Commentary
Critics close to President Trump recommend dismantling the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). They say that nobody listens to them, that their broadcasts are dominated by leftists, and that they are a relic of the past. After all, Europe is now free and so we don’t need government media.
All these services cost around $1 billion per year. Yes, some of them spout too much leftist content, so perhaps junking them will save us a chunk of change. After all, that’s what it is in today’s federal budget. However, the critics must learn more about these services before rushing to dismantle them.
If reformed, these broadcast services can be one of our most powerful foreign policy instruments—and certainly the most cost-effective. As former adviser to President Reagan on Soviet affairs, I know personally how vital these instruments of foreign policy can be.
If you ask a policy expert to explain what these historical figures were talking about, they won’t provide an intellectually coherent answer. That’s because they don’t study “public diplomacy” and its cousins: political and ideological warfare and psychological strategy. Diplomatic careers are not made by excelling in these fields, and our strategic culture seems incapable of operationalizing Sun Tzu’s counsel that “to defeat your enemy without using force is the acme of skill.”
Broadcasting serves a vital national security function. It supplies truth to audiences who are denied a free press and brainwashed by their government’s propaganda.
VOA reports U.S. and world news; however, good journalism is only one element of the broadcaster’s mission. It defends U.S. foreign policy and combats anti-American propaganda by “telling America’s story to the world.”
The “Freedom Radios” have a different mission. They serve as surrogate domestic free presses for nations without a free press.
These services give people their nation’s honest history back, countering the ideological historical revisionism perpetrated by totalitarian regimes.
They combat the totalitarian atomization of society, whereby each individual is separated from others by the climate of fear, mistrust, and enforced conformity of thought, speech, and behavior.
Critically, they enable oppressed people to communicate on a mass scale.
Our broadcasters present democratic ideas, such as the consent of the governed, representative government, the rule of law, and the logic underlying the separation of powers and checks and balances.
Finally, connecting with people—particularly subject-citizens in totalitarian countries—shows them that they are not alone and they have friends with the courage to bear moral witness to the daily violations of their rights and dignity.
President Reagan recognized the strategic importance of these broadcasters and their cost-effectiveness. To expand our reach beyond the Iron Curtain, he allocated the equivalent of $8.3 billion in today’s currency.
If President Trump aims to achieve victory without resorting to war, he should focus on enhancing our ability to support oppressed individuals in breaking free from their shackles.
Opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and may not align with the perspectives of The Epoch Times.
