Nicholas Burns Transitions from Diplomacy to Academia at the Wilson Center

Public Policy Scholar Nicholas Burns finished his tenure at the Wilson Center in mid-August, concluding three months of research on the future of American foreign policy. Before coming to the Center, Burns was undersecretary of state for political affairs, the State Department's third-highest position.

"It's been a tremendous experience," Burns said. "The Wilson Center's been a very good transition for me from diplomacy to academia."

Burns joined the Center after an extensive, distinguished career in the U.S. Foreign Service that spanned three decades and five presidential administrations, during which he served on three continents. In his research here, he continued to define the challenges in U.S. foreign policy, identifying transnational threats such as climate change, terrorism, global health, and international organized crime.

America's next president, he said, will inherit some of the most complex global situations in recent history, with a growing list of transnational issues, and potential global shifts as China, India, and Brazil emerge as new powers. We are also in a unique time in that, as the Iraq War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a stand-off with Iran dominate the news, the Middle East is the central focus of U.S. foreign policy, a sharp contrast from most of the 20th century, when Europe was the United States' foremost concern.

Having completed his Wilson Center residency, Burns and his family are moving to Boston, where he will be a Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Spending the summer on research afforded Burns some reprieve from the faster pace of the Foreign Service, as he looks forward to settling in the Boston area.

"I'm lucky that my family enjoyed it too," Burns said of the sometimes hectic, traveling lifestyle. "It was a great family experience as well as a great international experience for us all."