30 JULY-AUGUST 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The United States is confronting the consequences of relinquishing one of its most enduring instruments of soft power a year and a half after the Trump administration dismantled the Voice of America (VOA). That decision, part of an effort to shut down the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), silenced an institution that had delivered independent, fact-based journalism into some of the world’s most contested information environments and, through that work, embodied and conveyed America’s democratic principles. The U.S. retreat from the global information contest has eroded its capacity to shape global understanding and ceded influence to competitors who weaponize information. The damage has been profound, lasting, and corrosive to U.S. credibility and long-term national interests. At a time when information itself has become a strategic battleground, the costs of this retreat are too high to ignore, and a course correction is now essential. For someone who spent more than four decades at VOA, the dismantling has been painful to watch—not out of institutional sentiment, but because of what the United States has forfeited: a trusted voice capable of explaining America accurately and with integrity, advancing its foreign policy objectives through credible reporting, and reaching strategic audiences at the very moment such engagement is most needed. For millions, VOA was a beacon of hope and a window into America that no other institution could replicate. BY ELEZ BIBERAJ Elez Biberaj retired from the Voice of America in December 2023 after a 43-year career. From 2005 to 2023, he served as director of VOA’s Eurasia Division, overseeing broadcasts to Russia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and the Balkans. From June to December 2020, during President Trump’s first term, he served as acting director of the Voice of America. He holds a PhD in political science from Columbia University. When America Falls Silent: The Strategic Costs of Dismantling VOA FOCUS ON THE U.S. IN THE WORLD AT 250
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