The Strategic Costs of Dismantling VOA; Revival Will Be Hard

 The Foreign Service Journal published in its July/August 2026 edition an article titled "When America Went Silent: The Strategic Costs of Dismantling VOA" by Elez Biberaji, 43-year veteran of VOA.

The effort by the Trump administration to shut down the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which operates the Voice of America and sister media outlets, has eroded America's capacity to shape global understanding and ceded influence to competitors who weaponize information.

The Washingtonian published on 2 July 2026 an article titled "Reviving Voice of America Will be Difficult, Insiders Say" by Ike Allen.

As a result of a court decision and some funding by Congress, VOA is trying to return to service.  But only about 200 of its former 2,000 employees are at work and its effort is limited to a few languages.

The Trump administration is appealing the court order to restart VOA operations, and the matter is in limbo.  The situation at the VOA headquarters in downtown Washington has deteriorated so much that some fired staff believe it will not be possible to revive the organization, at least not during the Trump administration.    

Foreign Aid: US Congress vs the Trump Administration

 Propublica published on 22 June 2026 an article titled "'A Huge Grab of Power': Trump Is Defying Congress on Foreign Aid" by Anna Maria Barry-Jester.  

Bipartisan support for foreign aid remains in the US Congress despite the Trump administration's dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development and its effort to minimize US foreign assistance now administered by the State Department, which does not have the capacity to manage it in any event.  

Future of Voice of America and Sister Outlets

 The Poynter Institute, a global non-profit focused on ethical journalism, published on 20 March 2026 an in-depth report titled "A Year After Trump Administration Cuts, Voice of America and Its Sister Outlets Are Mostly Shadows of Their Former Selves" by Angela Fu.

After being largely shut down for more than a year on orders from the Trump administration, a federal judge has allowed the Voice of America (VOA) and its sister organizations under the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to resume operations.  The other outlets are the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Middle East Broadcasting Network.  

VOA had approximately 800 employees and 600 contractors in March 2025 broadcasting in 49 languages.  Today it has about 130 total staff reporting in just 6 languages.  The other employees, but not contractors, were placed on paid leave.  Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and the Middle East Broadcasting Network were able to continue limited broadcasting because, unlike VOA and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, they are independent organizations.  But they lost funding and experienced major cuts.  

The future of all of the broadcasting outlets remains uncertain.  The biggest challenge will be to regain the trust of the audience that the VOA and other outlets had before the Trump administration tried to dismantle them.  

The Voice of America Lives On, Sort Of

 The Washington Post published on 13 March 2026 an article titled "Trump Picks Head for VOA Parent Amid Lake Legal Battle" by Scott Nover and Adam Taylor.

The Trump administration nominated defeated Arizona candidate for governor and US senator, Kari Lake, to oversee the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which runs the Voice of America (VOA) and several other organizations such as Radio Free Asia.  The idea was to put Lake in charge to shut down these semi-independent government media outlets.  

US District Judge Royce Lamberth recently ruled that Lake has been illegally running USAGM and nullified months of Lake's actions, including a mass layoff of hundreds of employees. The Trump administration has now responded by naming Sarah B. Rogers, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, as the new chief executive of USAGM.  She will apparently keep her current position in the State Department while assuming her new role as CEO of USAGM.  

The White House only provided enough funding to shut down USAGM, but the US Congress rejected that approach and appropriated $653 million for the agency's operations this year. 

Comment:  This development keeps the VOA and its sister organizations alive but now under the direct supervision of the State Department.  USAGM and its media organizations will apparently lose much of their previous independence.  It is also not clear how many of the USAGM work force have remained during this demoralizing and unsettled past year.  

Illegal Chinese Mining in Nigeria Results in Dustup with US

 China-Africa Security Radar published on 16 February 2026 an analysis titled "Beijing Rejects U.S. Allegations of Financing Terror in Nigeria's Illegal Mining Sector--The Reality Is More Complex."

Prominent Republican members of the US Congress have sponsored a bill that alleges Chinese individuals and companies involved in illegal mining pay "protection money" to Fulani militias and other armed groups to secure access to lithium and gold deposits.  The bill links these militias to terrorist violence that has impacted Nigerian Christian communities.

