Новинки Уильям Джозеф «Билл» Бёрнс

“A masterful diplomatic memoir” (The Washington Post) from CIA director and career ambassador William J. Burns, from his service under five presidents to his personal encounters with Vladimir Putin and other world leaders—an impassioned argument for the enduring value of diplomacy in an increasingly volatile world.

Over the course of more than three decades as an American diplomat, William J. Burns played a central role in the most consequential diplomatic episodes of his time—from the bloodless end of the Cold War to the collapse of post–Cold War relations with Putin’s Russia, from post–9/11 tumult in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East to the secret nuclear talks with Iran.

In The Back Channel, Burns recounts, with novelistic detail and incisive analysis, some of the seminal moments of his career. Drawing on a trove of newly declassified cables and memos, he gives readers a rare inside look at American diplomacy in action. His dispatches from war-torn Chechnya and Qaddafi’s bizarre camp in the Libyan desert and his warnings of the “Perfect Storm” that would be unleashed by the Iraq War will reshape our understanding of history—and inform the policy debates of the future. Burns sketches the contours of effective American leadership in a world that resembles neither the zero-sum Cold War contest of his early years as a diplomat nor the “unipolar moment” of American primacy that followed.

Ultimately, The Back Channel is an eloquent, deeply informed, and timely story of a life spent in service of American interests abroad. It is also a powerful reminder, in a time of great turmoil, of the enduring importance of diplomacy.

About the Author :William J. Burns is currently the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a thirty-three-year diplomatic career, and went on to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service, career ambassador, and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become deputy secretary of state. Prior to his tenure as deputy secretary, Ambassador Burns served from 2008 to 2011 as undersecretary for political affairs. He was 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. Ambassador Burns earned a bachelor’s degree in history from La Salle University and master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters.

Уильям Бёрнс, названный журналом The Atlantic «секретным дипломатическим оружием» США, состоял на службе Госдепартамента США при пяти президентах и десяти госсекретарях. За свою долгую карьеру Бёрнс имел отношение ко множеству значимых событий последних лет: операции «Буря в пустыне» в 1991 г., вторжению в Югославию в 1999 г., обсуждению расширения НАТО, ядерной сделке с Ираном.В книге автор раскрывает неизвестные ранее исторические подробности и приводит недавно рассекреченные телеграммы и меморандумы, которые дают редкую возможность понять, как на самом деле ведется дипломатическая работа – далеко не всегда она идет только по официальным каналам, через послов и встречи на высшем уровне.Поскольку с конца 1980-х гг. Уильям Бёрнс активно работал на российском направлении, а в 2005–2008 гг. был послом США в РФ, его мнение о российской политике и ситуации в стране может дать много ценной информации о том, почему российско-американские отношения строились тем или иным образом и почему в итоге они зашли в тупик.

Бывший посол США в России, заместитель госсекретаря США, рассказывает о скрытых механизмах американской дипломатии и о своей службе в России. Сейчас Уильям — директор Фонда Карнеги. О книге оставили отзывы Генри Киссинджер, Хиллари Клинтон, Мадлен Олбрайт, Кондолиза Райс и Уолтер Айзексон.