The RAND Corp's non-analysis of RFE/RL.

"The idea of RFE/RL, [RFE/RL president Jeffrey Gedmin] said, is 'to promote political evolution, not regime change.' The long-term goal is to 'go out of business' as more and more countries evolve toward democracy and a free media. But in the meantime, Gedmin argued for increased funding and for rewriting his organization’s congressional charter to allow for public-private partnerships as one way of raising funds. Current annual funding for RFE/RL is around $82 million, down from a high of $252 million during the Cold War. In the context of hard versus soft power, Gedmin noted that RFE/RL’s 'budget is about the cost of four Apache helicopters.' RAND Review, Spril 2009."
     At the top of the linked web page is the RAND Corporation's tagline: "Objective Analysis. Effective Solutions." One would think, then, that this article might contain at least a tiny bit of analysis. What it contains, instead, is RFE/RL corporate boilerplate.
     It mentions that RFE/RL's "long-term goal is to 'go out of business'" A little bit of analysis would reveal that RFE/RL actually has a knack for staying in business, by duplicating services that VOA formerly had to itself. First it was the Balkans, then Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq. Gedmin has expressed his interest in broadcasting to Africa (see previous post). And now there is talk of RFE/RL broadcasting to Pakistan's northwest frontier region, something that VOA's Deewa Radio is already doing. If that happens, USIB will reach new depths in organizational inefficiency.
     Here's an Effective Solution: RFE/RL is a very good international broadcasting service, with unmatched ability to report on its target countries. VOA is also a very good international broadcasting service. Together, they could be excellent. Excellence is what is needed to compete with the BBC world services and with the increasingly competent domestic media of the target countries. Posted: 21 May 2009 Permalink Print