Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Michèle Flournoy and Gabrielle Chefitz write in NBC’s Think: “China’s Military Capabilities Are Gaining on the U.S. The Pentagon Needs to Take Bold Steps.”

"The next U.S. administration will face an increasingly emboldened and aggressive China — one that has shown a growing willingness to use coercive measures to stake its territorial claims from the South China Sea to Taiwan to the Indian border region. Although neither Washington nor Beijing wants a war, there is a real risk that miscalculation could cause a crisis to spiral into a conflict between these two nuclear-armed powers. "To prevent conflict, the United States must maintain the military capability [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T17:47:11-04:00July 21, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Mike Singh writes in The New York Times: “When China Met Iran”

"Leaked news this month that China and Iran had come to the verge of signing a 25-year trade and military partnership agreement struck like a geopolitical storm in Washington — a rising rival of America and a longtime foe joining forces to threaten the United States’s predominant position in the Middle East. "The agreement ambitiously promises to bring a huge Chinese presence into Iran’s economic development, in exchange for a regular supply of heavily discounted Iranian oil..." Read the full article [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T17:42:36-04:00July 21, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Lisa Monaco quoted in Wired article, “Chinese Hackers Charged in Decade-Long Crime and Spying Spree”

"'I think the 2015 agreement was a major accomplishment, and it followed sustained pressure by the Obama administration on the Chinese government regarding malicious cyberactivity including intellectual property theft,' says Lisa Monaco, former homeland security advisor to Obama and currently a partner at law firm O’Melveny & Myers. 'But the resurgence in activity by Chinese cyberactors demonstrates that cyberdeterrence must be strategic, coordinated, and sustained. An agreement is only going to be effective if there is a commitment to holding the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T21:36:22-04:00July 21, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Matt Waxman and national security leaders urge Congress to provide election officials with additional funds

"American elections, the bedrock of our democracy, face two extraordinary challenges this year: Covid-19 and combatting foreign interference. While these twin challenges are first and foremost a test of our democracy, they are also a threat to our national security. We urge you to provide election officials with the resources they need to protect our elections this year. "As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, state and local governments face significant and unexpected costs as they prepare to provide safe in-person [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:34:28-04:00July 20, 2020|Press Releases|

Miriam Vogel quoted in IFSEC Global article, “Why AI and Facial Recognition Software Is Under Scrutiny for Racial and Gender Bias”

"In the United States the issue of bias in AI is most explosive. Writing on techcrunch.com, Miriam Vogel, President and CEO of Equal AI, believes that while racism has its historical roots, 'AI now plays a role in creating, exacerbating and hiding these disparities behind the facade of a seemingly neutral, scientific machine.' She says one solution is to ensure a more diverse tech workforce – particularly in gender and race – but that recent data show that the proportion of [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:14:32-04:00July 20, 2020|Social Impact|

Matt Waxman interviewed on The Lawfare Podcast, “The Forgotten War Remembered”

"This year marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. Though often called the 'Forgotten War,' the Korean War has highly conditioned much of our contemporary international politics in East Asia, and the people of Korea continue to live with its aftermath, both in the north and in the south. And the shadow of the Korean War looms large over something we often debate on Lawfare—war powers. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:58:19-04:00July 20, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dennis Ross quoted in The Washington Post article, “How Netanyahu Is Already Planning for A Biden Presidency”

"The Netanyahu government may not have done all this damage: 'Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us,' its defense minister coyly said earlier this month. But reporting by The Post and the New York Times pins the largest attacks, including that at the centrifuge facility, on Israel — and Middle East analysts I consulted don’t doubt it. 'I’m surprised the Israelis have not been more circumspect about this,' said Dennis Ross, a former senior [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:53:28-04:00July 19, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Chris Inglis writes with Joe Heck in The Hill: “Creating A More Secure Nation Means Public Service Hiring Practices Need an Overhaul”

"The public sector has over 33,000 openings in cybersecurity. This means that about one in three possible public sector cybersecurity jobs is currently unfilled. It also means that we are leaving our country vulnerable to future attacks in cyberspace if we do not have the experts we need to update information technology systems, analyze network traffic, research emerging tools, respond to cyber incidents, coordinate with other sectors, and the myriad other responsibilities that fall to the federal cyber workforce. "The federal [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T21:32:10-04:00July 18, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Jay Shambaugh writes with Wendy Edelberg for Brookings’ The Hamilton Project: “How the Pandemic Is Changing the Economy”

"The COVID-19 public health crisis, the economic shock triggered by the pandemic, and public policy, business, and individual responses to the pandemic together have provoked the sharpest and fastest economic downturn in U.S. history. Both the pandemic and the fiscal policy response have ebbed and flowed, and the economy remains fragile. Wendy Edelberg and Jay Shambaugh discuss how the current crisis fits into historic context and what will be the long-lasting economic consequences. In particular, policymakers will need to address increasing [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:07:11-04:00July 17, 2020|Economy & Trade|

Dan Shapiro quoted in Vox article, “Mysterious Explosions Keep Happening in Iran. Israel Is Likely Behind It.”

"Such assessments are important, former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro told me. Israeli officials believe that if those advanced centrifuges were ever installed and operated at full capacity, it 'might allow Iran to break out not with just one bomb, but with an arsenal' of nuclear weapons, he said. Delaying that possibility, then, is certainly a clear and vital Israeli goal... "As Shapiro, the former American ambassador to Israel, explained it to me, the concept 'reflects the Israeli philosophical approach [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:55:54-04:00July 17, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

About Rebecca Skoryanc