A Diplomat Compares the Foreign-Policy Establishment with Donald Trump

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In The Media

A Diplomat Compares the Foreign-Policy Establishment with Donald Trump

A conversation about diplomacy in a very undiplomatic age.

By William J. Burns

Published on Mar 19, 2019

New Yorker

In his new book, “The Back Channel,” William J. Burns, a career diplomat and foreign-service officer, makes the case for American diplomacy in a very undiplomatic age. Burns, who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations for three decades, notably as President George W. Bush’s Ambassador to Russia between 2005 and 2008, narrates America’s post-Cold War foreign policy through the lens of his dealings with dictators, Secretaries of State, and Presidents, from George H. W. Bush to Barack Obama. The spectre of the current President looms over the book: Burns sees Donald Trump as a force that is destroying American credibility, and diminishing the country’s ability to function effectively in the world...

Read Full Interview

This interview was originally published in the New Yorker.

About the Author

William J. Burns

Former Career Diplomat

A former career diplomat, William J. Burns served as director of the CIA, deputy secretary of State, and ambassador to Russia and Jordan. Burns was also president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace from 2015 to 2021.

Recent Work

Research
Reimagining Transatlantic Relations
- +8
  William J. Burns, Michael Chertoff, Catherine Ashton, …
Commentary
A New U.S. Foreign Policy for the Post-Pandemic Landscape
- William J. Burns

Foreign Policy

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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