Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Michèle Flournoy and Gabrielle Chefitz co-author CNAS report: “Sharpening the U.S. Military’s Edge: Critical Steps for the Next Administration”

"The U.S. military is at a high-stakes inflection point: it must take a series of much bigger and bolder steps to keep its military-technological edge over great power competitors such as China, or it could lose that edge within the decade. If the Pentagon’s own reported wargames and analysis are to be believed, the planned force that is enshrined in the current Department of Defense (DoD) program and budget may well be insufficient to deter or defeat Chinese aggression in the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-21T20:42:45-04:00July 13, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Linc Bloomfield quoted in The New York Times article, “Inside the White House, a Gun Industry Lobbyist Delivers for His Former Patrons”

"Lincoln P. Bloomfield Jr., who was assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs when the ban was enacted in 2002, said the policy was intended to prevent American equipment from being used against American service members, especially during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. "'Terrorist groups were using garage door openers to blow up U.S. troops; you kind of think twice about what you are exporting,' said Mr. Bloomfield, who added that such dangers still exist today. 'Who are you selling these [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-21T20:47:02-04:00July 13, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Danny Russel quoted in The New York Times article, “U.S. Says Most of China’s Claims in South China Sea Are Illegal”

"Daniel Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific in the second Obama term, said that the Obama administration had accepted the tribunal’s 2016 ruling as 'final and binding,' and that Mr. Pompeo’s statement was more 'chest-pounding and angry invective about China' than a change in policy..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-21T20:50:25-04:00July 13, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

WestExec Spotlight: Meghan O’Sullivan

WestExec’s Spotlight Series highlights the issues on which some of our team members focus. This week’s Spotlight features Meghan O’Sullivan, former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan. Geopolitics of Energy: Meghan has spent her career exploring the close relationship between global energy markets and geopolitics and says the COVID-19 pandemic could bring about a geopolitical reset. She helps WestExec clients navigate the complexities of global energy markets and has deep knowledge [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-07T08:41:08-04:00July 10, 2020|WestExec Spotlight|

Lisa Monaco launches United Security podcast

Lisa Monaco and Ken Wainstein have managed national security issues at the highest levels of government. Now, they co-host United Security. "On this inaugural episode of United Security, 'Bounties, Bolton, and COVID-19,' Lisa Monaco and Ken Wainstein discuss recent reporting that the Russians paid bounties to Taliban linked militias to kill U.S. service members in Afghanistan, make sense of the Bolton saga including a breakdown of the pre-publication review process for former government officials, and provide an update on the resurgence [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-21T20:45:50-04:00July 10, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Colin Thomas-Jensen quoted in Bloomberg article, “Another Trump Foreign Policy Foray Goes Awry”

"Colin Thomas-Jensen, a senior adviser with WestExec Advisors and former Africa policy adviser to one-time U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, said the U.S. handling of the dispute had been 'clumsy' but added it was unfair to blame the Trump administration for how bogged down the issue has become. "'The crisis over the GERD has been building for nearly a decade, and yet there’s been negligible international effort to construct a mediation process with multilateral support from countries with [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-10T10:43:37-04:00July 10, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel quoted in Bloomberg article, “U.S. Sanctions Top Chinese Officials Over Xinjiang Abuses”

"'We’re in uncharted territory right now,' said Daniel Russel, former assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, who’s now vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. 'There’s never been an administration that thought the pursuit of top-level party officials would end well for either side...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:50:33-04:00July 9, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel quoted in The New York Times article, “‘Strategic Empathy’: How Biden’s Informal Diplomacy Shaped Foreign Relations”

"Beginning in early 2011 and over the next 18 months, the two men convened at least eight times, in the United States and in China, according to former U.S. officials. They met formally, took walks, shot baskets at a rural Chinese school and spent more than 25 hours dining privately, joined only by interpreters. Mr. Biden made a quick 'personal connection' with the Chinese leader, even if he sometimes confounded his Mandarin interpreter by quoting hard-to-translate Irish verse, said Daniel Russel, [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-10T09:54:38-04:00July 5, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Elizabeth Rosenberg quoted in The New York Times article, “Bill Targeting Banks Over China’s Hong Kong Law Passes U.S. Senate”

"Elizabeth Rosenberg, a sanctions expert at the Center for a New American Security, called the bill 'a very strong step,' adding, 'They're really upping their game and trying out some very powerful new economic tools...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-10T09:53:10-04:00July 3, 2020|Economy & Trade|

Danny Russel interviewed in Nikkei article, “U.S. Response on Hong Kong Was Too Little, Too Late: Ex-Official”

"'One ounce of prevention is worth one pound of cure.' That was the analogy former senior U.S. official Daniel Russel gave when talking to Nikkei about the American response to China's new national security law for Hong Kong... "He blamed the failure to nip China's move in the bud on the lack of a united international front stemming from the current White House's inclination to put America first. The lack of bite in the international response, and President Donald Trump's concerns [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-10T09:41:49-04:00July 3, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

About Rebecca Skoryanc