Derek Grossman is a senior defense analyst at the think tank RAND Corp. in Santa Monica, California, and adjunct professor in the practice of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California. He formerly served as an intelligence adviser at the Pentagon.
Last July, as Beijing stewed about then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plans to travel to Taiwan, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would also lead a delegation to the island if he succeeded Pelosi as speaker.