New U.S. Envoy Is Likely to Get an Earful at Work

Bill Burns listens.

That is the characteristic cited most often by associates and former bosses of the Bush administration’s new Middle East peace envoy. And it is a trait that is about to be tested as he tries to broker an end to the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in a generation.

With Israelis and Palestinians increasingly in agreement that eight months of violence must stop--although there is no consensus on how to do that--Middle East experts say the antagonists now need a creative mediator who will listen carefully to what they say and point out areas of possible agreement.

In selecting William Burns as the administration’s point man for Middle East peace, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell chose a veteran diplomat who has spent most of his career focusing on the region. But Burns was given a mandate much less sweeping than that of his predecessor, even as the job has become far more difficult because of the escalating cycle of fighting.

“He’s a very quiet and attentive fellow in any conversation,” said Richard Murphy, once the State Department’s top Middle East specialist, who gave Burns one of his first diplomatic positions. “He is very interested in drawing the other party out. He has this gift of listening. I can’t think of anyone that I’d rather see in the job.”

Dennis B. Ross, who put in 12 years as Middle East peace envoy, said Burns, who once served as his deputy, is “a natural conciliator,” ideally suited to mediate between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat--aging warriors who have spent a lifetime fighting--and loathing--each other.

Burns, 45, has spent 19 years in the Foreign Service, most of it in the Middle East. Since July 1998, he has been ambassador to Jordan. He was the Middle East expert on the National Security Council staff during the first Bush administration and is awaiting Senate confirmation to become assistant secretary of State for the Near East.

Powell had been reluctant to name a Middle East peace envoy, preferring to allow the State Department bureaucracy to handle the task. Under pressure from Capitol Hill and foreign governments to raise the profile of U.S. mediation efforts, however, Powell chose Burns. But he did not--for the time being, at least--select another person for the assistant secretary job, leaving Burns with both duties.

As peace envoy, Burns joins an exclusive fraternity of officials who have tried to resolve what is now more than half a century of Arab-Israeli conflict. Some of them enjoyed limited success, but the ultimate prize of a comprehensive peace eluded them all. Ross held the post the longest. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had the job early in the Reagan administration.

Burns seems eager to take his turn.

“With all its hazards and frustrations, active American engagement in the Middle East is a necessity, not an option,” Burns told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week during a confirmation hearing. “All of our interests depend on it.

“It has never been easy . . . but this is a particularly difficult period,” he said.

Middle East experts disagreed over whether Burns will be able to spread himself to cover both the assistant secretary and the peace envoy tasks.

“It’s a hell of a load for one person to carry--to be a full-time Arab-Israeli peace negotiations leader and to be the assistant secretary for the Near East,” said Robert Pelletreau, who was assistant secretary during Ross’ tenure as peace envoy. “You have all the other issues on the plate including Iran and Iraq and the whole Gulf policy.

“Exactly how you do it differs from administration to administration, but any time the United States has gotten really serious about a peace effort it has had to name a special envoy. If you are going to do that, it is a full-time job,” he said.

Murphy, who performed both tasks under Secretary of State George P. Shultz in the Reagan administration, said Ross’ long tenure had the effect of excluding officials in the Near East bureau from the peace process.

“What you have is Powell going back to the structure that Shultz wanted,” said Murphy, now a senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He added that it was “an efficient and a sensible way of using the talents that are there in the Near East bureau.”

Burns played basketball at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he earned a degree in history. He has a master’s and a doctorate in international relations from Oxford.

The son of a retired Army major general, Burns is married to Lisa Carty, also a Foreign Service officer. They have two daughters.