The Foreign Service Journal, November 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2014 15 A LIFE OF SIGNIFICANCE An Interview with DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE WILLIAM J. BURNS On the eve of his retirement, the Deputy Secretary of State reflects on his 33-year career, the challenges for diplomacy today and the future of the Foreign Service. FEATURE O n Oct. 1, AFSA Presi- dent Robert Silver- man and Foreign Service Journal Edi- tor Shawn Dorman sat down with Deputy Secretary of State Wil- liam J. Burns in his office, a few weeks before his retirement from a 33-year Foreign Service career. Ambassador Burns holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service, career ambas- sador. He became Deputy Secretary of State in July 2011, only the second serving career diplomat in history to do so. Amb. Burns served from 2008 until 2011 as under secretary of State for political affairs. He was ambassador to Russia from 2005 until 2008, assistant secretary of State for Near East- ern affairs from 2001 until 2005 and ambas- sador to Jordan from 1998 until 2001. He has also served in a number of other posts since entering the Foreign Service in 1982: executive secretary of the State Department and special assistant to Secretaries Warren Christopher and Mad- eleine Albright; minister-counselor for political affairs at the U.S. embassy in Moscow; acting director and principal deputy director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff; and special assis- tant to the president and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs at the National Security Council. Amb. Burns earned a B.A. in history from LaSalle University and M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He is the recipient of three honorary doctoral degrees. Amb. Burns is the author of Economic Aid and American Policy Toward Egypt, 1955-1981 (State University of New York Press, 1985). He speaks Russian, Arabic and French, and is the recipient of three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and a number of Department of State awards, including two Secretary’s Distin- AFSA President Robert J. Silverman interviewed Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns at the Department of State on Oct. 1. AFSA/Shawn Dorman