Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
China fumes as U.S., Asia ‘Quad’ allies talk strategy
Secretary of State Antony Blinken triggered a harsh reaction in China's state-controlled media Thursday by holding a conference call with counterparts from Asia's so-called "Quad" countries -- India, Japan and Australia -- to discuss joint strategy on a range of issues in the Indo-Pacific. Published February 18, 2021
Antony Blinken, Joe Biden face issues with European Union on defense, energy policy
President Biden's arrival in the White House has brought optimistic predictions that U.S. relations with Europe are about to get a major positive overhaul, but a slate of thorny issues that divided the two sides during the Trump years isn't going away. Published February 17, 2021
Biden debuts on world stage as president with G-7, Munich meetings
President Biden's vow to expand U.S. engagement with allies will be put to the test later this week when he participates in a virtual meeting with leaders of the world's wealthiest democracies and then delivers remarks to the annual Munich Security Conference. Published February 15, 2021
Iran denies plotting attack on UAE Embassy in Ethiopia: Report
Iran is denying U.S. and Israeli claims that Iranian operatives were caught recently plotting to bomb the United Arab Emirates' Embassy in Ethiopia. Published February 15, 2021
Biden moves ahead with delisting Iran-backed Houthis as terrorists
The Biden administration formally went ahead Friday with revoking the State Department's terrorist designations of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, citing concern about the humanitarian disaster gripping the Mideast nation. Published February 12, 2021
Joe Biden opts for Asia strategy used by Trump
President Biden has promised a full-blown reset of what he and his advisers see as the disastrous foreign policy of the Trump years, but when it comes to U.S. strategy for the Indo-Pacific, the Biden team has spent its first weeks in office borrowing from the last administration's playbook. Published February 11, 2021
Joe Biden pledges to revive diplomacy, reverse Donald Trump’s moves
President Biden vowed to revamp America's global diplomatic engagement Thursday, outlining plans to keep the State Department and career diplomats "at the heart" of a push to reverse what he has framed as a withdrawal from the world during the Trump era. Published February 4, 2021
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris assure U.S. diplomats: ‘We trust you’ and will ‘have your back’
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris visited State Department headquarters in Washington Thursday to praise career U.S. diplomats and promise the new administration will "have [their] back" over the coming four years as it pushes a policy of expanded American diplomatic engagement around the world. Published February 4, 2021
Assadolah Assadi, Iranian diplomat, sentenced in 2018 plot to bomb dissident rally in Paris
A Belgian court on Thursday sentenced a senior Iranian diplomat to 20 years in prison Thursday on charges he plotted to carry out a terrorist attack against a major rally held by an Iranian dissident group near Paris in 2018. Published February 4, 2021
‘New Start’: Biden moves ahead with U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty extension despite GOP complaints
The Biden administration formally went ahead Wednesday with its plan to extend a major nuclear nonproliferation treaty with Russia by five years, despite outcry from critics -- including several influential Republican lawmakers -- who say the move ignores China's emergence as a major nuclear power and cedes leverage to Moscow over future negotiations. Published February 3, 2021
Alexei Navalny-Russia protests, Myanmar coup test Biden human rights push
A military coup in Myanmar and major street demonstrations against Russian strongman Vladimir Putin are presenting an early, double-pronged test of President Biden's vow to put promoting democracy and human rights at the center of U.S. foreign policy. Published February 2, 2021
Biden admin. declares ‘coup’ in Myanmar, throwing U.S. aid into question
The Biden administration on Tuesday declared the military takeover occurring in Myanmar a "coup d'etat," a characterization that triggers U.S. federal law requiring a halt of most American aid to countries facing such circumstances. Published February 2, 2021
Joe Biden threatens sanctions on Myanmar over military coup
President Biden threatened Monday to level sanctions against Myanmar in response to the military coup in the resource-rich Southeast Asian nation, whose instability risks igniting a new flashpoint of great-power tension between the U.S. and China. Published February 1, 2021
China cautious as Myanmar coup leaders declare ‘1-year state of emergency’
China is responding cautiously to the military coup in neighboring Myanmar, with state-controlled media in Beijing reporting that Chinese officials are still gathering information after commanders in Myanmar declared a "1-year state of emergency." Published February 1, 2021
Joe Biden eyes roll back of Trump Afghanistan peace deal
The Biden administration is sounding a strikingly skeptical tone on the prospects for a durable Afghan-Taliban power-sharing deal, putting into doubt a major diplomatic achievement of the Trump administration. Published January 31, 2021
Ashraf Ghani, Afghan president, says peace talks with Taliban going nowhere
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani offered a dark assessment Friday of his government's attempt to engage in peace talks with the Taliban, asserting that "violence has peaked" in Afghanistan in recent months, with the militants "finding one excuse after another" not to embrace the talks. Published January 29, 2021
Biden taps Obama nuclear deal architect as Iran envoy
The Biden administration has appointed a former Obama White House Mideast adviser Robert Malley to be the State Department's new Special Envoy for Iran policy. Published January 29, 2021
Personnel moves offer hints to Joe Biden’s approach to North Korea
President Biden has yet to name a new special envoy for North Korea policy, leaving open a major personnel hole on a national security matter that had garnered front-burner attention during the Trump administration. Published January 28, 2021
Antony Blinken tells State Dept. diplomats: It’s ‘a new day for the world’
Newly confirmed Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to inspire confidence in American diplomats Wednesday, telling them as he arrived for his first full day of work at the State Department that "it's a new day for America" and "a new day for the world." Published January 27, 2021
Antony Blinken, secretary of state, mulls review of last-minute Trump moves
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Iran must act first if it wants to salvage the troubled 2015 nuclear deal, suggesting the Biden administration will not ease sanctions until Tehran has halted uranium enrichment activities that violate the Obama-era accord. Published January 27, 2021