The Chinese embassy in Abuja issued a strongly worded statement refuting allegations that Chinese nationals are funding militant groups to gain access to minerals in Nigeria's Middle Belt and northwestern region.  

China-Africa Security Radar concludes that it is generally agreed there is illegal Chinese mining in Nigeria, but the culprits are pragmatically paying "rent" to armed groups to access the minerals.

Fraying of US-South Africa Relations

 The Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies published on 16 January 2026 a policy brief titled "South Africa Eyes Confrontation with Trump over Growing Ties to China, Russia, Iran" by Max Meizlish and Daniel Swift.

South Africa's ANC-led government is testing the limits of cordial relations with the Trump administration by strengthening its ties with China, Russia, and Iran.  

Will the Voice of America Rise Like a Phoenix?

 The Washington Post posted on 13 January 2026 an article titled "Congress Agrees to Fund Voice of America, Bucking Trump Shutdown Order" by Scott Nover.

A bipartisan spending bill from both houses of Congress would allocate $643 million for broadcasting from the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees the Voice of America (VOA).  While that figure is down from the $867 million appropriated for the agency each of the last two years, it is more than four times the $153 million the Trump administration requested that Congress provide to "support the orderly shutdown of USAGM operations."  The package still needs full House and Senate approval before going to President Trump for signature.  

In March, Trump called for the dismantlement of USAGM, which also funds Radio Free Asia, Radio Liberty, and Radio Free Europe.  Kari Lake, the deputy CEO installed by Trump to shut down USAGM, placed more than 1,300 VOA staffers on paid administrative leave and halted broadcasting operations.  It is the first time the VOA went silent since it was established in 1942.  

Comment:  The decision to dismantle USAGM was especially misguided.  Elon Musk played a major role in the decision.  It is refreshing there is bipartisan support in Congress to fund the agency, albeit at reduced levels.  While this is not yet a done deal, it hopefully invokes the lyrics of the song "Rise Like a Phoenix" by Conchita Wurst, chosen to represent Austria at the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark:

Rise like a phoenix

Out of the ashes

Seeking rather than vengeance,

retribution

You were warned

Once I'm transformed, once I'm

reborn

I rise to the sky

You threw me down but

I'm gonna fly 

Reconstituting a New Foreign Aid Department

 The Hill published on 8 January 2026 a commentary titled "What Americans Lost in the Dismantling of USAID" by J. Brian Atwood and Andrew S. Natsios.  

The dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is resulting in numerous deaths globally, many of them due to setbacks in food security and health care.  The authors, former directors of USAID, urge Congress to create a new cabinet level U.S. Department for International Aid by transferring foreign assistance programs from a dozen departments and agencies.

Pressure Mounts on UAE to End Support for Sudan's RSF

 The Washington Post published on 15 November 2025 an article titled "UAE Faces Growing Outrage over Support for Paramilitary in Sudan" by Tobi Raji.

Advocacy groups, members of the US Congress, and regional experts are stepping up their criticism of the UAE for supporting the genocidal activities of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.  The UAE continues to deny its support for the RSF as evidence to the contrary mounts.  

Will the Courts Save American Foreign Aid?

 The New York Times published on 3 November 2025 an article titled "The Monthslong Legal Battle to Save Foreign Aid" by Zach Montague.

During the past 9 months, the Trump administration dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and continues efforts to end most foreign aid.  The courts are the final obstacle to this effort as the US Congress remains AWOL.  The courts have not yet settled the core issues at stake although USAID no longer exists as an organization. 

State Department Layoffs Threaten U.S. National Security

 National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A) posted on 7 July 2025 a statement warning that State Department layoffs threaten U.S. national security.  It argues that the elimination of some 2,000 positions will result in a loss of critical expertise, surrender global leadership, and is being done without any clear strategy for going forward.  

Senator Cruz Meets with African Ambassadors: Focus on China

 The office of Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy, posted on 20 February 2025 a brief account of his meeting with African ambassadors.  

Countries represented at the meeting were Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Malawi, Ghana, Senegal, Djibouti, Madagascar, Zambia, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Gabon, Togo, Mozambique, Mauritania, and Ethiopia as well as the Representative from the African Union.  

