Geopolitical Perspectives - WestExec Advisors

Danny Russel and Ely Ratner quoted in Los Angeles Times article, “As Trump Attacks Biden On China, He’s Playing A Weak Hand”

"Ely Ratner, a former Biden advisor now at the Center for a New American Security, co-wrote in Foreign Affairs in 2018, 'Nearly half a century since Nixon’s first steps toward rapprochement, the record is increasingly clear that Washington once again put too much faith in its power to shape China’s trajectory...' "Midway through the Obama administration, he was in China when it announced a 'military defense zone' in the airspace of U.S. allies in Asia, declaring planes could not fly through [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:42:18-04:00July 27, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel quoted in Reuters article, “Ahead of U.S. Election, China Braces for Rocky Ride, Potential Change”

"'The Chinese seem to be under no illusions that a Biden victory would reverse Washington’s view of China, but will likely make an overture for dialogue with a new administration,' said Daniel Russel, the top diplomat for East Asia under President Barack Obama and early in the Trump administration. "Russel has no formal role in the Biden campaign but is close to the candidate’s foreign policy advisers..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:46:04-04:00July 24, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Rachel Ellehuus quoted in NPR article, “‘Maybe I’m Not as Safe as Before’: Turkish Admiral Seeking Asylum In U.S. Speaks Out”

"'I wouldn't say it's entirely implausible,' says Rachel Ellehuus, deputy director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. 'I've never seen proof to that end.' "Still, Ellehuus and others say that Erdogan has clearly benefited from the coup — which he termed 'a gift from God' — allowing him to swiftly eliminate any criticism of his government..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:16:49-04:00July 23, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel interviewed on CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia

"China will inevitably retaliate over the United States' ordered closure of the mainland's Houston consulate, adding to 'escalating tit-for-tat' bilateral tensions, says Daniel Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T12:13:10-04:00July 23, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel quoted in CNN article, “U.S. Move to Shut China’s Houston Consulate Draws Questions About Political Motives”

"Former officials were perplexed. Danny Russel, the former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs who left the department in 2017, said that when he was at State and the National Security Council, 'the Chinese consulate in Houston did not have a particular reputation as an acute vector of espionage.' "'It is very hard for me to figure out what China could do uniquely from its consulate in Houston that it could not equally well do from its [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:54:29-04:00July 23, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Julie Smith quoted in POLITICO article, “How U.S., Allies Can Confront the China Challenge”

"Build Bridges: Others see big opportunities to respond to China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). 'The EU and the U.S. should create a joint investment fund that would support investment projects abroad and counter China’s BRI,' said Julianne Smith, director of the Asia Program and the Geopolitics Program at the German Marshall Fund — building on work on infrastructure development already underway in the region and welcoming Japan and Australia..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:50:38-04:00July 22, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Danny Russel quoted in The New York Times article, “U.S. Orders China to Close Houston Consulate, Citing Efforts to Steal Trade Secrets”

"Daniel Russel, who served in Mr. Stilwell’s job during the Obama administration, said closing the Houston consulate 'further reduces the few remaining diplomatic channels between the two sides and is a step that will prove difficult to reverse.' “'The China accusation that this move has more to do with presidential politics than with intellectual property is hard to argue with,' said Mr. Russel, now a vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T21:37:36-04:00July 22, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Rachel Ellehuus quoted in Foreign Policy article, “4 Key Takeaways from the British Report on Russian Interference”

"While Russia has long honed its hacking and disinformation skills on neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, the report notes that Russia’s efforts to sway voters in Scotland ahead of the 2014 independence referendum marked the first known attempt to interfere in the democratic processes of a Western country. Rachel Ellehuus, the deputy director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it was surprising that 'as far back as 2014, knowing the objectives and the tactics [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-08-01T08:52:07-04:00July 21, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Mike Singh writes in The New York Times: “When China Met Iran”

"Leaked news this month that China and Iran had come to the verge of signing a 25-year trade and military partnership agreement struck like a geopolitical storm in Washington — a rising rival of America and a longtime foe joining forces to threaten the United States’s predominant position in the Middle East. "The agreement ambitiously promises to bring a huge Chinese presence into Iran’s economic development, in exchange for a regular supply of heavily discounted Iranian oil..." Read the full article [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-07-31T17:42:36-04:00July 21, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

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|