Cybersecurity & Defense - WestExec Advisors

Dennis Ross writes in New York Daily News: “Will the Coronavirus Crisis Finally Lead Us Away from America First?”

"COVID-19 is forcing us to reimagine what life will be like going forward. Can it be a wake-up call for the costs of going it alone internationally? While debate over the scope of change domestically is a given, it is remarkable how little is being discussed about our approach internationally. "Even before COVID-19, America’s role in the world hardly figured in this year’s political debate. True, there were criticisms of President Trump’s readiness to berate our traditional allies while lauding Vladimir [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-24T10:46:43-04:00April 22, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michèle Flournoy interviewed on Freakonomics podcast, “Will Covid-19 Spark a Cold War (or Worse) With China?”

"I think it’s very clear that it came from one source or another in Wuhan. I think it’s very clear that the Chinese government sought to suppress that information early on, even punishing people like doctors who were trying to make it known. And that mishandling of the early crisis significantly increased the global implications and the price that every other country of the world is going to pay in lives and in livelihood and economic terms..." Listen to the full [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-24T11:15:25-04:00April 22, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Bridge Colby quoted in Nikkei article, “China-Russia Alliance On Horizon as Nuclear Arms Treaties Crumble”

"These concerns translated into action when the U.S. withdrew from the INF Treaty last August. While Washington blamed alleged violations by Moscow, the primary motive was to counter potential threats from Beijing, according to Elbridge Colby, a former senior Pentagon official who helped author the Trump administration's National Defense Strategy. "'The Chinese aspect to this is far more important for the United States,' Colby said. "'Although it could be beneficial for the United States to have INF Treaty missiles in Europe, [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-24T10:50:11-04:00April 21, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Michèle Flournoy participates in Chatham House virtual roundtable, “US Global Leadership After COVID-19”

"The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the absence of US global leadership. Michèle Flournoy talks with Dr. Leslie Vinjamuri about the impact of COVID-19 on US domestic priorities and foreign policy commitments. "Flournoy discusses current US strategy towards China and the Middle East and how this might change under a Democratic administration..." Watch the full event here: Full Event

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-05-01T14:39:46-04:00April 20, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michèle Flournoy writes with Mike Morrell in The Washington Post: “The 6 Factors That Determine Coronavirus Containment or Devastation”

"We both spent hundreds of hours in the Situation Room trying to prevent crises or dealing with them when prevention failed. Often, the issues we dealt with involved whole-of-government approaches here in the United States or working with our allies abroad. This experience got us interested in the key differences between countries that have managed the coronavirus outbreak well and those that have not. "Fundamentally, we define success in managing the outbreak as limiting the number of cases and deaths per [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-24T10:44:11-04:00April 19, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco interviewed on CBS News’ Intelligence Matters podcast

"[I]f I were still in my old seat today, I would've expected to see intelligence about what our intelligence community was seeing emerging out of China back in January and December. I would've expected to see what they were seeing and what they were thinking and understanding about the Chinese response, the Chinese government's response. And throughout this I would be expecting to get from them information about what other countries are doing, how they are postured, how much confidence we [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-17T16:04:15-04:00April 15, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Nick Rasmussen quoted in Philanthropy Magazine article, “When Extremists Leave Prison, Who Helps Them Find a New Life?”

"'How do you know it’s going to work?' That is a question Nick Rasmussen hears a lot, often from Members of Congress. Like Munter, Rasmussen spent most of his working life in government, most recently as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. When he left the public sector and went to work at the McCain Institute in 2017, he was inspired by a vision to address 'gaps' in national security that government can’t fill. As part of that, he now leads [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-17T16:08:45-04:00April 14, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco interviewed on CNN’s Newsroom

"A week before the inauguration, I led an exercise that had the outgoing national security team from the Obama administration sitting side-by-side with the incoming national security team for the Trump administration. We sat in a very large room on the White House campus and walked through a series of scenarios. One was very specifically a pandemic scenario, and it raised exactly the types of questions that we've been confronting for many weeks: shortage of supplies; vulnerable populations; when to close [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-17T16:03:17-04:00April 13, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco quoted in POLITICO article, “Inside America’s 2-Decade Failure to Prepare for Coronavirus”

"'I would get asked, what keeps you up at night?' said Lisa Monaco, who served as Obama’s homeland security adviser between 2013 and 2017. 'An emerging infectious disease like a new strain of flu was the thing I worried most about...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-17T16:07:24-04:00April 11, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Julie Smith quoted in Der Spiegel article, “How Trump Is Fueling a Corona Disaster”

"'Trump has systematically bled the government dry,' says Julianne Smith, who served as deputy national security adviser to Joe Biden when he was vice president. Trump has failed to fill many important positions in the government or he has dissolved them altogether. In one particularly disastrous move, he abolished the pandemic task force in the National Security Council that President Barack Obama set up after the Ebola outbreak in West Africa..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-17T16:10:00-04:00April 11, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|