Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Lisa Monaco quoted in The Washington Post article, “America Was Unprepared for a Major Crisis. Again.”

"'I don’t want to give an impression that we bestowed the answer key for dealing with such a challenging and unprecedented crisis,' Monaco said. 'But the idea was to identify issues that would say these are the kinds of things you need to be planning for and thinking about now.' "What does it mean for the federal government to be prepared? 'Oftentimes, the gauge is no mistakes, no criticism, just complete smooth sailing,' Monaco said. “That to me is not the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-14T13:23:47-04:00April 4, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Mike Singh quoted in the Financial Times article, “U.S. Fears Large-Scale Attacks Against American Troops in Iraq”

"'Iran is carrying out a relatively low-cost but effective strategy to increase the pain for the US and for our Iraqi friends, so deterring Iran is not going to be a one-off event but will require a willingness to strike again and again,' said Mike Singh, a former senior director for Middle East affairs at the National Security Council. 'The question is: is the US willing to pursue an indefinite campaign against Iranian proxies in the region given the clear desire—especially [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-14T13:26:15-04:00April 3, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

WestExec Partners, Principals, and Senior Advisors featured in the Wall Street Journal article, “U.S. Foreign-Policy Experts Call for Cooperation With China on Coronavirus”

"A large group of prominent American foreign-policy experts, including former high-ranking White House officials from both parties, is calling on the Trump administration to work more closely with China to stem the coronavirus epidemic..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-14T13:34:55-04:00April 3, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Matt Waxman co-hosts Lawfare’s The Cyber Law Podcast, “How Israel is Fighting the Coronavirus”

"We present a lightly edited interview about Israel’s technology- and surveillance-heavy approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. In it, Matthew Waxman, Liviu Librescu Professor of Law at Columbia University, and I talk to Yuval Shany, a noted Israeli human rights expert and professor at Hebrew University. We cover the particularly fraught political crisis that the virus exacerbated, the Israeli government’s use of counterterrorism tools to trace contacts of infected individuals, and the significance of locational privacy in the face of a deadly [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-14T13:30:08-04:00April 3, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michael Camilleri writes in the Los Angeles Times: “Can Justice for Maduro Bring Peace to Venezuela?”

"On Tuesday, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo unveiled a detailed framework for restoring democracy in Venezuela that was immediately rejected by the man who would need to step aside for such a transition to occur: Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Perhaps this should not come as a surprise, given that just last week the U.S. Department of Justice charged Maduro with narco-terrorism and put a $15-million price on his head. "Many Venezuelans reacted with understandable satisfaction to the indictment of Maduro [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T09:48:31-04:00April 3, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

WestExec Spotlight: Lisa Monaco

Given WestExec’s broad and diverse multidisciplinary team, we are proud to launch a "Spotlight Series" highlighting what some of our team members are focused on and how they are developing tailored strategies for our clients while contributing to the intellectual discussion on key global challenges. As President Obama’s former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor, Lisa was in charge of the U.S. government response to pandemics. COVID-19: Lisa has been concerned about a pandemic outbreak for a long time. In 2018, Lisa [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-07T08:44:44-04:00April 3, 2020|WestExec Spotlight|

Michèle Flournoy and Gabrielle Chefitz write in Defense News: “Breaking the Logjam: How the Pentagon Can Build Trust with Congress”

"Recent defense budget hearings saw a series of heated exchanges between lawmakers and Department of Defense leaders over plans to reach a 355-ship Navy by 2030. This political debate over the path to 355 is focused on precisely the wrong metric. It is a distraction from the difficult but urgent and necessary trade-offs the United States must make to prepare for a far more contested and lethal future security environment. "In a world where defense budgets will plateau or shrink, the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T09:45:32-04:00April 2, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dan Shapiro interviewed on Pod Save the World

"We skip the update on the spread of the coronavirus itself and instead focus on the impact it’s having on governments and people. For example, 2019 was the year of the protestor, but how do protestors continue if they can’t gather safely or legally? How can we stop leaders from using the coronavirus to consolidate power, stifle the press or jettison privacy protections? And with the news that the virus has temporarily sidelined a US aircraft carrier, how do we refocus [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T10:01:18-04:00April 1, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michèle Flournoy featured in the Washington Diplomat article, “Michèle Flournoy Hopes U.S. Takes Pragmatic Path to Navigate National Security Challenges”

"Michèle Flournoy speaks in calm, measured tones about some of the world’s most terrifying crises, from coronavirus and nuclear weapons to Afghanistan and Iran. But that doesn’t mean her words carry any less weight or urgency. "Her level-headed yet deeply thought-out approach to the litany of national security threats facing the United States propelled her to the top echelons of the Pentagon. It’s also made her a popular moderate voice among both Democrats and Republicans..." Read the full article here: Full [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T09:51:34-04:00March 31, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Danny Russel quoted in the Wall Street Journal article, “Hidden Chinese Lending Puts Emerging-Market Economies at Risk”

"'The debt burden from these projects is very quickly going to become unsustainable for many, many, many countries,' said Danny Russel, the State Department’s top diplomat for East Asia affairs under President Obama. 'This is scary stuff...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T10:03:12-04:00March 30, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

About Rebecca Skoryanc