A recurring theme in this year's presidential election is (fear of) American decline, with both candidates seeking to convince voters that they will reverse recent trends and foster an American resurgence... Power is most usefully conceived as capability, and stronger states can generally do more things and affect others more than weaker states can. But having a lot of power doesn't translate directly into influence, which is the capacity to get others to do what you want.

Leader of Tunisia's ruling Ennahda Party, Rachid Ghannouchi, has praised Turkey as "a soft power at the very heart of the Muslim world..." Ghannouchi said all revolutions of the Arab Spring can take Turkey as a guide in securing a harmonious balance between modernity and tradition.

In China, the Gangnam phenomenon carries a special pique. It has left people asking, Why couldn’t we come up with that?... For now, China’s Gangnam moment seems far off. “In China, culture and the arts develop under the watchful eye of the government, and anything too hip or interesting gets either shut down or bought up."

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the addition of Taiwan to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). However, key U.S. allies and friends continue to be left waiting to join the VWP. These delays make little sense given the extensive benefits that VWP expansion offers the U.S. in terms of national security, the economy, and public diplomacy.

Japan Inc is charging into Myanmar. The rush began one night last October, when Myanmar's new president rolled out a map after dinner to show an aging Japanese power broker a prize that could be Tokyo's to develop - a swathe of land nearly as big as Macau.

“The Fulbright Program has connected our two countries for 30 years in one of the most important ways possible – through the creation of knowledge and professional skills, as well as through a shared belief in educating the next generation,” says Sharon Hudson-Dean, Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Harare.

Is the Arab Spring going to lead to a U.S. foreign-aid fall? Will America’s deficit and its election politics combine to reduce non-military, soft-power U.S. programs abroad?

When I hear ‘sports diplomacy’ evoked in conversation I often wince, knowing that 99% of the examples do not live up to the standards of the term. Athletes and coaches who work for a team outside of their country for no purpose other than for a love of the game and personal gain do not always qualify.