South Africa has been awarded the title of most valuable nation brand on the continent, with its recent inclusion in the BRICS grouping and successful hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup contributing to strong positive perceptions both locally and abroad.

Many around the world see Africa as a monolith and through the prism of media and film which paint a decidedly negative picture. Google images of Rwanda show stark photos of starving orphaned children, mass slaughter and extreme deprivation.

The most frequent description of any visit to Singapore has long been 'nice but slightly dull', and for the Singapore Tourist Board this verdict is as stinging as six of the best. Now, like a student who has spent too long revising and heeding authority, Singapore seems to have decided to cut loose.

There are so many different ways of describing what we witnessed yesterday. According to an expert commentator on the BBC, it was a “fan-blooming-tastic day for British fashion”. According to Boris Johnson, crammed into his morning suit from Moss Bros, it was “a good dry-run for the Olympics”.

Prince William to Catherine Middleton’s spectacular Royal event delivered hundreds of millions of pounds in extra revenue for memorabilia manufacturers, and a major tourism boost for the British capital. Across the world, millions still come to understand Britain through the monarchy.

The local government, though, is keen to promote Jeju’s other charms, from its lava caves to its beaches to its seafood, as it spearheads South Korea’s campaign to transform itself into a major tourist destination. “Visit Korea” is a two-year, government-sponsored promotion currently under way to push another side of the country...

Apart from the Embassy in Hanoi, in Vietnam, Canada has been represented by the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City since 1997. In light of the economic crisis facing the world, Public Affairs efforts have suffered significant budget cuts in most countries’ diplomatic offices, and Canada is no exception.

What do Israel and Syria have in common? Not much, but both have ministries of hasbara. No such thing exists in the West. No such thing exists in democracies. But in Israel, we have falafel and a minister of hasbara, who is known as the minister of public diplomacy and diaspora affairs.