Why Dissolving RFE/RL and VoA is a Major Geopolitical Blunder
If you want to find real warfighters in America’s history, RFE/RL’s and VoA’s journalists perfectly fit the definition.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, millions of Poles and other Central Europeans were devoutly listening to several Western radio stations. Radio Luxembourg was for entertainment; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Voice of America (VoA), and BBC provided truth and hope. Most of them were formally banned and frantically jammed in communist countries.
Scores of reporters, stringers, editors, technicians were at the forefront of Cold War rivalry relentlessly debunking (mostly) Soviet narratives and lifting the spirits of oppressed nations on all continents. They were confronting misinformation before it was cool. If you want to find real warfighters in America’s history, RFE/RL’s and VoA’s journalists perfectly fit the definition. Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, who for twenty-four years headed the Polish section of Radio Free Europe, broadcasting from Munich, Germany, is regarded today as one of the pivotal figures in Poland’s struggle for freedom and independence. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, a former president of Estonia, led the Estonian desk from 1988 to 1993.
Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio Martí. All these media organizations are gone now. The United States government has just rid itself of a remarkably effective and an extremely cheap diplomatic tool, at the time when challenges in the sphere of hybrid warfare are even more taxing than four decades ago. The Kremlin, in particular, is a formidable foe: aggressive propaganda is one of the few areas Russia excels at.
America has ceded vast territory to its enemies. Don’t expect Vladimir Putin to disband RT (formerly Russia Today) or Sputnik, as a “goodwill gesture.” Don’t count on Beijing to curtail CGTN’s and Xinhua Agency’s activities across the globe. On the contrary, autocratic regimes will expand the presence of their own state-run media in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They will intensify efforts to implant their “truths” and brainwash audiences in Vietnam, Ghana, Georgia, and Iraq.
The “further reduction of federal bureaucracy,” as a justification for President Trump’s action, might be understandable. However, apart from paltry savings, it’s hard to identify any long-term benefits. Dissolving RFE/RL and VoA is comparable to depriving U.S. troops of a fresh supply of ammunition or reducing expenses on repairs of armored vehicles.
This decision runs counter to Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength,” a motto so frequently invoked by the current administration officials. Reagan wisely used RFE/RL and VoA as a sword in his endeavor to defeat communism worldwide. It turned out to be one of the best investments in U.S. foreign policy over the last seventy years.
Conversely, Trump chose retreat, if not utter surrender to the forces of darkness, which will mercilessly exploit this blunder.
About the authors: Marek Magierowski and Slawomir Debski
Marek Magierowski is Director of the “Strategy for Poland Program” at the Freedom Institute in Warsaw, and the former Polish ambassador to the United States.
Slawomir Debski is Visiting Professor of Strategy and International Relations at College of Europe in Warsaw, and the former Director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
Image: Shutterstock.