Recently, CIA Director William Burns discussed the war crimes that Russia is committing throughout Ukraine. He spoke to students and faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and as he highlighted the pain and damage that Russian President Putin is causing, he also called President Xi Jinping, “a silent partner in Putin’s aggression.”
Burns has been a career diplomat, joining the CIA as its new leader last year as President Biden’s pick for the job. While the CIA has been working on recruiting new talent and strengthening the agency, Burns shares in his first public speech since taking on the director role, that the “CIA will have to reimagine itself to compete successfully in this new age.”
Burns Weighs in on Russia
As Burns recounted his time with Putin back in the fall, it confirmed what many strategists have noted about Putin – he didn’t think he would fail.Putin assumed Ukraine would fold and no one would want to help. His assumptions couldn’t be farther from reality; however, that doesn’t stop making Russia a large threat to its surrounding countries and its adversaries.
But it’s no secret that intelligence is key to winning wars in the age of drones and surveillance capabilities. But it’s what we do with that intelligence that can be the game changer. A U.S. intelligence official told CBS News, “We are intensely sharing timely intelligence with the Ukrainians to help them defend themselves throughout their country, including in areas held by Russia before the 2022 invasion.”
China is the Silent Partner to Russia
While Burns spent much of his time focusing on the the ongoing tensions with Russia, he went farther than just calling China a “silent partner” for Putin. He made the pitch for more Mandarin-speakers for the CIA – citing efforts to double their current numbers. Burns also confirmed that he wants to increase overseas posts focused on Beijing. So, while the CIA keeps its eye on Russia, China is not being ignored. In fact, the agency is very much aware that China seeks to overtake the U.S. at every turn.
Nothing will matter more to our long-term success as an intelligence agency than how well we compete with the [People’s Republic of China] and how well we organize ourselves for that competition over the next few years,” Burns said.
