• Nicholas Burns, Goodman Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School, offered remarks on U.S. foreign policy regarding ongoing and emerging challenges from Russia and China at the Aspen Security Forum (July 14–17, 2026). In his Opening Remarks, as first in a short list of challenges that included the Strait of Hormuz, U.S.-China competition, and transformative technologies from AI to biotech, Ambassador Burns offered this: “We are facing a set of challenges that are as daunting as any I remember in my own career over 40-plus years. And think of what Putin has been doing—and there are a lot of European ambassadors here—to assault an innocent and glorious country, Ukraine, and the effort that all of us need to make to support, support Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.”
• In his “The China Challenge” presentation, in response to moderator Demetri Sevastopulo’s question about why the Biden administration’s dollar volume of arms sales to Taiwan trailed the Trump administration’s, Burns responded by invoking a key lesson from the Russia-Ukraine war—it’s less how much you spend, and more how well you spend: “We did support Taiwan with arms. And you're right, the dollar volume lower than what the Trump administration has done. We were also encouraging the Taiwanese to think in a different way about their defense, because Taiwan had to learn from the Ukrainians what they'd done so well to repel the initial Russian invasion, the offensive and defensive weapon drone technologies. And we were pushing the Taiwanese, as were members of Congress, make the transition to asymmetric warfare, anti-ship missiles.”
• Finally, in The New Security Imperative panel, and responding to moderator Edward Luce’s (FT) request that each panelist name one “bold idea,” Burns’ idea was that competition with China and Russia over frontier technology should be pursued through NATO and Asian treaty allies rather than bilaterally, because a one-on-one approach forfeits allied leverage; he framed it as a course correction the United States needs to make: “If we approach this one-on-one with the Chinese or the Russians, then we lose leverage. We have to trust each other.” 

Opinions expressed herein are solely those of the individuals quoted. Photo is a screenshot from the 2026 ASF "The China Challenge" panel.