Geopolitical Perspectives - WestExec Advisors

Celeste Wallander quoted in The Washington Post article, “At Munich Security Conference, an Atlantic Divide: U.S. Boasting and European Unease”

“'The first year I was here, the Europeans all said, "It’s fine, because all the adults are in the room,”' said Celeste Wallander, who was on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council. 'The second year, it was, "Tell us this is as bad as it’s going to get." The third year, it was like, "Oh my God, this is awful. What do we do," and this year they’ve all normalized it...'" Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:47:45-05:00February 15, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Mike Singh testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs: “The Middle East Peace Process: An Analysis from Former U.S. Negotiators”

"Historically, the strategic foundation for U.S. involvement in the peace process has been twofold. First, the peace process was a way for the United States to manage seemingly contradictory partnerships with Israel and the Arab states, few of which recognized Israel and several of which had waged war repeatedly against the Jewish state. As Egypt and Jordan relinquished their own claims to the West Bank and Gaza beginning in the 1970s, the Arab world largely threw its support behind the Palestinian [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:26:12-05:00February 12, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Julie Smith quoted in The New York Times article, “Merkel Succession Crisis in Germany Leaves Europe Leaderless, Too”

"Ms. Merkel will simply not take risks even when they are necessary, said Julianne Smith, a former Obama official now with the German Marshall Fund in Washington. 'It’s the worst of all worlds — we need Merkel to lead and sadly it’s not happening,' she said..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:28:32-05:00February 11, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Julie Smith writes with Torrey Taussig in Lawfare: “Europe Needs a China Strategy; Brussels Needs to Shape It”

"Europe’s momentum in developing a clear-eyed approach toward China has stalled. In March 2019, the European Commission issued a white paper naming China a systemic rival and economic competitor. That publication marked a fundamental shift in how far European institutions were willing to go in raising the challenges China poses to Europe’s openness and prosperity. It also reflected shifts that were occurring in capitals across Europe. Just as the European Union was rolling out its white paper on China, German Chancellor [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:24:50-05:00February 9, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Julie Smith quoted in Newsweek article, “Support for NATO Falling Among Americans, New Survey Shows”

"Julianne Smith, a former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, told Newsweek, 'It shouldn't be shocking, given what the president has said about the NATO alliance for the better part of the last three years,' that American support for the bloc has dropped. "NATO has enjoyed bipartisan support in the U.S. for 70 years, but Trump's presidency has exposed rifts within the organization. 'I worry that in a second Trump term, maybe we would see some additional damage to [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:29:48-05:00February 9, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Lisa Monaco writes in Lawfare: “The Coronavirus Shows Why the U.S. Must Make Pandemic Disease a National Security Priority”

"In 2018, I published an article with public health expert Vin Gupta sounding the alarm about the failure to prepare adequately for emerging infectious diseases. We were hardly the only ones. Our article, 'The Next Pandemic Will Be Arriving Shortly,' joined many national security and public health experts in using the 100th anniversary of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which killed 50 million people, to focus attention on the national security imperative that is pandemic disease. From my perspective as the [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-04-08T16:07:53-04:00February 7, 2020|Cybersecurity & Defense, Geopolitical Perspectives|

Ely Ratner quoted in The Diplomat article, “The Coming U.S.-China Competition in Central Asia”

"Testifying before a U.S. Congressional Commission, Ely Ratner, executive director of the Center for a New American Security, warned, 'The United States is losing this competition in ways that increase the likelihood not just of the crumbling of the U.S.-led order in Asia, but also the rise of a China-dominated region.' In such a scenario, he cautioned, 'the region will be less free, less open, and less inclusive than it is today,' and it would take 'generations (at least) to revive [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:22:01-05:00February 6, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Dan Shapiro quoted in The Hill article, “Palestinians Face Shrinking Options with Trump Peace Plan”

"'The plan is largely a dead letter but the facilitation of the unilateral steps that it will bring about is really what could change the situation quite dramatically,' said Dan Shapiro, the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel under President Obama and visiting fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv..." Read the full article here: Full Article

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-31T16:12:43-05:00January 31, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Dan Shapiro writes in NPR: “Trump’s Fundamentally Flawed ‘Vision’ For Mideast Peace”

"When President Trump issued his 'Vision for Peace, Prosperity, and a Brighter Future for Israel and the Palestinian People' at the White House on Tuesday, I was reminded that no one should be more humble about critiquing new Middle East peace initiatives than those who have taken part in previous ones. I am in the club of U.S. government officials who poured thousands of hours into that effort — and failed. "So I appreciate President Trump, Jared Kushner and their colleagues' [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-01-31T16:11:21-05:00January 30, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|

Michael Camilleri writes with Catharine Christie in Americas Quarterly: “How the ‘Art of the Deal’ Hurt Latin America’s Corruption Fight”

"One of the bolder claims in Donald Trump’s impeachment defense posits that the U.S. president withheld military aid to Ukraine out of genuine concern over corruption in the former Soviet republic, and not to extract an investigation into a political rival. The assertion might be more plausible were the White House not simultaneously contemplating revisions to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which Trump has long derided as placing American businesses at an unfair disadvantage. Still, some U.S senators appear willing to [...]

Rebecca Skoryanc2020-02-24T15:19:28-05:00January 30, 2020|Geopolitical Perspectives|