... by rethinking the 100 years of soft diplomacy with the BBC World Service that has decayed under the influence of the BBC's effort to promote a social engineering agenda to distance from any echoes of empire - despite the manifest mutual advantages set out above.
New technology such as the DRM digital broadcast platform (being developed in the UK by CML of Maldon) has transformed the viability of broadcast shortwave radio. Had this service been running at the time time Russia invaded Ukraine the truth could have been delivered to the people (and armies) of Russia as suggested in this blog post.
A new service (on DRM and online) could cost effectively network the abilities of the best of the UK's very proficient Community Radio services - an established station like PhoenixFM operates on a modest budget of around just 10% of a BBC local radio station, and thus assist a transition to allow the BBC's moribund local radio services to be quietly replaced by fresh "new start" services with a commercial remit to cover the gamut of news and promote local journalism, business, culture and entertainment.
The cost of a new DRM-capable receiver that permits a service coverage of over 5 billion listeners starts at just $15. Yes, really - shortwave is the forgotten global medium - oppressive regimes and governments hate it, because it cannot be as readily blocked and controlled as other forms of digital broadcasting that use networks that have to pass through firewalls. The modest $15 one time cost could be sponsored by many global brand advertisers - it would cost less than a week of profits from BP to seed an audience of one million listeners.