholas Burns - HKS; Jim Sebenius - HBS; and Bob Mnookin - HLS), discussing some of her most important negotiations during their time in office, including the Balkans, Russia and the Middle East.

Magazine Article - Harvard Gazette

Kissinger, On Diplomacy

Nov. 19, 2014

Considered one of the most important American diplomats of the 20th century, onetime Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited the Harvard Law School (HLS) campus last week to share some of the lessons learned as adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

President Barack Obama reaches to shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during arrivals for the G-20 summit at the Konstantin Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013

AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Magazine Article - GlobalPost

US-Russia chemical weapons deal on Syria: 3 questions with Ambassador Nicholas Burns

| September 16, 2013

The deal to rid Syria of its chemical weapons program is done.

In a statement Saturday, Obama said "the United States remains prepared to act" if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime fails to comply.

"The United States will continue working with Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United Nations and others to ensure that this process is verifiable, and that there are consequences should the Assad regime not comply with the framework agreed today," Obama added.

So, yes, serious questions remain: is this a good diplomatic move for the United States? Can the Syrians and Russians be trusted? And where does the war-torn country, and the rest of the region, go from here?

Kennedy School professor and GlobalPost columnist Nicholas Burns weighs in on the particulars.