Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Lincoln Bloomfield writes in 1945: “Questioning Assumptions on Iran: Five Ways Team Biden Can Deal from Strength”

"As the US is recommitting to upholding a rules-based international order, Iran daily expresses its revolutionary raison d’etre by destabilizing actions that serially target American interests. With or without the JCPOA, President Biden needs a strategy to address these non-nuclear concerns, one that will find favor on both sides of the political aisle and unite rather than divide our allies. However the current talks turn out, there are ways that the US and allies can stand for shared values and exert [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-07-20T18:52:02-04:00May 12, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Jim Jeffrey quoted in The Wall Street Journal article, “Biden Faces Russian Test Over Aid in Syria”

"The U.N.’s use of border crossings dates to 2014 when the Security Council approved a plan to send aid to Syrians through four crossings, with Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, to reach civilians on both sides of the battle lines. Under Russian pressure, the Security Council later shrank the number of crossings the U.N. is authorized to use to one: Bab al-Hawa. In July 2020, the Trump administration secured a one-year extension for U.N. use of the crossing. "'Russia has been leveraging [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-07-20T18:59:04-04:00May 11, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Vince Brooks quoted in The Diplomat article, “Upgrading South Korean THAAD”

"The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on the Korean Peninsula is a contentious issue between China and South Korea, with China concerned that THAAD is aimed at its ICBM installations. South Korea and the United States argue that THAAD is purely defensive, aimed against the threat of North Korean missiles. Since it is in terminal mode, with a range of 1,000km, the THAAD radar, known as AN/TPY-2 is unable to detect Chinese ICBMs. A Pentagon report [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-07-20T18:57:48-04:00May 10, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michèle Flournoy interviewed on MSNBC, “Michèle Flournoy on Afghanistan, Pipeline Shutdown, U.S. Security Infrastructure”

"Michèle Flournoy, former U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the Obama Administration joins Ayman to discuss withdrawal from Afghanistan, cybersecurity, and more…" Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-07-20T18:47:30-04:00May 10, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

John Conger quoted in Newsweek article, “U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Calls Climate Change ‘an Existential Threat’”

"With the U.S. Department of Defense officially recognizing climate change as an 'existential threat,' adaptive changes to military bases with climate-related vulnerabilities will require location- and objective-based assessments, experts with The Center for Climate and Security (CCS), a nonpartisan institute, and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a nonprofit, told Newsweek. "'For them, it is a pragmatic, non-political issue,' CCS Director John Conger, a former comptroller and principal deputy under secretary of defense, told Newsweek. 'It is about protecting their ability [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-07-20T18:49:50-04:00May 7, 2021|Climate & Environment|

Andrea Kendall-Taylor quoted in The New York Times article, “For Biden, Ukraine Is a ‘Déjà Vu’ Problem That’s Hard to Fix”

"While Mr. Blinken’s trip was a demonstration of renewed American commitment to an independent, democratic and Western-leaning Ukraine, for many longtime watchers of U.S.-Ukraine policy, it was a depressing reminder of how little has changed in a country that has become ground zero for a renewed power struggle between Washington and Moscow. "'It is very much déjà vu,' said Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a Russia expert with the Center for a New American Security who advised the Biden transition team. 'It all feels [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-07-20T18:50:46-04:00May 7, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Sergio Aguirre writes with William Wagner in Global Politics and Strategy: “What’s the UN Security Council For?”

"To be worthy of its name, the Security Council will need to engage more deliberately and resolutely on new threats involving cyber and emerging technology, climate and the environment, and global health…" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-08-02T22:23:39-04:00March 30, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Meghan O’Sullivan quoted in The New York Times article, “How Biden’s Climate Ambitions Could Shift America’s Global Footprint”

"President Joseph R. Biden on Wednesday said climate change should be regarded as ‘an essential element of U.S. foreign policy and national security.’ That is likely to bring big changes for America’s role in the world. "'Addressing climate change can, and will be, a central pillar of the Biden administration’s foreign policy,' said Meghan O’Sullivan, who served as a deputy national security adviser under President George W. Bush and now leads the Geopolitics of Energy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School. 'It [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-03-29T00:49:27-04:00February 2, 2021|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Dennis Ross quoted in The Jerusalem Post article, “Netanyahu: Peace with UAE Won’t Be Harmed by F-35 Freeze”

"Ambassador Dennis Ross, William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute, told The Jerusalem Post that 'it is fairly typical of new administrations to review big arms sales that its predecessors have committed to doing.' "'Reagan, for example, reviewed the Carter administration decision to provide AWACS to Saudi Arabia, and then proceeded to make the sale. It looked at the need and the justification for the sale and then went ahead with the deal.' "'It allows the administration to make clear [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-03-29T01:05:23-04:00January 28, 2021|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby writes in The Wall Street Journal: “America Can Defend Taiwan”

"Defeating a PLA attack would be far from easy or cheap, and being ready to do so will involve wrenching changes in the U.S. and Taiwanese defense establishments. But it is doable. "To put it simply, defeating a Chinese invasion would require the U.S., Taiwan and any other engaged parties to cripple or destroy enough Chinese amphibious ships and transport aircraft to prevent the PLA from holding the island. For a country spending more than $700 billion a year on defense, [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2021-02-25T17:02:22-05:00January 26, 2021|Cybersecurity & Defense|

About Rebecca Skoryanc