Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Michèle Flournoy on PBS Newshour, “What’s the Outlook for U.S. Foreign Policy As A Tumultuous Decade Ends?”

"The past ten years have seen both transformation and inertia in global politics. In many countries, as heads of government have changed, authoritarian leadership has not. Nick Schifrin sits down with the Hudson Institute’s Rebeccah Heinrichs, the American Enterprise Institute’s Kori Schake and Michèle Flournoy of WestExec Advisors to discuss why the decade is concluding with a year of protest..." Read the full transcript here: Full Transcript

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:35:17-05:00December 25, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dennis Ross writes with Dana Stroul in Foreign Policy: “The United States Can Offer the People of Lebanon and Iraq Something Tehran Can’t”

"Protests and upheaval are sweeping Iraq and Lebanon. The wrath of demonstrators in the streets is being directed against their own political classes and at Iran’s government. Citizens in Lebanon and Iraq are not only fed up with economic mismanagement, ineffective governance, and entrenched corruption of political elites at home, but they also directly link their dismal situation to Tehran’s corrupting influence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s exploitation of their countries to fund and arm militias unaccountable to their countries. [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:36:46-05:00December 24, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Bob Work quoted in Wired article, “Washington Must Bet Big on AI or Lose Its Global Clout”

"'Both the Russians and the Chinese have concluded that the way to leapfrog the US is with AI,' says Bob Work, a distinguished senior fellow at CNAS who served as deputy secretary of defense under Presidents Obama and Trump. Work says the US needs to convince the public and that it doesn’t intend to develop lethal autonomous weapons, only technology that would counter the work Russia and China are doing..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:44:43-05:00December 17, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Julie Smith quoted in Newsweek article, “Will China Be NATO’s Next Challenge? Alliance Eyes Beijing’s Rise While Mired In Infighting”

"Julianne Smith, a former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, told Newsweek it is premature to talk about a post-Russia NATO. 'This is not an alliance looking for more to do,' she explained. 'It still has to focus on its core mission of enhanced deterrence in central and eastern Europe.' "... The alliance isn't united on China, Smith said, 'which is why it's important for NATO to start talking about the challenge. Portugal and Greece look at China much [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:47:23-05:00December 17, 2019|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Liz Rosenberg writes with Jordan Tama in Defense One: “Add Economic Policy to Deterrence Planning”

"American defense leaders have adapted over the years to shifts in technology and conflict — for example, accepting space and cyber as principal warfighting domains and integrating them into planning and thinking about deterrence and escalation. But national security policymakers are overdue to incorporate economic instruments, such as sanctions and trade controls, into planning for conflicts and crises. "From Russia and North Korea to Iran and Venezuela, U.S. presidents and lawmakers have long employed varying levels of economic pressure to alter [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:43:19-05:00December 16, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense, Economy & Trade|

Bridge Colby quoted in The Washington Post article, “U.S. Tests Missile After Withdrawing From 1987 Treaty”

"Elbridge Colby, who led the team that helped develop the Pentagon’s military strategy to counter China and Russia, said the new missile would be an important addition to the U.S. non-nuclear arsenal. “'It is an important step forward in strengthening our conventional posture, especially in Asia,' said Mr. Colby, who left the Pentagon last year. "The new land-based weapon, Mr. Colby said, would present the Chinese military with more U.S. systems to worry about and would also be more cost-effective for [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:45:50-05:00December 12, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Ely Ratner, Liz Rosenberg, and Paul Scharre write in Foreign Affairs: “Beyond the Trade War: A Competitive Approach to Countering China”

"The verdict is in on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with China. Regardless of whether U.S. negotiators soon reach a deal with Beijing, the administration’s initial gambit has run aground. After wreaking havoc on portions of the U.S. economy with his trade policies, the president is now angling to freeze or roll back tariffs on Chinese products in exchange for almost nothing. Deal or no deal in the coming days, it is clear that the United States needs a fundamentally [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2019-12-13T07:37:35-05:00December 12, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense, Economy & Trade, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Bridge Colby writes with A. Wess Mitchell in Foreign Affairs: “The Age of Great-Power Competition”

"U.S. foreign policy is, by most accounts, in disarray. Headlines—including in these pages—proclaim the death of global American leadership. Famous columnists send regular dispatches from the frontlines of U.S. President Donald Trump’s supposed campaign against the postwar liberal order. The damage to Washington’s standing in the world, we are told, is irreparable. "But step back from the day-to-day commotion, and a different picture emerges. In truth, the United States is gearing up for a new era—one marked not by unchallenged U.S. [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:54:19-05:00December 11, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dennis Ross writes in The Washington Post: “Why Soleimani’s killing is a gift to Vladimir Putin”

"The targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani is a potential game-changer in the Middle East. Vladimir Putin certainly sees it that way. Within days, he had rushed to Damascus, Syria — not to shore up Bashar al-Assad or tighten Moscow’s grip there but to show that Russia remains a central player and cannot be relegated to the sidelines. "His visit to Syria was one such indicator. His follow-on trip to Turkey was another. In Istanbul, he and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-16T21:52:45-05:00December 11, 2019|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel quoted in Time article, “Aung San Suu Kyi Defends Myanmar Against Rohingya Genocide Allegations at The Hague”

"Nevertheless, many officials in Washington and other capitals remained sympathetic to Suu Kyi, who is forced to share power with unelected generals she cannot control. Isolating Suu Kyi’s government would 'make a difficult situation a lot worse,' Daniel Russel, a former top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said in 2017..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2019-12-13T07:43:21-05:00December 11, 2019|Geopolitical Perspectives|

About Rebecca Skoryanc