Diplomacy for the 21st Century: The Future of the Democratic West

On 31 October 2019, Nicholas Burns will deliver his lecture entitled "The Future of the Democratic West". 

About the lecture, Sir Tim said, “It’s very fitting that the last in our five lectures on “Diplomacy for the Twenty-First Century” will be given by former Ambassador Nick Burns, previous Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs at the US State Department and Ambassador to NATO, who now runs the Diplomacy Course at the Kennedy School of Government. His presentation focusses on the Future of the Democratic West. In an age of Trump, Johnson and populism, how far is there such a thing as the “Democratic West”? What moral and political force does it now have, faced with alternative models of international diplomacy? How does one sustain the steady march of progressive values in a world of short-termism, short attention spans, and transactional diplomacy? Ambassador Burns will help us face up to some of the uncomfortable consequences of our current policies, and consider ways to ensure our deepest values are sustained through what has so far been a difficult century.”

Diplomacy for the 21st Century is a Wolfson College Lecture Series that gives insight in how diplomacy is done in a modern age and the vital work that the diplomatic service does in strengthening relationships across borders. With its first lecture in Michaelmas Term 2018,  the lecture series has welcomed a variety of speakers over the past year approaching diplomacy from diverse perspectives. 

Wolfson Lecture series: Diplomacy for the 21st Century - The Future of the Democratic West
Thursday 31 October 2019, 18:00, The Leonard Wolfson Auditorium
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