Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns is one of America's top foreign policy experts and practitioners. Over the course of his 27-year career in the state department, he played a key leadership role in U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, Europe, and South Asia. He was the nation's top career diplomat as undersecretary from 2005-08. He is viewed as one of the country's most articulate spokespeople on globalization and U.S. foreign policy. He demonstrated great versatility as a diplomat and earned respect on both sides of the aisle as a nonpartisan expert on public diplomacy and world affairs. He has served three presidents, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush in senior positions and is now a Professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government where he teaches International Politics and Diplomacy. He speaks with candor and passion about his experiences at the forefront of American foreign policy.

Day-to-day diplomat. Ambassador Burns shares a big-picture perspective of America's place in the world culminating in his appointment as undersecretary of state where he managed America's day-to-day diplomacy, including world crises. Among his many accomplishments are shepherding negotiations of the first civil nuclear energy agreement with India, leading U.S. negotiations with China, Russia, and Europe on the Iran nuclear crisis, and helping to forge an agreement with Brazil on the development of biofuels. He also negotiated a long-term military assistance agreement with Israel.

During the end of the Cold War Burns served for five years in the White House advising President George H.W. Bush and then President Bill Clinton. He then served as Clinton's senior director for Russian affairs. He organized 23 summit meetings with Gorbachev and Yeltsin. As State Department spokesman, he became a household name during the Bosnia war. President Clinton named him U.S. Ambassador to Greece in 1997 and he played a key role in the Kosovo war. In 2001 he was appointed the United States Ambassador to NATO, where he led U.S. efforts to secure support for efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq at a turbulent and dangerous time. In 2005 President George W. Bush named Ambassador Burns undersecretary of state for political affairs. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and in the summer of 2008 he was a Visiting Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

The future of foreign policy. Ambassador Burns provides unparalleled expertise and experience in his presentations on topics ranging from globalization and America's future in global leadership, to how India and China's rise to power will affect the global economy. His work has fueled his insights that America needs to become more assertive and effective in leading the world on climate change, terrorism, trade, narcotics, and in dealing with the emerging powers in China and India. His nonpartisan approach is buttressed by a clarion call for America to project itself more positively before the rest of the world. Ambassador Burns sees our nation's prosperity and security depending in great part on our ability to provide more effective leadership internationally and a greater emphasis on multilateralism. In a globalized world, he believes that it is more important than ever for America to take account of the world's concerns, deliver a positive, hopeful image, and participate more constructively in organizations such as the United Nations. Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns asserts that the security and prosperity of America depend on our becoming a more energized, enlightened, and effective global leader