What Dr Okonjo-Iweala's candidacy has brought to the fore is that the country still needs to invest in soft-power-enhancing structures in Africa - or 'playing Big Brother' so that it can leverage the goodwill of other African countries in moments like this to enhance its objectives. National interest is much more than immediate economic gratification.

An interesting new blog post from the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy discusses World Learning’s recent partnership with America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, INC. (AMIDEAST)...another interesting blog post from the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy reveals that the Partners of the Americas recent program, “A Ganar Juarez” (Lets win Juarez), a program implemented in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico had the goal of helping young adults, find jobs and develop entrepreneurial skills.

CPD Blog Manager: Naweed Lemar

In reality, a country’s brand image has direct bearing on its economy. Country-related intangible assets in many ways influence the market-shares of brands and their marketing effectiveness, which is why no subnational or even company can be rated above its sovereign. But this could also be vice versa. For instance, Japanese cars and Japan’s global ratings.

The co-founder of Wikipedia says the languages of Yoruba in West Africa and Swahili in East Africa are the most popular among the several African languages being used on the online encyclopedia..."For a long time there was this sort of cultural concern...

The goal of public diplomacy is to communicate and engage in a meaningful and mutual way with foreign publics. Now non-state actors such as Invisible Children have the ability to do just that. However, with the democratization of information sharing, thanks to new media tools, comes great responsibility.

APDS Blogger: Marissa Cruz-Enriquez