Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

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|

Lisa Monaco interviewed on CNN

"'This was not a black swan event,' says former Obama Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco, responding to President Trump's claim that the coronavirus pandemic was an unforeseen crisis. 'This is not a surprise. And we should have been better prepared...'" Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T09:49:52-04:00March 28, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dan Shapiro quoted in the Wall Street Journal article, “Coronavirus and Autocrats: Never Let Pandemic Go to Waste”

"'In a moment of crisis, when people are fearful, they are looking to authorities to reassure them, and they are willing to give leaders additional tools to manage chaos and limit risk,' said Daniel Shapiro, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. 'The danger is that these tools that exceed the limits of the normal democratic system may not be returned after the crisis is over. That’s the balance [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T10:04:55-04:00March 28, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Julie Smith quoted in POLITICO article, “Coronavirus Rattles America’s National Security Priesthood”

"'Members of Congress have factories in their states and districts that produce these weapons. There are not a lot of members of Congress who can say "My state is going to be the pre-eminent producer for N95 masks,"' said Julie Smith, a former Obama administration official now with the German Marshall Fund..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T10:02:21-04:00March 28, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michèle Flournoy featured in Defense News article, “Public Health Must Be Part of National Security Calculus, Says Flournoy”

"Michèle Flournoy, who spent three years as undersecretary of defense for policy at the start of the Obama administration, also said via a webcast hosted by the Hudson Institute that U.S. attempts at deterrence in the Middle East must evolve beyond force presence. She called for an American version of China’s Belt and Road Initiative — an economic growth strategy. "'We are defining national security too narrowly. Dealing with pandemics and safeguarding the health of the American population from a threat [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-03-30T11:02:23-04:00March 27, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Liz Rosenberg quoted in S&P Global article, “With Oil Prices Down, Some Federal, State Efforts to Aid Producers Stumble”

"'In a collapsed oil market there's every additional opportunity for sanctions hawks to layer it on,' said Elizabeth Rosenberg, director of the energy program at the Center for a New American Security and a former senior sanctions adviser at the Department of the Treasury. 'In fact, it's in the interest of US producers who are grasping for a lifeline...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-03T09:54:59-04:00March 27, 2020|Economy & Trade|

About Rebecca Skoryanc