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Guy Taylor

Guy Taylor

gtaylor@washingtontimes.com

Guy Taylor is the National Security Editor at The Washington Times, overseeing the paper's State Department, Pentagon and intelligence coverage and driving the daily Threat Status newsletter. He has reported from dozens of countries and been a guest on the BBC, CNN, NPR, FOX, C-SPAN and The McLaughlin Group.
A series Mr. Taylor led on Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. election was recognized with a Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency, and a Society for Professional Journalists award. In 2012, he won a Virginia Press Association award reporting from Mexico.Prior to joining The Times in 2011, Mr. Taylor was supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Fund For Investigative Journalism. He wrote for a variety publications, from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to Salon, Reason, Prospect, the Daily Star of Beirut, the Jerusalem Post and the St. Petersburg Times. He also served as an editor at World Politics Review, wrote for America's Quarterly and produced videos and features for Agence France-Presse.Mr. Taylor holds an M.S. in Global Security Studies from Angelo State University and a B.A. from Clark University. He was part of a team who won a Society of Professional Journalists award for their reporting on the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
He can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.

Threat Status Influencers Videos

Go behind the scenes with Washington Times National Security Editor Guy Taylor as he interviews officials and experts directly involved in the most important global security, foreign policy, and technology issues impacting America's position in the world.

Threat Status Podcast

An edgy and informative look at the biggest U.S. national security and geopolitical issues making headlines right now. Less about hot takes and more about depth, the Threat Status podcast is helmed by veteran Washington Times journalists Ben Wolfgang and Guy Taylor and features regular appearances by insiders with expertise on war, politics and global affairs.

Special Report: Vlad's Vengeance

Inside Putin's 'hybrid warfare' on the U.S. Click here to read more.

Articles by Guy Taylor

The Republican takeover of the Senate may pave the way for Sen. John McCain (left) and other GOP foreign policy hawks like Sen. Lindsey Graham to try to play "back-seat driver" to the White House, but at the end of the day, "if the president doesn't want to do what they push for, that's entirely up to him," said one senior congressional aide. (Associated Press)

Republican Senate takeover gives war hawks, neocons bully pulpit

Republican insiders say legislation already is in the works to pressure the White House into expanding the war against the Islamic State and increasing pressure on Russia and Iran, as the GOP takeover of the Senate provides neocons and war hawks with their first bully pulpit since the end of George W. Bush's presidency.

November 6, 2014
FILE - In this Oct. 26, 2010 file photo, a worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran. A report by Iran's official news agency quotes the country's nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, saying the Islamic Republic needs more nuclear power plants, just after it struck a deal regarding its contested nuclear program with world powers. Salehi said Iran is in serious talks with several countries including Russia to build four more nuclear power plants.(AP Photo/Mehr News Agency, Majid Asgaripour, File)

GOP likely to fall short of votes to reject potential Iran nuclear deal

Republicans controlling both houses of Congress will have new license to pressure the Obama administration on foreign and national security policy, but congressional sources and analysts say it remains unlikely the GOP will have the power to play spoiler if the White House decides to accept an Iranian nuclear deal that allows Tehran to continue enriching uranium.

November 5, 2014
FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014 file photo, people look at bodies of Sunni fighters after they were shot by a group of gunmen on a main street of the town of Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq. The Islamic state group has accelerated killings of former policemen and army officers, apparently fearing they might join a potential internal Sunni uprising against its rule. Such killings, including the deadly attack on police Col. Mohammed Hassan and his son in mid October, have accelerated in recent days, as the extremists' opponents - Kurdish fighters and Shiite militias, backed by U.S.-led airstrikes - have made some gains, taking back several towns that the militants had overrun. (AP Photo)

U.S. condemns Islamic State for ‘brutal’ executions in Iraq

The State Department strongly condemned "brutal actions" of the Islamic State Friday, following reports that group carried out a mass execution of moderate Sunni Muslim tribesmen who had fought back against the extremists in Iraq's western Anbar province.

October 31, 2014
Greek Public Order Minister Vassilis Kikilias pushed back against media reports that Greece has detected six Islamic State recruits traveling through. "We've been monitoring a lot of guys that pass by. But there was no arrest of jihadists in Greece," he said. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Terror issues loom large in Greek official Kikilias’ Washington visit

It is "too early to tell" whether the U.S.-led bombing campaign against the Islamic State will work, says a top Greek national security official who was in Washington this week to discuss how his nation can better coordinate with the U.S. to track extremist foreign fighters between Europe and the Middle East.

October 30, 2014
People watch smoke from an airstrike by the US-led coalition rising outside Kobani, Syria, from a hilltop on the outskirts of Suruc, at the Turkey-Syria border, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014. Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab, and its surrounding areas, has been under assault by extremists of the Islamic State group since mid-September and is being defended by Kurdish fighters. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Hagel: Assad benefiting from U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel admitted outright Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom the Obama administration has for years called for the removal of, is now benefiting from the administration's strategy of bombing Islamic State targets inside Syria.

October 30, 2014
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim holds a news conference at International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

World Bank president backs Chinese global lending counterpart

The Obama administration-appointed president of the World Bank says he feels in no way threatened by — and instead fully supports — China's creation of a massive infrastructure investment bank, despite the administration's tireless behind-the-scenes attempts to smear the project.

