As tensions between Israel and Iran flared, the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) scrambled to reinstate the Persian Service of Voice of America (VOA), the international broadcasting network funded by the U.S. federal government. VOA had been shut down by the administration in March this year, sparking an ongoing legal battle. In past crises, VOA Persian provided round-the-clock coverage, offering Iranian citizens access to international reporting in a closed media ecosystem. Apparently the Trump administration belatedly realized the service’s value amid the Iran-Israel conflict.
But the damage was done. VOA Persian’s operations have only recovered to a third of its capacity before March, and it is unlikely to reach its previous weekly audience of 4.2 million Iranians anytime soon.
For U.S. policymakers, the lesson should be clear: sustaining communication channels with foreign societies is not an afterthought. It is a strategic necessity if Washington wishes to retain global soft power. As it stands, the United States is at risk of losing its leadership in the global narrative space – not because of China’s rise, but due to its own retreat.
The United States’ global dominance has not rested solely on economic and military prowess. For decades, its cultural leadership, international authority, and values-driven alliances were supported by robust investment in international broadcasting, global aid, humanitarian assistance, and projects anchored around the universal values of freedom and human rights. However, recent federal budget cuts have swiftly dismantled these pillars of influence.
VOA, among other federal government-funded media, is just a part of the picture. Civil society organizations, long the backbone of U.S. soft power and global credibility, are also being weakened by funding delays, political drift, and administrative uncertainty. If Congress fails to act, authoritarian regimes will be the one to fill the void in the global information arena.
The White House’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget makes matters worse. It calls for the complete elimination of funding for the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which currently supports over 1,900 projects worldwide, including independent media, election monitoring, and labor rights initiatives. Without this funding, many grassroots programs would simply collapse.
China Labor Watch, a non-profit I founded over 20 years ago, is among many affected. Two current grants, with an annual combined budget of $600,000 – or 80 percent of our 2025 budget – are due to expire in September. Despite resuming operation after a temporary freeze, our future remains precarious.
NGOs working on China issues face dual pressure: dwindling economic resources and growing repression. The Chinese government has imposed coordinated efforts targeting overseas civil society through surveillance, harassment, and coercion – often extending to the family of activists across borders.
The impact of this could be long-standing. In the China human rights field alone, there are already fewer young professionals with Chinese language proficiency and human rights experience entering the field, leading to a growing talent gap that likely threatens the sector’s future. More importantly, many are starting to doubt the United States’ commitment to defending human rights and safeguarding activists against repression. Major international NGOs and international organizations are announcing layoffs and closure of field offices, threatening a slew of global initiatives including international peacekeeping and humanitarian aid missions, critical social and biomedical research, as well as human rights advocacy.
The work of organizations like CLW is not immaterial. Our investigations have had meaningful impacts, leading to Samsung re-auditeding over 100 factories worldwide, Apple publicly acknowledging its suppliers’ labor violations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) restricting certain imports.
All of these are only possible thanks to sustained funding and a network of reliable, passionate partners and talents. Without these essential resources, CLW and similar organizations may no longer be able to carry out similar work. All of these play into a part of a broader trend of the United States’ declining global image, eroding the country’s influence.
While civil society organizations around the world are affected by U.S. budget cuts, China is expanding its global narrative infrastructure. Beijing is pouring colossal amounts of resources to build an international media apparatus with the task of “telling China’s story well.” This network now includes more than 30 overseas media outlets broadcasting contents in different languages, with a reach of over 60 countries and over 100 million people.
Simultaneously, hundreds of state-funded institutes such as Confucius Institute and think tanks are shaping elite discourse in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, cultivating the next generation of political, business, and academic leaders. In Brazil, for example, China has established 11 Confucius Institutes, and in Malaysia, China has provided scholarships for students. China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, though criticized for creating debt dependency and lack of transparency, has delivered large-scale infrastructure and development assistance to countries long neglected by traditional donors and has been described as an effort to increase the country’s soft power.
While the U.S. government significantly reduced USAID funding, NGOs in Colombia say that the Chinese government is interested in filling the void; similarly, Nepal’s government mentioned that Chinese officials signaled they could provide development funding.
What ties these efforts together is coordination and ambition. Backed by centralized control, Beijing has built a stable, far-reaching opinion ecosystem that rapidly amplifies its messages.
In comparison, the United States has recently shown a lack of coherent and long-term strategy to sustain its global soft power. Its dismantling of civil society support systems has proven not only counterproductive but difficult and costly to repair. The story of VOA’s Persian Service should also serve as a cautionary tale.
To reverse this trend, the U.S. must protect and restore its investment in civil society and media. Congress and the executive branch must recognize this as more than a moral responsibility. It is a strategic imperative in an age of rising authoritarianism. If current levels of U.S. federal funding cannot persist, a gradual and sustainable transition toward diversified, multisourced funding is the way forward – as opposed to abrupt changes that shake the delicate ecosystem. If these institutions vanish, they won’t be easily rebuilt. Even a future administration that understands their value may find they no longer exist – or no longer matter.
The contest over global narratives is unfolding before our eyes. If democracies fail to defend the very institutions that embody and spread their values, they risk ceding the field to authoritarians like China.