Following the meeting, Cruz said he intends to use the chairmanship "to ensure that America's policy toward Africa is focused on advancing American security interests across the continent, with an emphasis on countering China's efforts to undermine those interests and conduct malign activities."  He stated that China's Belt and Road Initiative serves as a tool for the Communist Party of China "to lock in crushing debt and undermine the sovereignty of countries across the continent."  He added that the United States has a unique opportunity to expand economic ties with African countries.

Comment: Expanding economic ties with Africa will be a real challenge as the Trump administration dismantles the US Agency for International Development, one of its most important foreign policy tools for engaging with African countries. 

US Congressional Reps Urge Administration to Take Action on Sudan

 The Africa Report published on 20 November 2024 an article titled "US Congress Denounces RSF 'Genocide' in Sudan" by Julian Pecquet.

Bipartisan members of the US Congress are urging the administration to take more forceful action on the conflict in Sudan.  Members in both the House and the Senate are calling for pressure on the UAE to end its support for the Rapid Support Forces while the Senate bill also cites concerns about the role of China, Egypt, Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.  

Comment:  A political transition in the United States is an especially difficult time to pursue a foreign policy initiative.  Both the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration are focused on the political transition that formally ends on 20 January 2025.  Both administrations have good relations with the UAE, which is the primary external offender in Sudan's catastrophic war.  It will be difficult for either administration to take meaningful action.  

Another Plea for Action in Sudan

 The Atlantic Council published on 28 May 2024 a commentary titled "Sudan Is an Abject Disaster.  Is Anyone Listening?" by Bemjamin Mossberg.

This is another call for more US government action on confronting the ongoing disaster in Sudan.  

Comment:  There is a growing chorus to do something to ameliorate the mayhem in Sudan, but other than speaking out more loudly, there are not a lot of good suggestions for practical and meaningful responses.

Members of US Congress Ask Administration to Rule on Sanctions for Sudan's Rapid Support Forces

 Senator Ben Cardin posted on 19 April 2024 a press release titled "Cardin, Risch, Meeks, McCaul Request Determination of Human Rights Abuses Committed by Sudan's RSF."

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Ranking Member and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, asked the Biden administration to determine whether Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and its leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, should be subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.  They also asked for an examination of links between Russia's Wagner Group and the RSF.

Interview with the Banned Ethiopian Awramba Times

 Dawit Kebede of the Awramba Times, now banned in Ethiopia, interviewed me for 25 minutes on 4 April 2022 on US-Ethiopian relations, internal developments in Ethiopia, and Ethiopia-Eritrea relations.  Apologies for the technical difficulties with the sound quality on the moderator's end.  

US Not Yet Ready for Diplomatic Recognition of Somaliland

 Foreign Policy published on 21 March 2022 a commentary titled "Somaliland Courts U.S. for Independence Recognition" by Robbie Gramer and Mary Yang.  

The US made clear during the visit to Washington by Somaliland President Musa Bihi Abdi that it does not intend to recognize the independence of Somaliland but it is open to closer relations.  

Somaliland President Visits Washington

 Kenya's The Standard published on 17 March 2022 an article titled "Somaliland Push for Recognition Gains US Lawmakers Backing" by Jacob Ng'etich.

This is an account of the recent visit to Washington by Somaliland President Musa Bihi Abdi, who had wide ranging meetings and received a sympathetic hearing in the US Congress.  

Controversial Somali-American Member of Congress

The Washington Post published on 6 July 2019 a lengthy article titled "Ilhan Omar's American Story: It's Complicated" by Greg Jaffe and Souad Mekhennet.

This is an account of Somali-American Ilhan Omar's rise in American politics to a member of the U.S. Congress, where she has stirred controversy.

First Eritrean-American Elected to US Congress

The Voice of America posted on 8 November 2018 an article titled "Parents' Journey Inspired US Congress' 1st Eritrean-American" by Salem Solomon.

Eritrean-American Debesai Neguse was elected on 6 November 2018 as a US Congressman in the second district of Colorado. He is the first Eritrean-American to be elected to Congress. He will represent about 720,000 Coloradans in a district that covers about ten counties.