TRANSCRIPT:
The Voice of America is a critical instrument of American soft power. We used it to great impact in defense of American security [and] promotion of American interests throughout the entire period, not just the Cold War, but the post Cold War. It was a way to define what the United States was doing to present news globally, that was in American interest to present. And the defunding of it was a serious blow against American power, American soft power and American interests.
Published
Herbst served as the U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2000–2003 and ambassador to Ukraine from 2003–2006 under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was a Foreign Service officer for more than three decades. Herbst later served as a senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.