Rebecca Skoryanc, Author at WestExec Advisors

Matt Waxman and national security leaders urge Congress to provide election officials with additional funds

"American elections, the bedrock of our democracy, face two extraordinary challenges this year: Covid-19 and combatting foreign interference. While these twin challenges are first and foremost a test of our democracy, they are also a threat to our national security. We urge you to provide election officials with the resources they need to protect our elections this year. "As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, state and local governments face significant and unexpected costs as they prepare to provide safe in-person [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:34:28-04:00July 20, 2020|Press Releases|

Miriam Vogel quoted in IFSEC Global article, “Why AI and Facial Recognition Software Is Under Scrutiny for Racial and Gender Bias”

"In the United States the issue of bias in AI is most explosive. Writing on techcrunch.com, Miriam Vogel, President and CEO of Equal AI, believes that while racism has its historical roots, 'AI now plays a role in creating, exacerbating and hiding these disparities behind the facade of a seemingly neutral, scientific machine.' She says one solution is to ensure a more diverse tech workforce – particularly in gender and race – but that recent data show that the proportion of [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:14:32-04:00July 20, 2020|Social Impact|

Matt Waxman interviewed on The Lawfare Podcast, “The Forgotten War Remembered”

"This year marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. Though often called the 'Forgotten War,' the Korean War has highly conditioned much of our contemporary international politics in East Asia, and the people of Korea continue to live with its aftermath, both in the north and in the south. And the shadow of the Korean War looms large over something we often debate on Lawfare—war powers. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. entry into the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:58:19-04:00July 20, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Dennis Ross quoted in The Washington Post article, “How Netanyahu Is Already Planning for A Biden Presidency”

"The Netanyahu government may not have done all this damage: 'Not every incident that transpires in Iran necessarily has something to do with us,' its defense minister coyly said earlier this month. But reporting by The Post and the New York Times pins the largest attacks, including that at the centrifuge facility, on Israel — and Middle East analysts I consulted don’t doubt it. 'I’m surprised the Israelis have not been more circumspect about this,' said Dennis Ross, a former senior [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:53:28-04:00July 19, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Chris Inglis writes with Joe Heck in The Hill: “Creating A More Secure Nation Means Public Service Hiring Practices Need an Overhaul”

"The public sector has over 33,000 openings in cybersecurity. This means that about one in three possible public sector cybersecurity jobs is currently unfilled. It also means that we are leaving our country vulnerable to future attacks in cyberspace if we do not have the experts we need to update information technology systems, analyze network traffic, research emerging tools, respond to cyber incidents, coordinate with other sectors, and the myriad other responsibilities that fall to the federal cyber workforce. "The federal [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T21:32:10-04:00July 18, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Jay Shambaugh writes with Wendy Edelberg for Brookings’ The Hamilton Project: “How the Pandemic Is Changing the Economy”

"The COVID-19 public health crisis, the economic shock triggered by the pandemic, and public policy, business, and individual responses to the pandemic together have provoked the sharpest and fastest economic downturn in U.S. history. Both the pandemic and the fiscal policy response have ebbed and flowed, and the economy remains fragile. Wendy Edelberg and Jay Shambaugh discuss how the current crisis fits into historic context and what will be the long-lasting economic consequences. In particular, policymakers will need to address increasing [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:07:11-04:00July 17, 2020|Economy & Trade|

Dan Shapiro quoted in Vox article, “Mysterious Explosions Keep Happening in Iran. Israel Is Likely Behind It.”

"Such assessments are important, former US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro told me. Israeli officials believe that if those advanced centrifuges were ever installed and operated at full capacity, it 'might allow Iran to break out not with just one bomb, but with an arsenal' of nuclear weapons, he said. Delaying that possibility, then, is certainly a clear and vital Israeli goal... "As Shapiro, the former American ambassador to Israel, explained it to me, the concept 'reflects the Israeli philosophical approach [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:55:54-04:00July 17, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Liz Rosenberg quoted in Lawfare article, “What Britain’s New Sanctions Reveal About U.S.-U.K. Relations”

"There is a considerable amount of convergence between Britain’s 49 designations on July 6 and the U.S. sanctions list. Indeed, the vast majority of individuals that Britain sanctioned pursuant to its 2018 Magnitsky Act already appear on the U.S. 'specially-designated nationals' list—effectively a blacklist of persons and entities with whom any business is prohibited—and for the same reasons. For example, all 25 Russian individuals sanctioned by Britain for their involvement in the killing of Magnitsky, who died in police custody after [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:49:32-04:00July 17, 2020|Economy & Trade|

Michèle Flournoy quoted in POLITICO article, “Trump Skirting Congress to Install Loyalists in the Pentagon”

"A report issued this week by the Center for a New American Security, which was co-authored by Michèle Flournoy, the undersecretary of defense for policy in the Obama administration, said the Pentagon needs leaders with a record of 'deep expertise and competence in their areas of responsibility; proven leadership in empowering teams, listening to diverse views, making tough decisions, and delivering results.' And they must be 'able to work well in a team of strong peers.' "In an interview, Flournoy insisted [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T21:39:44-04:00July 17, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

Lisa Monaco quoted in Vanity Fair article, “‘We Need Them to F–king Do Something’: Former Pandemic Officials Call Trump’s COVID-19 Response a National Disaster”

"'The CDC’s expertise and job is to provide that source of expert guidance and information and data to the states. And not in, often, a prescriptive way, but you can just go and see in past epidemics and past outbreaks—whether it’s Ebola or Zika—what we did is we relied on the public health and science and epidemiological professionals,' Lisa Monaco, who served as the homeland security adviser to President Barack Obama told me, name-checking Fauci and former CDC chief Thomas Frieden [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:48:15-04:00July 16, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense|

About Rebecca Skoryanc