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Before Burns joined the faculty at Harvard University, where he teaches diplomacy and international relations, he worked in the U.S. government for over three decades, serving six presidents and nine secretaries of state. Most recently, he served as the U.S. ambassador to the People鈥檚 Republic of China from 2021 to 2025.

Among Burns鈥檚 accomplishments is his role as the lead U.S. negotiator on Iran鈥檚 nuclear program. Knowing his proximity to the topic, Sen. George LeMieux opened the conversation by asking Burns for his thoughts on the current conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

Reopening the Strait of Hormuz

Burns succinctly summarized the U.S.鈥檚 stance in the conflict and relevant history around it, saying he supported President Trump鈥檚 decision to set up a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz because the alternative would be to let Iranians toll the international waterway, which has never been tolled before.

The way out of the conflict with Iran, he continued, is firstly by reopening the Strait of Hormuz and, secondly, by removing the Iranian government鈥檚 access to the 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium buried in the rubble of U.S.-bombed nuclear sites. These two objectives are essential to eliminating Iran as a threat to other nations and will require patience and diplomacy, he said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e banking on us being able to outfox them, out-wait them, and negotiate,鈥� Burns said, estimating up to six weeks for a resolution.

Burns speculated that one outcome of the conflict could be increased reliance on the United States and Canada for oil and gas. Now that the world has seen what happens when Iran has the power to block energy resources by guarding the Strait of Hormuz, they will be looking for alternatives.

Authoritarian Bucket Lists

Moving on to other parts of the map, Burns reflected on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, emphasizing that the Ukrainian people deserve support from the U.S. Currently, the U.S. has been acting like a lawyer for President Vladimir Putin, when really, we should be finding more ways to support President Volodymyr Zelensky.

鈥淧utin wants to draw an authoritarian line right in the heart of Europe,鈥� Burns said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be free when you鈥檝e got an authoritarian line.鈥�

Also pressing an authoritarian regime is President Xi Jinping, Burns said, comparing him to Russian leader, Vladimir Putin.

鈥淭hese are two soon to be 73-year-olds, and neither of them are emotional or sentimental, but they both have described the other person as their best friend, and they both have a wish list,鈥� Burns assessed, saying that while Putin鈥檚 goal is to take over Ukraine, Xi鈥檚 goal is to take over Taiwan. Since Taiwan is a physically defendable island, he anticipates China鈥檚 plan may be to choke off resources to the island or infiltrate their government over the long term rather than chance a cross-strait military invasion, which could have a low probability of success.

A War of Values and Human Rights

After narrowing in on each country鈥檚 conflicts, Burns stepped back to share a broader, international perspective and our nation鈥檚 stakes in it all. Identifying the goals of these global leaders helps the U.S. know how to strengthen and position itself to remain a dominant power.

While the U.S. is motivated to retain a position of power for the purpose of defending ourselves against attacks and preventing war, Burns mentioned that motivation also stems from standing up for American values of freedom and human rights. The reason why the U.S. should defend Ukraine and Taiwan is because the U.S. doesn鈥檛 support Putin and Xi鈥檚 mindset that they have the right to absorb those countries.

These powerful motivators are enough to unite political parties. Burns shared an example from his time as Ambassador in China, where he accompanied three Republican and three Democratic senators to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Each senator recounted the tragedy of fentanyl abuse in the U.S. and charged Xi to help, as the majority of the precursor chemicals in fentanyl come from the Chinese black market. Remarkably, Xi agreed to help, saying he didn鈥檛 want China to be held responsible for the deaths of Americans.

鈥淚 was so proud of those six senators, because if I had closed my eyes, I wouldn鈥檛 have known who were the republicans on my right and who were the democrats on my left,鈥� Burns remembered. 鈥淭hey really came together, which gave me the sense as an American that when two parties pull together for big decisions, we鈥檙e powerful.鈥�

NATO and Next Steps

Burns concluded his discussion with his thoughts on the U.S.鈥檚 current relationship with NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Burns was Ambassador to NATO when, in the hours after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NATO enacted Article 5 鈥� “an attack on one is an attack on all.” Burns learned that day how important it is for the U.S. to have allies in the world.

鈥淲ith respect, I think it was a major mistake of the administration not to bring our major NATO allies in on the planning when we struck on February 28,鈥� Burns said. 鈥淢y view is that we have to honor and respect them.鈥� We are much stronger against Russia and China with allies than without them.

He also shared his opinion that investing in universities will be key to overcoming any potential conflicts with China, in particular, as we will need to be armed with the technology born from academic research. That is why it is a great mistake for the Trump Administration to reduce research and development funding for our universities, including Harvard, he said.

Addressing the students in the crowd, he encouraged those interested in working in the private sector to 鈥渄are greatly,鈥� quoting Theodore Roosevelt鈥檚 famous 鈥淢an in the Arena鈥� speech, and to give back by committing to public service in their lifetimes.

鈥淢ore than anything, it would help,鈥� he said.

Ambassador Burns is the third guest of 海角在线鈥檚 LeMieux Speaker Series. Other guests have included former U.S. Secretaries of State Mike Pompeo and John Kerry and Florida鈥檚 Governor Ron DeSantis.

Watch the Q&A with Ambassador Burns here:

Learn more about the LeMieux Center for Public Policy and Speaker Series events at /academics/schools/centers-of-excellence/lemieux/.