Dick Clarke and Ambassador Bill Burns discuss the current state of diplomacy, and its seemingly waning stature in the US foreign policy landscape. Bill Burns spent 32 years as a career Foreign Service Officer. He was the man behind every Secretary of State in recent history. Amb. Burns recounts his unparalleled Foreign Service career from his new book The Back Channel, including undertaking secret diplomatic talks with Libyan and Iranian regimes. They talk about the status of chilly diplomatic relations with adversaries like Russia, China and Iran and where these relations could lead when the diplomacy is no longer used as the weapon of First Resort. They also discuss how the foreign policy establishment and institutions like the State Department should be evolving to meet the needs and expectations of the American public. All this and much more on this week’s episode of Future State.Websites and Social Media:https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/1014https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/561709/the-back-channel-by-william-j-burns/9780525508861/Twitter @CarnegieEndow

The Future of Peace

Get Started

Download the App