When Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns accepted the Eurasia Foundations Sarah Carey award Oct. 21, he gave a classic, understated performance. Burns, who officially retires Oct. 24 after nearly 33 years in the Foreign Service, devoted most of his brief remarks to praising Carey, an early and avid proponent of US engagement with the Soviet Union, and spent almost no time dwelling on his own remarkable career.One of only two career Foreign Service officers elevated to the State Departments number-two position, which is usually reserved for political appointees, Burns is unique, in the words of former Undersecretary of State Thomas R. Pickering, for having served in high posts in both Democratic and Republican administrations. He is also unusual in Washington for his modest ego and ability toconduct sensitive negotiationsin secret, as he has done most recently with Iran in the effort to achieve a breakthrough on its nuclear program.
Usually, the deputy secretary gets big headlines when he goes anywhere, saidBrent Scowcroft, aformer national security adviser.He told Al-Monitor. Not Bill. He just does the job.
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This article was written byBarbara Slavin &Laura Rozen for Al-Monitor on OCT. 24, 2014. Barbara Slavinis Washington correspondent forAl-Monitorand a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council where she focuses on Iran. Laura Rozenreports on foreign policy from Washington, DC,for Al-Monitor's Back Channel. She has written forYahoo! News, PoliticoandForeign Policy.
The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.
