"A large group of prominent American foreign-policy experts, including former high-ranking White House officials from both parties, is calling on the Trump administration to work more closely with China to stem the coronavirus epidemic..." Read the full article here: Full Article
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 [...]
"'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
"'What I learned most is that we had to stand up a global biosecurity and health directorate, and get it enshrined for the next administration,' said Lisa Monaco, Mr. Obama’s homeland security adviser... "After Mr. Trump’s election, Ms. Monaco arranged an extensive exercise for high-level incoming officials — including Rex W. Tillerson, the nominee for secretary of state; John F. Kelly, designated to become homeland security secretary; and Rick Perry, who would become energy secretary — gaming out the response to [...]
"Preet and Anne are joined by Lisa Monaco, who was President Obama’s chief homeland security and counterterrorism advisor. Drawing on her experience battling pandemics, Lisa provides valuable perspective on the response to the crisis, and helps Preet and Anne break down all of the important issues..." Sign up to listen to the full episode here: Full Episode
"We were warned in 2017, a week before inauguration day, when Lisa Monaco, Barack Obama’s outgoing homeland-security adviser, gathered with Donald Trump’s incoming national-security officials and conducted an exercise modeled on the administration’s experiences with outbreaks of swine flu, Ebola, and Zika. The simulation explored how the U.S. government should respond to a flu pandemic that halts international travel, upends global supply chains, tanks the stock market, and burdens health-care systems—all with a vaccine many months from materializing. 'The nightmare scenario [...]
"Lisa Monaco, who served as Barack Obama's former Homeland Security adviser (2013–2017), tells Axios the U.S. squandered the time bought by China's aggressive (if belated) containment efforts and the travel restrictions Trump imposed on China. "'As we saw this coming out of China in December, there should have really been ramping up,' says Monaco, who was warning that a pandemic like this one might strike long before it did. “'If you’re thinking about a worst-case scenario here, you would be thinking, [...]
"[In Fauci's testimony to Capitol Hill] he was asked, 'is this going to get worse?' and he was clear as he could be: yes, it is absolutely going to get worse. But how much worse? That will depend on how aggressive we are right now. Why did he say that? Because he's trying to set the conditions to flatten the curve and he's trying to prepare us..." "[Trump] talked about this being an unforeseen challenge. That's not true. It absolutely was [...]
"Live from Washington, D.C., Axios politics and White House editor Margaret Talev hosts a conversation on cybersecurity and the future of tech policy, featuring Sen. Angus King, Rep. Mike Gallagher, Homeland Security CISA Director Christopher Krebs and former Obama Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco..." Watch the full interview here: Full Interview
"Critics say Trump's representation of the numbers related to the spread of the disease is complicating the government's response. "'The focus on the numbers for numbers' sake just exposes... they're not looking around the next corner here,' said Lisa Monaco, a former homeland security adviser to former President Barack Obama. 'They're not preparing the public for what is going to be a substantial spike in the number of cases that we see...'" Read the full article here: Full Article