Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Michèle Flournoy comments on likely ISIS strategy in Task and Purpose article

"'Despite the loss of its former caliphate, ISIS has not been defeated,' warned Michèle Flournoy, who served as under defense secretary for policy from 2009 to 2012. "'We have seen this movie before,' said Flournoy, who was expected to become defense secretary if Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential election. 'When a terrorist organization loses territory, it usually goes to ground in order to fight another day. (This was certainly true for Al Qaeda in Iraq, ISIS' predecessor.)' "'ISIS is likely [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T17:27:31-04:00March 25, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dennis Ross interviewed in Foreign Policy: “Trump’s Golan Giveaway ‘Makes It Harder’ to Achieve Peace”

"With a single tweet on Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump reversed a decades long U.S. policy on a fraught issue in the Middle East, announcing he would recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the strategically important Golan Heights on the Israel-Syria border. The move came two weeks before a critical Israeli election in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a Trump ally who is facing indictment, is fighting for his political career. Foreign Policy spoke with Dennis Ross, a veteran U.S. diplomat of multiple [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T17:27:42-04:00March 22, 2019|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Nick Rasmussen co-authors Lawfare article, “The Christchurch Shooting: Domestic Terrorism Goes International”

"The United States has long built its approach to counterterrorism based on a fundamental distinction between “international terrorism” and “domestic terrorism.” The phrases were always misnomers to some degree, but the recent mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has revealed just how unsuitable that distinction is for today’s terrorist threats. Governments must reorient their counterterrorism approaches to reflect an environment in which all terrorist threats have transnational dimensions—and they must do so quickly to address the growing threat [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2019-08-06T13:52:31-04:00March 19, 2019|News|

Lisa Monaco quoted in The Washington Post article “New Zealand attack exposes how little the U.S. and its allies share intelligence on domestic terrorism threats”

WestExec Principal and former homeland security advisor to the president Lisa Monaco is quoted as saying “this attack should have us asking ourselves whether or not we have a sufficient whole-of-government approach to this evolving terrorism threat... We don’t have a clear domestic lead in our federal government for these issues...” Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T17:31:45-04:00March 16, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on NATO

Michèle Flournoy testified alongside Douglas Lute, Derek Chollet, and Ian Brzezinski on the benefits of the NATO alliance to the United States, the importance of NATO in securing the peace in Europe throughout the Trans-Atlantic region, the insufficiency of the 2% benchmark for measuring allied and partner contributions, and alternative measurements that paint a more holistic picture of these contributions. Read her written testimony here: Written Testimony

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T16:36:23-04:00March 13, 2019|Press Releases|

Bridge Colby in Defense One: “Is the Pentagon Truly Committed to the National Defense Strategy?”

"As Senate and House committees examine the Trump administration’s proposed defense budget for fiscal 2020 — it totals three-quarters of a trillion dollars — the first and most important question they should ask is: Does this budget decisively improve the U.S. posture for great-power competition with China and Russia? "The 2018 National Defense Strategy developed under the leadership of Secretary James Mattis made clear the need to prioritize major improvements in the U.S. ability to deter Chinese or Russian aggression. In [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T16:36:35-04:00March 12, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby in The Wall Street Journal: “Take India’s Side, America”

"The moment of maximum danger in the latest India-Pakistan conflict appears to have passed. But after a major attack by Pakistani militants on an Indian military base in Kashmir and the first Indian air strike on Pakistan proper since 1971, tensions are still smoldering between the two South Asian nuclear powers. The episode highlights the need for the U.S. to reassess its role in this volatile part of the world—and to come down firmly on India’s side..." Read the full article [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T16:36:47-04:00March 12, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco on NPR: “Drone Strikes And Transparency”

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with WestExec Principal and former Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to the President Lisa Monaco about President Trump's decision to rescind part of an order boosting transparency around drone strikes. Listen to the full NPR interview or read the transcript here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T16:37:02-04:00March 10, 2019|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Mike Singh testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on U.S. Policy in the Arabian Peninsula

On February 6, Mike Singh testified alongside David Harden, Mara Karlin, and Jake Sullivan on U.S. Policy in the Arabian Peninsula. Watch the full hearing here: Full Hearing

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T16:37:17-04:00February 6, 2019|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michael Camilleri in Americas Quarterly: “All Eyes on Guatemala as Crisis Brews Ahead of Elections”

"It’s not every day that a purportedly friendly foreign nation tries to intimidate the United States by dispatching a fleet of military vehicles to the U.S. Embassy. It is rarer still for the vehicles in question to have been donated by the United States itself and diverted from their intended mission of combatting crime and narcotics trafficking. And it is perhaps unprecedented that such a turn of events would elicit only a tepid response from the U.S. government, followed a short [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-07T16:37:50-04:00February 4, 2019|Geopolitical Perspectives|

About Rebecca Skoryanc