WASHINGTON – David Ensor, Director of the Voice of America, was the lead speaker this week at the first monthly USC public diplomacy lunch forum here on Monday.

Ensor began by discussing U.S. international broadcasters’ coverage of the 2012 election campaign, noting that tonight’s debate will be carried live by several VOA networks.

As part of a new federally sponsored program called OneBeat, 32 musicians from 21 countries on 5 continents, almost equally divided between men and women, were brought together to write, produce and record original music and take it on the road for American audiences.

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.

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.

“When we speak to one another, engage to one another, etc., we’re engaging in public diplomacy,” she said. Sonenshine said that the term applies to everything, ranging from a Russian athlete talking to a U.S. physical education expert to countering violent extremism.

China’s Ralls Corporation has sued U.S. President Barack Obama for blocking its wind farm deal, the Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday... Ralls claims Obama exceeded his constitutional rights and acted in "an unlawful and unauthorized manner."

“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?