Join Tisch College and The Fletcher School for a conversation on global affairs and American diplomacy with Ambassador Bill Burns on the occasion of his recent memoir, “The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy & the Case for its Renewal.” In “The Back Channel,” Burns recounts some of the seminal moments of his thirty year career shaping American foreign policy, drawing on newly declassified cables and memos and driving home the enduring importance of diplomacy. Lunch will be provided, and space is limited. Attendance is by registration only on Eventbrite.

Ambassador Burns is currently president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 as a career ambassador, the highest rank in the Foreign Service. Burns is the second serving career diplomat in history to become deputy secretary of state, and he previously served as undersecretary for political affairs from 2008-2011, as ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008, assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs from 2001 to 2005, and ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001.