October 26, 2014
Jim Yong Kim, President Barack Obama's nominee to be the next World Bank President, stands in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 23, 2012. Kim is currently the president of Dartmouth College. (AP Photo/ Haraz N. Ghanbari)

World Bank chief Kim acknowledges staff dissent over changes

The World Bank’s president acknowledged for the first time publicly on Friday internal clashes at the international lending institution, where hundreds of rank-and-file economists and staffers have walked off the jobs in recent weeks to protest what they say is management secrecy over budgets cuts and a massive structural reorganization.

October 24, 2014
An F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft takes off for a night mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Oct. 30, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo by Val Gempis) ** FILE **

Vladimir Putin emboldened by weak U.S. response to Russian aggression

Russian military provocations have increased so much over the seven months since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine that Washington and its allies are scrambling defense assets on a nearly daily basis in response to air, sea and land incursions by Vladimir Putin's forces.

October 23, 2014
War Loot: Islamic State militants rummage through a cache of weapons airdropped by U.S.-led coalition forces. The weapons were meant to supply Kurdish forces battling the extremist group in Kobani, Syria, but "now they are spoils for the mujahedeen," one militant said. (Associated Press)

Islamic State among ‘best-funded’ terrorist groups on earth: Treasury Dept.

With the exception of a handful of state-sponsored militant groups, the Islamic State is likely the "best-funded terrorist organization" Washington has ever confronted, raising roughly $1 million a day from black market oil sales, $20 million in ransoms over the past year and millions a month through extortion rackets in Syria and Iraq, the Treasury Department's top official tracking terrorist financing said Thursday.

October 23, 2014
Extreme punishment: Public hangings of convicted criminals in Iran have risen to more than 66 per month since Hassan Rouhani, portrayed as a moderate reformer, became president in August. Rights advocates say international law is being violated. (Associated Press)

Iran executions surge amid U.S. nuclear talks

Iran's abuse of human rights, including the hangings of hundreds of dubiously convicted citizens — in several cases minors — has soared over the past year, even as the Obama administration has yielded to Tehran's demand for an extension in precarious international talks over the Islamic republic's disputed nuclear program.

October 14, 2014
Turkish officials on Monday denied the existence of a deal to allow U.S.-led forces battling the Islamic State to conduct operations from bases inside Turkey, such as Incirlik. This made for an awkward situation for National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice, who announced such a cooperation ahead of an international strategy session. (associated press)

Turkey denies U.S. base deal in place for Islamic State battle

Turkish officials on Monday denied the existence of a deal to allow U.S.-led forces battling the Islamic State to conduct operations from bases inside Turkey — an awkward blow for the Obama administration after National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice announced the cooperation ahead of an international strategy session in the fight against the extremists.

October 13, 2014
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had surgery on his foot, leading many to believe it led to his disappearance from public view. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

U.S. intel: Kim Jong-un still in charge in North Korea

While some in Washington's national security community believe North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been pushed aside by a secret coup, the leading theory among intelligence officials is that the young dictator has disappeared from public view because he is bedridden with a bad case of gout brought on by heavy smoking and too much caviar.

October 8, 2014
INSIDE JOB: The World Bank, which usually has to defend itself from demonstrators outside during its annual meetings, got an unexpected revolt Tuesday when staff members gathered in the lobby to protest hefty bonuses for top managers and aggressive cost-cutting elsewhere.

World Bank employees protest hefty bonuses amid cost-cutting, layoffs

The World Bank has been the go-to financier for developing nations for decades. But now its own employees are staging a rich-nation protest reminiscent of Occupy Wall Street, voicing outrage that top managers got hefty bonuses while pushing an aggressive cost-cutting agenda expected to include salary reductions and layoffs for lower-level staff.

October 7, 2014

Hong Kong becomes a fresh foreign policy puzzle for Obama

Massive pro-Democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong teetered on the brink of violence Friday, putting the Obama administration in an increasingly precarious position over whether or not to take an aggressive public stand behind the protesters by warning Chinese authorities against violently crushing the movement.

October 3, 2014
David H. Petraeus, former Army general and head of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaks at the annual dinner for veterans and ROTC students at the University of Southern California, in downtown Los Angeles on March 26, 2013. It marked Petraeus' first public remarks since he retired as head of the CIA after an extramarital affair scandal (Associated Press) **FILE**

Petraeus: Decision on troops in Iraq likely a matter of numbers

Former CIA director David H. Petraeus said Thursday that U.S. ground troops may still be needed to destroy Islamic State extremists in Iraq, but the Obama administration's current strategy of only deploying advisers to the war zone has "a reasonable chance of success" without a large number of American boots on the ground.

October 2, 2014
This May 24, 2012, file photo shows some of about 500 miles worth of coated steel pipe manufactured by Welspun Pipes, Inc., originally for the Keystone oil pipeline, stored in Little Rock, Ark. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)

Council on Foreign Relations report calls for Keystone approval

Rather than pivot to Asia, U.S. policymakers should be focusing on a pivot to North America by deepening economic ties with Canada and Mexico and getting serious about swiftly approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, according to a report released Thursday by the Council on Foreign Relations.

October 2, 2014