R. Nicholas Burns

:"For other people named Burns, see Burns (disambiguation)."R. Nicholas Burns (born January 28, 1956) is a retired American diplomat. Burns was the United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs within the Department of State. Appointed by President George W. Bush, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 17 2005 and was sworn into office by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. As Under Secretary, he oversaw U.S. policy in each region of the world and served in the senior career Foreign Service position at the Department. He retired on February 29, 2008. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Public Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard Kennedy School and a member of the board of directors at the school's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. [http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/experts/1802/r_nicholas_burns.html]

Personal life

Burns was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He and his wife Elizabeth A. Baylies have three daughters: Sarah, Elizabeth, and Caroline.

Education

Burns attended Wellesley High School, [cite web |url=http://bcm.bc.edu/issues/winter_2003/ft_diplomat.html |title=The diplomat |author=Charles Truehart |work=Boston College Magazine |date=Winter 2003] and studied abroad in Luxembourg in 1973. He is a 1978 graduate of Boston College where he earned a B.A. in European History and the Certificat Pratique de Langue Francaise during his junior year at the University of Paris (Sorbonne). He received a Masters degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in 1980 in International Economics and American Foreign Policy.

He speaks French, Greek and Arabic as well as English.

Awards

Burns has received honorary doctorates from eight American universities. In 2001, he was given the Public Service Award by the Boston College Alumni Association. In 2002, he was presented the Woodrow Wilson Award|Woodrow Wilson Award for Distinguished Government Service by Johns Hopkins University. He was named Communicator of the Year by the National Association of Government Communicators in 1997.

Career

Before entering the Foreign Service, Mr. Burns worked as Program Officer at A.T. International, a non-profit organization specializing in economic assistance for Third World Countries.

Burns began his Foreign Service career in Africa and the Middle East. He was an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, Vice Consul and Staff Assistant to the Ambassador in Cairo, Egypt, from 1983 to 1985, and then Political Officer at the American Consulate General in Jerusalem from 1985 to 1987. In this position, he coordinated U.S. economic assistance to the Palestinian population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Under President George H. W. Bush, he was Director for Soviet (and then Russian) Affairs. During this time, he attended all U.S. – Soviet summits and numerous other international meetings and specialized on economic assistance issues, U.S. ties with Russia and Ukraine, and relations with the Baltic countries. He was a member of the Department’s Transition Team in 1988, and served as Staff Officer in the Department’s Operations Center and Secretariat in 1987-1988.

Burns served for five years (1990-1995) on the National Security Council staff at the White House. He was Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia Affairs. He had lead responsibility in the White House for advising the President on all aspects of U.S. relations with the fifteen countries of the former Soviet Union.

From 1995 to 1997, Burns was Spokesman of the Department of State and Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Secretary Madeleine Albright. In this position, he gave daily press conferences on U.S. foreign policy issues, accompanied both Secretaries of State on all their foreign trips and coordinated all of the Department’s public outreach programs.

From 1997 to 2001, Burns was U.S. Ambassador to Greece. During his tenure as Ambassador, the U.S. expanded its military and law enforcement cooperation with Greece, strengthened their partnership in the Balkans, increased trade and investment and people-to-people programs.

Prior to his final assignment, Burns was the United States Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. As Ambassador to NATO, he headed the combined State-Defense Department U.S. Mission to NATO at a time when the Alliance committed to new missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war against terrorism, and accepted seven new members.

On January 18, 2008, Burns announced his retirement from the Foreign Service effective March 2008. The reason cited was to go back to family concerns and to pursue other opportunities outside of government.cite news | first=Zacharia | last=Janine | coauthors=Viola Gienger | title=Burns, Rice's Point Man on Iran and India Talks, to Resign Post | date=2008-01-18 | publisher= | url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ax2Vvw80Vs6o&refer=home | work=Bloomberg.com | pages= | accessdate=2008-01-18 | language= ] cite web | url=http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/01/99478.htm | title=Announcement of Departure of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns | accessdate=2008-01-18 | date=2008-01-18 | publisher=US Department of State ] A White House press statement stated that Burns would continue to serve in an advisory capacity as the United States Special Envoy in finalizing the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act.

Memberships

Burns is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Order of St. John and is a life-long fan of the Boston Red Sox [cite web
url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/6198.htm
title=Burns, R. Nicholas
author=U.S. Department of State
work=Biography of R. Nicholas Burns
date=March 17, 2005]

References

External links

* [http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/experts/1802/r_nicholas_burns.html Burns' bio at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6208406.stm]
* [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/12/F3CA3AA6-6FA8-4A61-A5C6-D517EB5E7F5A.html 'Victorious' Kazakhs Told To Wait On OSCE Decision]