16 Facts About Biden Intelligence Candidate William Burns: He Wrote Books on Egypt
Today, US President-elect Joe Biden appointed former US ambassador William Burns as Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Biden said, in a statement, that Burns shares his deep belief that intelligence should be apolitical and that intelligence experts in the service of America deserve gratitude and respect, according to the American "Bloomberg" agency.
Al-Watan monitors the most important information about William J. Burns, the new director of the CIA, as follows:
He holds a BA in history from LaSalle University.
He holds a master's and doctorate degrees in international relations from the British “Oxford University”.
Holds 3 honorary doctorate degrees
The highest rank in the US diplomatic corps was occupied by an "experienced ambassador" and he was only the second experienced ambassador in history to become deputy foreign minister.
Burns was ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001.
He held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs between 2001 and 2005.
Ambassador of the United States, Russia, from 2005 to 2008.
On January 18, 2008, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the appointment of William Burns to the position of Assistant Secretary of State.
Between 2008 and 2011, Burns held the position of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.
Burns retired from the US State Department in 2014 after 33 years of diplomatic career.
Burns currently holds the chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
He won 3 Presidential Awards for Distinguished Service and a number of US State Department awards, including 3 Minister Awards for Distinguished Service, and two Honor Awards for Distinguished Service, in addition to the "Charles Cobb Junior" Ambassadors Award for Initiative and Success in Business Development for the year 2006.
Burns is a recipient of the Robert Fischer Memorial Prize for Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking, and the Clement Dunn Award for exemplary performance at the mid-career level.
Burns wrote a book on Egypt entitled "Economic Aid and American Policy Towards Egypt from 1955-1981", in 1985.
In 1994, Time magazine included him on the list of the first 50 promising American leaders under the age of 40, and on the list of the world's 100 young leaders.
Burns is fluent in Russian, Arabic and French.
