Guy Taylor
Articles by Guy Taylor
Salvador Nasralla, Honduras TV host, might win presidency
An ostentatious TV show host held the lead Monday in Honduras' presidential election -- a surprise development that prompted concern among U.S. officials who'd hoped the Central American nation's current, pro-Washington president would cruise to a second term. Published November 27, 2017
Japan debates constitution’s military passivism
A moral debate is raging across Japan over whether the pacifist constitution American occupiers installed 70 years ago after World War II should be revised so the nation can better prepare itself against a rising China and North Korean nuclear threats. Published November 26, 2017
Japan’s nuclear bomb survivors hope world remembers horror
Remorse courses through the elderly survivors of the American bombs that killed nearly a quarter-million people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the memories remain potent. Published November 26, 2017
Steve Bannon in Japan, rails against China’s ‘hegemonic’ ambitions
Former Trump administration chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon railed against China's "hegemonic" ambitions Wednesday, telling a crowd in Tokyo that the West and its Asian allies must wake up to communist Beijing's plan to "dominate" the world economy. Published November 15, 2017
Donald Trump calls Asia trip ‘fruitful’ with trade progress, nuclear reassurance
President Trump wrapped up his marathon trip through Asia on Tuesday, citing progress on trade deals, greater respect in foreign capitals for U.S. power and prestige, and reassurance of allies over nuclear tensions with North Korea. Published November 13, 2017
North Korea defector says Kim’s spy network is a major security gap
One of the highest-profile North Korean defectors living in South Korea said Pyongyang continues to operate a wide-reaching spy network inside the South despite soaring tensions on the peninsula. Published November 12, 2017
Seoul interfaith rally calls for reunification of Korean peninsula
The risk is higher today than ever that threatening rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea could spiral toward war, says a former CIA director who joined a massive rally here of religious leaders from around the world on Saturday in call for peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula. Published November 11, 2017
Russia meddling report to Trump raises questions of motive
Fourteen days before President Trump took the oath of office, the Obama administration's intelligence chiefs made public a unanimous assessment claiming Russian operatives, under orders from President Vladimir Putin, had orchestrated an influence campaign to help Mr. Trump win the presidential contest. Published November 8, 2017
Donald Trump faces pressure to label North Korea a state sponsor of terror before Asia trip
A key Republican on foreign policy is pushing the White House to add North Korea to Washington's official state sponsors of terrorism list before President Trump arrives in East Asia over the weekend on an 11-day tour of the region. Published November 3, 2017
Iraqi-Kurd feud escalates, but U.S. hopes to defuse tensions
The Trump administration is struggling to prevent a new powder keg from exploding in Iraq, where violence between the central government in Baghdad and the nation's Kurds in the north has displaced more than 180,000 people since the failed Kurdish independence push in September. Published November 2, 2017
North Korea threat looms over Donald Trump’s Asia trip
The North Korean nuclear menace threatens to overshadow a large and diverse agenda as President Trump embarks Friday on the first major Asia visit of his presidency -- an 11-day tour to include stops in five countries, a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Published November 1, 2017
Masoud Barzani’s resignation leads to Kurdish infighting
Friction between Iraqi Kurdish political factions soared Monday, a day after longtime regional leader Masoud Barzani announced his resignation following weeks of turmoil surrounding his failed push for an independent Kurdistan. Published October 30, 2017
Bob Corker, Donald Trump feud to fuel foreign policy power plays
President Trump has dubbed him "Liddle Bob Corker" on Twitter, but the Tennessee Republican still wields big-time influence over American foreign policy. Published October 29, 2017
Yemen sanctions by U.S. backed by country’s Arab neighbors
Qatar joined other Arab powers Wednesday in a U.S.-backed push to level fresh sanctions against individuals and organizations accused of financing the Islamic State and al Qaeda in Yemen -- an unexpected shift by the tiny Persian Gulf nation that has been diplomatically blackballed by its Arab neighbors for allegedly supporting terrorists. Published October 25, 2017
ISIS fighters return to home countries by thousands
Thousands of foreign fighters who flocked to fight with Islamic State in its Syrian and Iraqi strongholds have returned to their home countries as the terrorist group's territory shrinks, according to an extensive survey from a private security-intelligence firm, which also found that Russia has been the No. 1 source country of foreign fighters. Published October 24, 2017
Russia is No. 1 source country for ISIS foreign fighters: Report
Russia has been the No. 1 source country of foreign fighters for the Islamic State, according to a new report by a private security-intelligence firm, which also claims that thousands of the terror group's fighters have returned to their home countries after losing territory in Syria and Iraq. Published October 24, 2017
Hillary Clinton, Russia uranium case informant’s testimony urged
A controversial 2010 deal that cleared the way for a Kremlin-backed company to gain control of a huge chunk of America's uranium supply is getting new scrutiny as a Capitol Hill inquiry gears up to probe the Obama administration's suspected silencing of an FBI informant who reportedly had information on high-level corruption by Russian nuclear officials who engineered the deal. Published October 23, 2017
U.S. programming in Arabic may soon see overhaul
The stylistic look of the U.S. government's Arabic-language news operation in the Middle East is outdated. Neither the programming nor the social media push behind it is aggressive enough to sway Arab public opinion about America's position in the region. Published October 19, 2017
Sawab Center, Muslim-run messaging center, wages cyberwar on ISIS
Inside a nondescript building here, moderate Muslims have been waging a bare-knuckle information war against the Islamic State for the past two years, establishing deep contacts with Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies to scrub jihadi propaganda from the internet. Published October 19, 2017
Vladimir Putin’s rage triggered by President Obama’s diplomatic moves
In interview after interview with top U.S. intelligence officials and foreign diplomats about the downward spiral in U.S.-Russian relations, one date keeps resurfacing: January 2012. Published October 18, 2017