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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

Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, listens March 26, 2012, during a news conference at the Pentagon. (Associated Press)

U.S. pushing for new ‘Sunni Awakening’ in Iraq

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. officials are engaged in a high-stakes push to convince Sunni Muslim tribal leaders in Iraq to cooperate with Baghdad and Washington in the fight against Islamic State extremists, a strategy that sources say could take a year and highlights the need for fighters on the ground.

October 1, 2014
FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2014 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. By President Barack Obama’s own admission, the U.S. bombing campaign against militants in Syria could help President Bashar Assad cling to power. Critics say Obama’s strategy does little to address the conditions that have allowed the Islamic State group to thrive and could leave Syria a hotbed for extremism. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Obama knew for months of intel community’s concerns about Islamic State

U.S. policy leaders, including President Obama, were repeatedly warned for more than a year by the U.S. intelligence community that the Islamic State terror group was gaining significant strength in Syria and was on the verge of seizing territory deep inside Iraq, where the military was struggling to respond.

September 29, 2014
Despite the Obama administration's lacking a clear strategy for North Korea, Seoul Mayor Park Won-Soon hopes the U.S. can steer Pyongyang to openness. (Keith Lane/Special to the Washington Times)

Obama, U.S. too passive on North Korea nuclear weapons: Seoul mayor

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, whom polls suggest will someday become South Korea's president, says the Obama administration has been too passive in dealing with North Korea, leaving the region without a clear strategy for steering the pariah nation away from making nuclear weapons.

September 25, 2014
President Obama, flanked by Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, speaks during his meeting with the representatives of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Iraq in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Feds name 11 backers of terrorist organizations

Bolstering the growing air and ground assault against Islamic State and al Qaeda operatives in Syria and Iraq, the Obama administration named 11 new global terrorism suspects Wednesday, claiming that each has played a role in helping to finance and provide foreign fighters for the extremist movements in the Middle East.

September 24, 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, shakes hands with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed before a meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Sunni Muslims remain wary of military cooperation with U.S.

The coalition of Arab nations that joined the U.S.-led air campaign in Syria signaled a new war on terror phase in which the Sunni Muslim-led states of the region are showing unprecedented willingness to take on Sunni Muslim extremists in their midst.

September 23, 2014
In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea launches a Tomahawk cruise missile at Islamic State group positions in Syria as seen from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on the Arabian Gulf on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2014. Syria said Tuesday that Washington informed President Bashar Assad's government of imminent U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State group, hours before an American-led military coalition pounded the extremists' strongholds across northern and eastern Syria.(AP Photo/Eric Garst, U.S. Navy)

U.S. conducted secret strike in Syria away from Arab allied support

While a coalition of U.S. and Arab military forces struck at Islamic State targets inside Syria on Monday night, the Pentagon also engaged in a U.S.-exclusive action targeting a little-known al Qaeda-aligned group that U.S. officials say is plotting an "imminent attack" against the United States.

September 23, 2014
FILE - In this Tuesday, July 22, 2014, file photo, a sign is posted at a checkpoint belonging to the Islamic State group, captured from the Iraqi Army, at the main entrance of Rawah, 175 miles (281 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. Arabic reads, "Islamic State, the Emirate of Anbar, City of Rawah." The U.S. and its allies are trying to hammer out a coalition to push back the Islamic State group in Iraq. But any serious attempt to destroy the militants or even seriously degrade their capabilities means targeting their infrastructure in Syria. That, however, is far more complicated. If it launches airstrikes against the group in Syria, the U.S. runs the risk of unintentionally strengthening the hand of President Bashar Assad, whose removal the West has actively sought the past three years. Uprooting the Islamic State, which has seized swaths of territory in both Syria and Iraq, would potentially open the way for the Syrian army to fill the vacuum. (AP Photo, File)

Seeking war powers, Obama now ties Islamic State to al Qaeda

President Obama for years insisted that the new breed of "local" extremists in the Middle East weren't really part of al Qaeda, but now claims the Islamic State group is indeed the same as Osama bin Laden's original network — a rhetorical shift used by the White House to justify its widening war on terrorism without explicit authorization from Congress.

September 18, 2014
President Barack Obama speaks to service men and women at MacDill Air Force Base Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, in Tampa, Fla. The President arrived in Tampa on Tuesday evening and met with Centcom commander Gen. Lloyd Austin III and other leaders at MacDill, including members of the Centcom international coalition. (AP Photo/The Tampa Tribune, Chris Urso, Pool) ** FILE **

House approves Obama plan to arm, train Syrian rebels to fight ISIS

The House voted Wednesday to approve President Obama's request to open a new front in the war on terrorism, granting him permission to train and arm some Syrian rebels in the hope that they will fight Islamic State militants advancing in Syria and Iraq.

September 17, 2014
In this Friday, Sept. 12, 2014 photo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reacts as he listens to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara, Turkey. Kerry is in Ankara to press Turkey to join an international coalition against the Islamic State. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Kerry to Senate: No ground troops against Islamic State

A day after his counterparts at the Pentagon said U.S. ground troops may be needed in the future to defeat Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq, Secretary of State John F. Kerry asserted outright Wednesday that "U.S. ground troops will not be sent into combat in this conflict."

September 17, 2014
** FILE ** U.S. Pacific Command's Adm. Samuel J. Locklear III, talks to the media following a session on "Security Outlook" in the ongoing World Economic Forum on East Asia Friday, May 23, 2014, at the financial district of Makati city east of Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

China actively agitating, creating instability, says U.S. Adm. Locklear

The top admiral in charge of U.S. military operations in Asia lambasted China this week, accusing Chinese leaders of actively fomenting instability in the South and East China seas instead of using their expanding economic and military power to create sustainable security in the region.

August 29, 2014
Hamas supporters gather for a rally in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. Evidence has pointed to Iran continuing to funnel weapons to the Palestinian side of the conflict with Israel. (Associated Press)

Despite sanctions relief, Iran aids Hamas with missile technology

When President Obama announced last year the easing of U.S. sanctions on Iran in return for concessions on its nuclear program, he cautiously hailed the deal as a "real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive, peaceful settlement" with Tehran. But while both countries work overtime on thorny nuclear issues, fresh evidence suggests Iran continues to support the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which went to war anew this summer with Israel.

August 18, 2014
Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community gather at a park near the Turkey-Iraq border at the Ibrahim al-Khalil crossing, as they try to cross to Turkey, in Zakho, 300 miles (475 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. The European Union on Friday forged a unified response to the rapid advance of Islamic militants in Iraq and the resulting refugee crisis, allowing direct arms deliveries to Kurdish fighters battling the Sunni insurgents, while several EU nations pledged more humanitarian aid. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Kurdish diplomat debunks Yazidi claims of exploitation

The top Kurdish diplomat in Washington pushed back assertively Friday against comments this week by a group of Yazidi-Americans, who had expressed fears about a growing U.S. and European strategy to channel Western military hardware to Kurdish militias in the fight against Islamic State extremists in northern Iraq.

August 15, 2014
FILE - In this Friday, March 26, 2010 file photo, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks to the press in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki has given up his post as prime minister to Haider al-Abadi, state television reported Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014 — a move that could end a political deadlock that plunged Baghdad into uncertainty as the country fights a Sunni militant insurgency. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki resigns as prime minister amid chaos

Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stepped down Thursday, ending a stalemate that had worsened Baghdad's political chaos in recent weeks and crippled the nation's ability to quell a surge of extremist Sunni militants.

August 14, 2014