As C.I.A. director, William J. Burns was deeply focused on China and Russia when the Middle East conflict plunged him back into his old life.

No one would ever refer to CIA Director William J. Burns as “Wild Bill,” the nickname of William J. Donovan, who led the OSS, the agency’s swashbuckling predecessor, during World War II. But the self-effacing Burns has bravely commanded a CIA force in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly three years ago.

While the United States tries to spy on one of the hardest targets, Burns has also tried to reopen a dialogue with Beijing, including via his counterpart, Chen Yixin, the security minister. (The head of the China Mission Center, a career CIA officer fluent in Mandarin, accompanied Burns on one of his trips to Beijing.)

Do you think that you would be remembered 229 years after you died, especially after passing at the tender age of 37, not even living out the full potential of a long life?

During President Trump’s first term, demanding personal loyalty didn’t always work; stocking top jobs with loyalists is the tack now. At the F.B.I., this entails bucking its institutional history.

Like our predecessors in 1930, we oppose the use of tariffs as a general tool for economic policy.

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Prince William and Princess Kate have marked Burns Night with a special message for fans. The couple said: "Celebrating the beauty of Scotland, the power of nature, and the poetry of Robert Burns.

Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia’s economy has surpassed expectations. Its figures are, if not rosy, not ruinous either. Last year, the war economy likely grew ...

Russia’s deputy foreign minister and a special envoy arrived in Damascus. Theirs was the first such visit since President Bashar al-Assad fled the country, according to Russian state news. By ...

Ukraine launched a ferocious wave of drone attacks across Russia overnight on Sunday, targeting oil refineries and Crimea. In the past weeks, Zelensky's forces have carried out repeated aerial ...

"Europe delivers: EU Foreign Ministers just agreed to extend again the sanctions on Russia," Kaja Kallas, the bloc's foreign policy chief, posted on social media. "This will continue to deprive ...