Nicholas Burns

Nicholas Burns is one of America’s most distinguished diplomats and a leading authority on U.S.-China relations and global affairs. He speaks on geopolitics, U.S. foreign policy, the U.S.-China rivalry, and the forces reshaping international business, drawing from over three decades of service to six presidents and nine secretaries of state. His presentations are nonpartisan, deeply informed, and essential for audiences navigating an uncertain global landscape.

Diplomatic Career
Burns most recently served as U.S. Ambassador to China from 2022 to 2025, overseeing one of America’s most important and challenging bilateral relationships. As Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the State Department’s third-ranking official, he led negotiations on the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Agreement and served as lead U.S. negotiator on Iran’s nuclear program. He was U.S. Ambassador to NATO during the post-9/11 era when the Alliance invoked Article 5 and launched missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also served as Ambassador to Greece and State Department Spokesman.

Academic & Advisory Roles
Burns is the Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy at Harvard Kennedy School and founder of the Future of Diplomacy Project. He serves as Director of the Aspen Strategy Group, Senior Counselor at the Cohen Group, and sits on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Atlantic Council, and Special Olympics International. His commentary appears regularly in the Boston Globe and on CNN, BBC, Fox, and MSNBC.

Education
Burns holds a BA in History from Boston College and an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS. He speaks French, Arabic, and Greek.

The Future of America’s National Security

As recovery from the global financial crisis continues, one of the central challenges for world leaders moving forward is deciding how to create effective international actions to contain and overcome it. No nation can hope to address the financial and economic challenges alone but must instead work with the IMF, World Bank, and other international institutions to coordinate recovery efforts. In addition, the leading world powers must consider creation of new institutions to regain economic stability. As China, India, Brazil and other emerging market countries rise in power, they will also want greater leadership roles in existing institutions. How should the U.S. work to promote more effective global governance? Can President Obama keep the U.S. in a leadership position but also open the door to greater involvement by the rising powers? What are the implications of the rise of China, India and the other countries for America’s long-term security? Will we be able to work with Russia effectively at a difficult time in our bilateral relationship? These are among the most important questions for America as we look to the future. Nicholas Burns addresses these vital issues and their implications.

Egypt and the Middle East

Current turmoil in the Middle East will no doubt impact American interests. Ambassador Nicholas Burns discusses potential strategies for mitigating the risk. A prolonged crisis in Egypt could affect the price of oil, overall stability in the Middle East, Israeli security, and U.S. trade and investment. The emergence of a radical Islamist Egyptian government in the future would change the entire calculus of our policy. The revolts that have spread in the Arab world – from Tunisia and Egypt to Yemen and Jordan – will provide the most critical potential point of change in the politics, economics, and business interests of the Middle East in decades. Burns has been repeatedly interviewed by Fox, CNN, BBC, CBS, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, and other media on what these events mean for the business community in terms of trade, investment, energy markets, national security, and American interests in general. In this presentation, Burns address the crisis, its originations, and how the resulting changes will affect American business and security.

The Economic Crisis: Its Impact on U.S. Competitiveness and Our World Standing.

Wall Street’s collapse and the recent economic crisis affected people around the world. How should the Obama Administration and Congress react to this crisis and lead the way toward an eventual recovery? How should the U.S. act to protect our global economic interests? Nicholas Burns outlines how Americans must make an international economic recovery our overriding national goal. He makes a strong case that the new U.S. administration must continue to support American exports, resist protectionism, and work to restructure many of the leading international institutions to make them more effective in responding to current global challenges. Finally, he argues passionately that the U.S. must remain engaged in the world as an active and strong global leader and thus resist the twin illusions of isolationism and unilateralism.