Geopolitical Perspectives - WestExec Advisors

WestExec Spotlight: Rachel Ellehuus

WestExec’s Spotlight Series highlights the issues some of our team members focus on. This week’s Spotlight features Rachel Ellehuus, former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy and Principal Director for European and NATO Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 2015-2018. Europe: The political currents in Europe grow increasingly complicated as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union, the United States readies to remove a substantial number of troops from Germany, [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:26:42-04:00September 18, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives, WestExec Spotlight|

Michael Camilleri testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Civilian Security, and Trade: “The Health, Economic, and Political Challenges Facing Latin America and the Caribbean”

"While regional experiences vary and it is still early to draw definitive conclusions, it is already clear that the pandemic is exposing and exacerbating many of Latin America’s preexisting challenges. Income inequality, labor informality, and weak social safety nets obligated millions of citizens to choose between protecting their health and feeding their families. Strained public finances and regressive tax systems limited the steps governments could take to stimulate their economies and support those most in need. Weak public services and discrimination [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:20:36-04:00September 15, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Dennis Ross writes in The Washington Post: “The Middle East Is Changing. Will Palestinians Be Left Behind?”

"At the White House on Tuesday, Israel will formalize peace with the United Arab Emirates and sign a declaration of peace with Bahrain. For some, this event symbolizes the advent of a new day in the region. Others bemoan it for rewarding the Israelis and doing little to end the occupation of the Palestinians..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:16:12-04:00September 13, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Mike Singh quoted in Financial Times article, “Bahrain Joins UAE in Normalising Relations with Israel”

"Mike Singh, a former director of Middle East affairs at the National Security Council, said that while Mr. Trump has long been focused on a 'deal of the century' between Israelis and Palestinians, administration officials have 'always felt there was more progress to be made between Israel and US allies in the Gulf than between the Israelis and Palestinians...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:24:33-04:00September 11, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Ely Ratner quoted in The Wall Street Journal article, “What’s Biden’s New China Policy? It Looks a Lot Like Trump’s”

"Biden advisers see China policy as just as much about rebuilding the U.S. economy as containing China’s. 'The debate should be about who’s going to make America more competitive,' says Ely Ratner, a Biden national security aide in the Obama administration now at the Center for a New American Security..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:22:40-04:00September 10, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Mike Singh quoted in Radio Free Europe article, “With Nuclear Deal on The Line, Iran Has Plenty at Stake in the U.S. Election”

"Michael Singh, a managing director at the Washington Institute and former senior director at the National Security Council, said the JCPOA was 'effectively dead,' regardless of the outcome of the election..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:06:44-04:00September 10, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Celeste Wallander interviewed on CSIS’ Babel podcast, “Russia in the Middle East: Part One”

"In the first episode of our new narrative podcast miniseries, Russia in the Middle East, Jon Alterman gives an overview of Russian policy in the Middle East and how the Middle East fits into Russia’s worldview. He covers Russia's return to the Middle East and looks at how Russian foreign policy has changed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Jon also sits down with Dmitri Trenin, director of Carnegie's Moscow Center, and Celeste Wallander, president and CEO of the U.S.-Russia [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:01:04-04:00September 10, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel writes in South China Morning Post: “US Election: How China’s Actions During the Presidential Transition Could Make or Break Sino-US Relations”

"Now that Joe Biden has named his running mate and both US political parties have held their conventions, the 2020 election campaign is under way in earnest. The ups and downs of the summer have been just a prelude to the electoral battle of the next two months..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T21:58:07-04:00September 10, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Dan Shapiro writes with David Makovsky in The Washington Post: “Here’s How Palestinians Could Benefit from the Diplomatic Deal Between Israel and the United Arab Emirates”

"Some observers seem to assume that the recent agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates means the end of efforts to achieve a reasonable, two-state outcome to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Some Israelis may hope that improving relations with Arab states would obviate the need for further negotiations with the Palestinians..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T21:54:26-04:00September 9, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Ely Ratner quoted in The New York Times article, “Joe Biden’s China Journey”

"'Across the ideological spectrum, we in the U.S. foreign policy community have remained deeply invested in expectations about China — about its approach to economics, domestic politics, security and global order — even as evidence against them has accumulated,'” [Kurt Campbell and Ely Ratner] wrote. “'The policies built on such expectations have failed to change China in the ways we intended or hoped...'” Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-09-30T22:42:43-04:00September 6, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|