Citizen Conversation With… Nicholas Burns
by The Editors on October 1, 2008 in Citizen Conversation with...
Ambassador Nicholas Burns joined the Kennedy School this semester after a life-long career in the U.S. Department of State. A native of Massachusetts, he has served as U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Greece, spokesperson for the Department of State, director of Soviet affairs for President George H.W. Bush, and special assistant to President Bill Clinton.
Q: What are your plans now that you’ve retired from the State Department and how does the Kennedy School fit into them?
A: My plans are to teach, to write, perhaps write a book, and to speak about American foreign policy. I had a really satisfying career in the State Department – I lived in six different countries and worked all over the world. At the end of the day, what really motivates me is an interest in America’s role in the world. And the Kennedy School, I think, is the best school of this type in this country. It also happens to be located in my hometown. So for all those reasons, it made sense for me to be here and to embark on a very different professional life.
Q: Would your book be a memoir of your experiences?
A: What I’d like to do is write about America’s role as a leader in the 21st century world of globalization – which is a very different world than the world we just led in the post-Cold War era. The globalized world that we’re just entering is going to require the U.S. to act collaboratively, to rebuild international and regional political and economic institutions, and to create a global environment that is more multilateral than anything else. We need to make the transition into that leadership role. That’s what I’d like to write about – how to make that transition. How we must make that transition.
Q: You were the U.S. Ambassador to NATO during a time of significant expansion of the alliance. Given what’s happened recently between Georgia and Russia, what do you think are the prospects for future expansion?
A: I think it’s vitally important for NATO and the EU to continue to accept new members for one simple reason: the greatest strategic benefit from the end of the Cold War has been the fact that several hundred million east Europeans now live in democratic countries and belong to the two great Euro-Atlantic institutions, the EU and NATO. I think it would be a very serious mistake for NATO or the EU to shut their doors to enlargement because it’s become more difficult given Russia’s truculent behavior. I also think it would send exactly the wrong signal to shy away from a new NATO strategic relationship with Georgia.
Q: What influenced your decision to seek out a career in the State Department?
A: By the time I got to college, I had become very interested in American foreign policy and international politics, largely because of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. I chose to enter the State Department because I wanted to serve my country. I wanted to practice diplomacy. I wanted to build a career of expertise around languages and area expertise, which for me became the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. I hoped that in some small measure I might be part of a process of avoiding a nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union, of making the world more peaceful.
Q: How have non-profits and NGOs – new actors in the international landscape – changed the way the U.S. approaches foreign policy?
A: I think diplomacy has changed fundamentally even in the brief span of my three-decade career. When I joined the State Department in 1980, diplomacy was still a backroom, nontransparent game. It was largely not visible to the outside. It’s now a much more transparent process. The media is much more involved in exposing the deliberations of government and the conduct of foreign policy. And NGOs are now much more profoundly important actors in diplomacy and international life than they ever were before.
Q: You went to SAIS (Johns Hopkins) and now you’re at the Kennedy School. Do you have thoughts on how the two compare?
A: What I like about both programs is that they ask the students to be well rounded. In the modern world, you have to have language skills if you want to work internationally. It doesn’t do for Americans to go abroad and expect everyone to speak English. You can’t function in the private or public sector unless you have a sound understanding of economics and finance. So the Kennedy School allows you to have that broad base, as does Hopkins. I think they are at the very top of those schools that are the finest schools in international affairs around the world.
Q: You spoke about the tendency of political parties to blame Washington for problems and that, by and large, the public servants of the government are not to blame. How can we as a society move beyond this to value public service?
A: It always bothered me as a public servant when politicians from the left and right would run against Washington as if Washington was the enemy. I’ve never believed that by weakening government we will strengthen our society and resolve our problems. And I certainly think now, in the middle of this financial crisis, we need a successful, strong, and active government in Washington. You hope that people realize that civil servants go to Washington and make a positive difference. So I’m waiting for the candidate who will come along and say, the problem really isn’t in the federal bureaucracy. The problem is, we need the right type of active, aggressive, committed leadership. I feel very passionate about that.
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