Towing the line between diplomat and intelligence agent, Burns's trips to the region are shrouded under a cloak of mystery.

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.

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.

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.)

And is probably still at it. As newly released classified documents confirm activists’ long-held suspicions, the disclosures should also alert us to current dangers.

In a wide-ranging exit interview, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns about the resurgence of ISIS, and what's next for the intel community.

The spy agency is trying to give its teams better tools and make it easier for the private sector to develop technology for their secretive work.

In a wide-ranging exit interview, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Central Intelligence Agency Director William ... CIA officers contribute to them. Kelly: Same format as Joe Biden gets? Burns ...

In a wide-ranging exit interview, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly asks Central Intelligence Agency director William Burns about the resurgence ... to the media as CIA director, and on behalf of my ...

On a shelf in his office at CIA headquarters, Director Bill Burns keeps a tiny scaled model of a house. It's the house in Kabul, Afghanistan, where Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a U.S. drone strike in 2022. When NPR went out to interview ...

The warning came one day after the administration ordered that diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the government be shut down by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

What Is Your Emotional Intelligence? People high in emotional intelligence — also referred to as high EQ or emotional quotient — have a healthy capacity for coping; they regulate their ...