When Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns accepted the Eurasia Foundation�s 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 Department�s 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 to�conduct sensitive negotiations�in 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,� said�Brent Scowcroft, a�former national security adviser.�He told Al-Monitor. �Not Bill. He just does the job.�

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This article was written by�Barbara Slavin &�Laura Rozen for Al-Monitor on OCT. 24, 2014. Barbara Slavin�is Washington correspondent for�Al-Monitor�and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council where she focuses on Iran. Laura Rozen�reports on foreign policy from Washington, DC,�for Al-Monitor's Back Channel. She has written for�Yahoo! News, Politico�and�Foreign Policy.

 

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