Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
North Korea launches rocket; U.S. and South Korea formalize missile shield talks
North Korea defied international warnings Sunday by launching a new long-range rocket -- prompting swift condemnation from the United Nations and frustration in Washington and Seoul, which will now formalize long-anticipated talks toward deploying an advanced U.S. missile shield in South Korea despite opposition from China. Published February 7, 2016
Obama administration pressures Russia to stop Syria bombing campaign
The Obama administration escalated its demand that Russia halt its bombing campaign in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday, a day after a major multinational push to hold peace talks aimed at ending Syria's 5-year-old civil war struggled to get off the ground. Published February 4, 2016
Iran claims $100 billion windfall from sanctions relief — double what White House estimated
The Obama administration is finding itself on the defensive amid rising charges that the U.S. and its allies lowballed the estimate of the billions of dollars Iran will reap from the deal that curbed Tehran's nuclear programs in exchange for the lifting of punishing economic sanctions. Published February 3, 2016
U.S. ready to boost Colombian aid in hopes of FARC peace deal
The White House threw its weight behind Colombia's push for a major peace accord with leftist FARC rebels Tuesday, announcing that President Obama will ask Congress to ramp up security-related aid to the South American nation if a final deal gets signed in the months ahead. Published February 2, 2016
Obama set to announce new plan to aid Colombia after civil war
The Obama administration is poised to announced a major new aid proposal for Colombia in a bid to back the South American nation's push for a final peace accord with leftist FARC rebels after more than a generation of civil war. Published February 2, 2016
ISIS-al Qaeda battle for jihadi supremacy fuels fears of more attacks on U.S., allies
Osama bin Laden's original al Qaeda network and the newer, upstart Islamic State movement are competing to outperform each other in a global battle for jihadi supremacy, fueling fears that the rivalry will mean more terrorist attacks on the U.S. and its allies until one side establishes supremacy. Published February 1, 2016
North Korea-Iran nuclear ties probably deep: report
The U.S. must do more to track and block companies that could be aiding the collaboration between Iran and North Korea on nuclear and military programs, according to a report published in Washington on Thursday that claims the links between the two isolated nations is deeper than commonly recognized. Published January 28, 2016
U.S. and China divided on North Korea sanctions
Chinese officials say they are willing to back a harshly worded U.N. resolution condemning North Korea's latest nuclear test, but a visit by Secretary of State John F. Kerry to Beijing Wednesday revealed the Obama administration has so far failed to win Beijing's support for ramped-up economic sanctions against Pyongyang. Published January 27, 2016
Colombia, FARC rebels nearing peace deal amid worries about aftermath
While Washington's foreign policy machine is focused elsewhere, the longest-running conflict in the Western Hemisphere may be quietly inching to a close as Colombia's government and leftist FARC rebels push to meet a self-imposed deadline for peace. Published January 25, 2016
Kurdish leader calls for redrawing Mideast borders
The president of Iraqi Kurdistan says the creation of an independent Kurdish state in the Middle East is "now closer than at any other time" and is calling on world leaders to accept that the nearly century-old Sykes-Picot pact that resulted in the Mideast's current borders has failed. Published January 22, 2016
China moves to supplant U.S. as key foreign power in Middle East
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Saudi Arabia Tuesday for the first stop on a closely watched tour that will include visits to Egypt and Iran, as Beijing pushes to widen its access to Middle East oil and potentially supplant Washington as the most influential foreign power operating in the tumultuous region. Published January 19, 2016
ISIS directs jihadi recruits to ‘Libya Province’ in bid to establish second homeland
The Islamic State claims to have established "provinces" in as many as 10 nations beyond Syria and Iraq, with radicalized followers carrying out a growing number of suicide and other attacks around the world, from Paris and San Bernardino to Jakarta, Beirut, Cairo and Istanbul. Published January 17, 2016
Iran apology video counters Obama narrative on release of captured U.S. sailors
The video showing disarmed, kneeling U.S. sailors being watched by Iranian guards and one of the Americans apologizing to his captors quickly undercut the Obama administration's self-congratulatory message upon their swift return. Published January 13, 2016
John Kerry says Iran sanctions relief ‘within coming days’
The Obama administration is likely to begin lifting sanctions on Iran "within the coming days," according to Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who made no mention of Tehran's recent ballistic missile tests or other destabilizing actions during a wide-ranging foreign policy speech Wednesday. Published January 13, 2016
Pentagon: 2 U.S. Navy boats, 10 sailors held by Iran but will be returned
Iran seized control of two small U.S. Navy boats with 10 sailors aboard in the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, but U.S. officials said they were assured by Tehran that the sailors and the vessels, one of which was experiencing mechanical problems, would soon be released without harm. Published January 12, 2016
John Kerry objects to Republican confirmation delays for 17 foreign policy nominees
When President Obama nominated John F. Kerry to be secretary of state, it took less than five weeks for the Democrat-controlled Senate to confirm the choice. These days, however, Republicans run the chamber and are a lot less willing to sign off on any nominees -- let alone for foreign posts with an administration in its final year. Published January 11, 2016
El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala violence surges, threatening new refugee flood
El Salvador and Honduras are locked in an unholy race for the world's highest homicide rate, with surging crime and drug violence across the region threatening to trigger an even larger surge of migrants seeking to get into the United States. Published January 10, 2016
John Kerry blasts critics of Obama’s handling of North Korea nuclear threat
In the wake of North Korea's claim of successfully testing a miniaturized hydrogen bomb, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry pushed back Thursday against Republican critics who've accused the Obama administration of ignoring the threat of a nuclear-armed Pyongyang. Published January 7, 2016
Truck bomb in Libya kills at least 60, wounds 200 others at police training center
A massive truck bomb killed at least 60 people and wounded 200 others at a police training center in Western Libya on Thursday, just days after the main Libyan Islamic State branch attacked a key oil export terminal in the North African nation. Published January 7, 2016
Kim Jong-un hydrogen bomb claim underscores North Korean leader’s volatility
North Korea's surprise claim Wednesday that it detonated a miniaturized hydrogen bomb was the latest proof that regime leader Kim Jong-un is even less predictable than his unpredictable father, according to experts, who say the isolated, untested young leader poses a particularly difficult problem for the U.S. and its allies as he presses for an ever more menacing nuclear arsenal. Published January 6, 2016
