Asia & the Pacific

12 Items

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. delivers remarks at the State Department

State Department Photo by Freddie Everett

Analysis & Opinions - PRI's The World

Biden's reentry on the foreign policy stage

| Feb. 25, 2021

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.

Joseph Nye

Martha Stewart

Audio - Harvard Magazine

How Do Past Presidents Rank in Foreign Policy?

| Mar. 02, 2020

How do presidents incorporate morality into decisions involving the national interest? Moral considerations explain why Truman, who authorized the use of nuclear weapons in Japan during World War II, later refused General MacArthur's request to use them in China during the Korean War. What is contextual intelligence, and how does it explain why Bush 41 is ranked first in foreign policy, but Bush 43 is found wanting? Is it possible for a president to lie in the service of the public interest? In this episode, Professor Joseph S. Nye considers these questions as he explores the role of morality in presidential decision-making from FDR to Trump.

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.

President Donald Trump addressing the United Nations

Getty Images

Analysis & Opinions - Deep State Radio

Enough About My Solipsism, What Do You Think of My Solipsism?

| Sep. 25, 2018

We have the most solipsistic president in American history offering up the most solipsistic foreign policy ever at a time when the me-me-me generation are busy taking selfies and other pols the planet over are trying to play that self-centeredness to their advantage. Have we reached Peak Solipsism? And what does that mean for the international system. We discuss in honor of and in the context of this week’s meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York City with David Rothkopf in New York, Ambassador Nicholas Burns in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rosa Brooks in Washington, DC and Kori Schake in London, England.

East West Institute Logo

East West Institute

Analysis & Opinions

Nicholas Burns: A Changing U.S. Foreign Policy

| Mar. 27, 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.

Ban Ki-Moon

Benn Craig/Belfer Center

Analysis & Opinions - Future of Diplomacy Project, Belfer Center

Conversations in Diplomacy: Ban Ki-moon

| Apr. 24, 2017

In a conversation with Professor Nicholas Burns, Ban Ki-Moon, who served as UN Secretary-General from 2007 to December 2016, touches upon his transition from the diplomatic to the academic world, UN efforts to confront climate change under his leadership, and reconciling political realities with the achievement of long-term, global aims.

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

Matthew Bunn on Office Hours Podcast

| Apr. 04, 2016

Matthew Bunn, Professor of Practice at Harvard Kennedy School and Co-Principal Investigator at the Belfer Center’s Project on Managing the Atom, sits down with Aroop Mukharji (@aroopmukharji) to talk about everything nuclear—from the nuclear football to the best way to prevent nuclear smuggling.

Audio

Podcast: "Still Waiting for Tomorrow: the Law and Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises" with Susan Akram

March 27, 2015

An audio recording from Susan Akram, Clinical Professor, Boston University School of Law.

On March 23, 2015 at MEI, Susan Akram presented her latest book Still Waiting for Tomorrow: the Law and Politics of Unresolved Refugee Crises on the legal and political strategies and frameworks of modern protracted refugee crises throughout the world, highlighting the cases of Palestine, Western Sahara, and Tibet and drawing insight from the success of Namibian refugees.

Audio

Podcast: "The 'Periphery Doctrine' and Israel’s Quest for a Middle East Identity" with Yossi Alpher

March 16, 2015

An audio recording from Yossi Alpher, former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University.

On March 11, 2015 at MEI, Yossi Alpher presented his newest book Periphery: Israel's Search for Middle East Allies on the history of a little known Israeli foreign policy doctrine and gave his thoughts on Netanyahu's speech before Congress.