Andrew Curtis, Author at WestExec Advisors

WestExec Welcomes John Conger, Lawrence J. Gumbiner, and Nick Zimmerman

WestExec Advisors, LLC helps business leaders make the best decisions by advising on geopolitical risk and emerging opportunities. Washington, D.C. – WestExec Advisors is pleased to announce John Conger, Lawrence J. Gumbiner, and Nick Zimmerman have joined its distinguished and growing team. John Conger most recently served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) at the Department of Defense, where he provided advice to the Secretary of Defense on all budgetary and financial matters. Prior to serving as Deputy Comptroller, [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-05-20T00:00:37-04:00May 20, 2021|Press Releases|

John Costello interviewed in Mondaq United States podcast, “Cybersecurity Issues on the Congressional Agenda”

"[This] interview is with Mark Montgomery and John Costello, both staff to the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. The Commission, which issued its main report more than a year ago, is swinging through the pitch, following up with new white papers, draft legislative language, and enthusiastic advocacy for its recommendations in Congress, many of which were adopted last year. That makes it the most successful of the many cybersecurity commissions that have come and gone in Washington. And it's not done yet. Mark [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-05-06T00:00:37-04:00May 6, 2021|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Danny Russel quoted in Vox article, “How China Could Force Biden’s Hand on Defending Taiwan”

"The Taiwan Relations Act (or TRA, as the law is more commonly known) remains the basis of the US-Taiwan relationship to this day… "'It’s a fairly convoluted political Band-Aid over an irreconcilable problem,' said Daniel Russel, the top State Department official for East Asian affairs from 2013 to 2017. 'We don’t have a new policy because there are no other options…'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Andrew Curtis2021-05-05T10:37:32-04:00May 5, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Andrea Kendall-Taylor quoted in The Washington Post article, “Strongmen Who Got Cozy With Trump Get the Cold Shoulder From Biden”

"As president, Biden has called Putin a killer, applied further punitive sanctions and defended Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. His administration pulled back, however, on an assertion Biden made as a candidate that Russia had put bounties on the heads of American troops serving in Afghanistan and that Trump had refused to confront Putin over it… "Putin appears especially sensitive to Biden’s criticism, recalling his U.S. ambassador after the 'killer' remark, for example, said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, director of the transatlantic security [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-05-05T06:00:17-04:00May 5, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Andrea Kendall-Taylor quoted in The New York Times article, “80,000 Russian Troops Remain at Ukraine Border as U.S. and NATO Hold Exercises”

"The supply of water for Crimea remains a key friction point. If Russia makes an incursion into more Ukrainian-controlled territory, it could be to loosen sharp controls over the Crimean water supply that Ukraine put in after the 2014 annexation… "Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a scholar at the Center for a New American Security and a former senior intelligence official specializing in Russia, said any operation by Moscow to take control of the water supply would be difficult. 'It requires Russian forces to [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-05-05T00:00:21-04:00May 5, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Jim Jeffrey interviewed in 60 Minutes, “Blinken Meeting With G7 Allies Amid Growing Challenges From China, Russia”

"Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in London for talks with G7 allies after speaking out about countering China and Russia during an interview on '60 Minutes,' Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, James Jeffrey, joins CBSN to weigh in on the latest developments…" Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Andrew Curtis2021-05-03T00:00:39-04:00May 3, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Dennis Ross quoted in The Associated Press article, “‘Human Factor’ Gets Personal About Mideast Peace”

"[T]here’s a reason 'The Human Factor,' by Israeli filmmaker Dror Moreh, escapes what would seem a likely fate of being interesting only to policy wonks and those with a direct stake in the issue, and it has something to do with the title. It’s a reference to a line from Dennis Ross, the best-known negotiator of the bunch. "'You can’t ignore the human factor,' he says at the beginning. 'Someone who has a human touch treats someone else with respect. Someone [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-05-03T00:00:17-04:00May 3, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michèle Flournoy writes in Foreign Affairs: “America’s Military Risks Losing Its Edge”

"For almost a decade, U.S. defense officials have deemed the return of great-power competition to be the most consequential challenge to U.S. national security. In 2012, during the Obama administration, the Defense Department announced that 'U.S. forces will no longer be sized to conduct large-scale, prolonged stability operations,' such as those in Afghanistan and Iraq, marking a sharp departure from the United States’ post-9/11 defense strategy. In 2016, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter highlighted a 'return to great-power of competition.' And [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-05-01T00:00:57-04:00May 1, 2021|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Jim Jeffrey quoted in RUSI article, “Turkey–US Relations: Where Now?”

"Turkey’s relations with the US have suffered a blow, but the US needs to understand that in a changing world, regional stability cannot be achieved without Turkish cooperation… "James Jeffrey, a former US Ambassador to Turkey who knows the ins and outs of the relationship very well, recently stated that 'If the Biden administration, so concerned about re-establishing American global leadership, seriously wants to confront these threats, it can’t succeed without Turkey…'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Andrew Curtis2021-04-30T00:00:19-04:00April 30, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Mike Singh quoted in Politico article, “Biden’s First 100 Days in Foreign Policy Are Hamstrung By Trump’s Last 100”

"Trump is hardly the first president to try to cement his legacy with a flurry of last-minute actions. Still, when a president tries to handcuff his successor, that can feed into the notion that U.S. foreign policy is inherently unstable, damaging America’s global reputation in the long run, former U.S. officials and analysts say. "'This perceived instability or changeability of American foreign policy from one administration to the next means that foreign countries, including allies, feel like they need to discount [...]

Andrew Curtis2021-04-28T14:42:58-04:00April 28, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

About Andrew Curtis