Middle East & North Africa

The Trump administration has never shown much interest in human rights. Last year, it pulled the United States out of the U.N. Human Rights Council. In 2017, within months of President Trump’s inauguration, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said diplomats should not let human rights values become “obstacles” to achieving national goals. Trump has spoken favorably about some of the world’s most vicious dictators.

A interview conducted by The Fletcher School Forum with Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.

Nicholas Burns, former American diplomat and current professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, joined Chad to react to the current situation in Syria and his thoughts on how the United States need to handle it.

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.”

Fmr. Amb. Nicholas Burns joins Morning Joe to discuss the naming of John Bolton as the new national security adviser. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., also joins the conversation.

It was the debut speech heard around the world – Donald Trump at the United Nations, putting American First and other nations on notice. Over the course of 41 minutes, the president criticized the Iran nuclear deal, promised to “totally destroy” North Korea if its leader Kim Jong-Un – otherwise known as “Rocketman” – continues his path and vowed to crush the “loser terrorists” in the Middle East.

As other world leaders took their turns today, President Trump made his first address to the UN General Assembly. He threatened what he called, "small regimes than violate UN principles. Trump threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea, calling Kim Jung Un "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission." He told an audience of world leaders that Iran is a "murderous regime," and that the nuclear deal is "an embarrassment" to the United States. While saying that some countries around the world are "going to hell," he also called for "standing together" — with the US and every other nation putting its own interests first. All this with cutbacks curtailing State Department diplomacy. Is the Trump Administration giving up leadership of the Western World?

The Belfer Center's Nick Burns and John Park discuss on KCRW's To The Point.