William Burns and the Strategic Shift in the US Intelligence Community

This is the first time a veteran US diplomat has been chosen to lead the CIA, and President Joe Biden's choice of a non-cabinet figure as CIA Director sends a clear message that the intelligence community's operations will not be influenced by political factions.a change of strategycompared to Donald Trump's time.

Unprecedented choice

As Joe Biden searches for a replacement for Gina Haspel as CIA Director, several names have emerged as potential candidates, and the one thing they have in common is that they have worked at the agency. They are former CIA Deputy Director David Cohen, former CIA senior official Darrell Blocker, and former acting CIA Director Michael Morell. But William Burns, Joe Biden’s pick, has thrown all predictions off course, because throughout his political career, intelligence is the field that William Burns has never tried.

Mr. Williams Burns was approved by the US Senate as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Photo: CNN

But despite having no experience in the intelligence field, William Burns still easily passed the Senate hearing - the final "barrier" for him to officially take the position.Director of CIA. William Burns easily received the “nod” from the Senators thanks to his good relationship with both the Democratic and Republican factions. Graduated from La Salle University in Philadelphia and then Oxford University, William Burns entered the diplomatic field in 1982. Before retiring in 2014 as Deputy Secretary of State, William Burns served 5 Presidents, both Democratic and Republican, from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama. William Burns' close associates include the most famous names in the US diplomatic community such as Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and John Kerry. In the diplomatic community, William Burns is respected for his intelligence, experience, analytical talent and judgment. He has handled high-profile cases with Russia and Iran as US Ambassador to Jordan under Bill Clinton and US Ambassador to Russia under George Bush, most notably leading the secret negotiations that paved the way for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. There is a steadiness and an ability to handle thorny issues that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described as “a very effective firefighter”.

Another “plus” of William Burns is his relationship withPresident Joe Biden. When approving the nomination for the position of CIA Director, both Democratic and Republican Senators said that the most important quality of the chosen person is not intelligence expertise, but a good relationship with the President, which is something that Mr. William Burns "has in abundance". The two have worked together for a long time on foreign policy, not only during the period when Mr. Joe Biden was Vice President for Mr. Barack Obama, but also during the time Mr. Biden led the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. When nominating William Burns as CIA Director, President Joe Biden also gave him "winged" words: "William Burns is an exemplary diplomat with decades of experience in the international arena, someone who is capable of keeping America and the American people safe. William Burns has the knowledge, the judgment, and we need to prevent and confront threats before they can reach our shores".

New CIA Director Willian Burns has a close relationship with President Joe Biden. Photo: Times

Although he did not work directly in the intelligence field, William Burns always had great respect for his colleagues in the CIA, because to him, they were the ones who supported him during the time he took on difficult missions around the world. Mr. Douglas London - a former senior official of the CIA also said that William Burns cooperated very professionally with the intelligence community in many sensitive programs. But in all of those programs, William Burns acted as an intelligence user. Now, he will stand in the opposite position: an intelligence provider.

“Non-partisan” intelligence

William Burns is a rare case of taking the position of CIA Director without being a member of the cabinet. Therefore, William Burns' appointment is said to carry the message of "non-partisan intelligence" of President Joe Biden. In his first statement after being approved to become CIA Director, William Burns emphasized the message that intelligence information must not be political - marking a clear difference from the approach under former President Donald Trump. Many people still remember that Donald Trump publicly criticized and fired intelligence officers when they showed independence in providing information - steps that were strongly criticized for "politicizing the intelligence community". Meanwhile, William Burns shared a clear view that once intelligence work begins, political careers must stop, because good intelligence information must be "honest and upright", only then can intelligence information fulfill its role as "America's first line of defense". Therefore, he affirmed that he would be ready to inform leaders, including the President, the information they need to hear, even if they do not want to hear it. And this is exactly what President Joe Biden expects from the CIA.

Another strategic shift under William Burns as CIA Director compared to Donald Trump is the integration of the CIA's collection, analysis and covert action capabilities to serve larger US foreign policy goals such as:Iran nuclear issue, strategic competition with China or the "fated" relationship with Russia. This is something that has been greatly diminished when Donald Trump was President because Donald Trump still believes that the CIA and the State Department are only useful when serving his political ideas. Under Donald Trump, people have witnessed fierce competition between intelligence officials and foreign policy officials to gain command and control of foreign policy. Therefore, many people expect that when a diplomat like William Burns officially takes over the position of CIA Director, within the next 4 years, there will be an atmosphere of goodwill cooperation between the US diplomatic and intelligence communities.

Mr. William Burns played a key role in the historic Iran Nuclear Deal. Photo: Getty

With President Joe Biden's selection of Tony Blinken as US Secretary of State, many people have compared the pair of William Burns and Tony Blinken to the "Dulles brothers of the 1950s". At that time, under President Dwight Eisenhower, Allen Dulles held the position of CIA Director, and John Foster Dulles was Secretary of State. With the support of the intelligence community for foreign policies, the Dulles brothers were likened to the "warriors" who helped the United States gain the position of the world's number 1 superpower in the post-World War II period. Now, when the world's geopolitical landscape is changing a lot, America's number 1 position in the world needs to be consolidated and protected against emerging forces, once again, people are waiting for the "reappearance" of the "2021 version of the Dulles brothers", that is William Burns and Tony Blinken.

Thuy Ngoc