Once upon a time, Matt Damon went for a long walk in rural Zambia. The devoted family man and method philanthropist was accompanying a 14-year-old Zambian girl who had no idea that her hiking companion was an Academy Award-winning international heartthrob.

The new top diplomat described the United States and European Union as essential partners to Egypt, he adding, noting that he believed more in Egypt's soft power, thus he will seek to enhance the cultural and developmental dismensions in the foreign policy.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is concerned by Chinese aid and investment policies in Africa. "We are...concerned that China's foreign assistance and investment practices in Africa have not always been consistent with generally accepted international norms of transparency and good governance...,” she said.

Before the re-branding Nigeria project initiated by Dora Akunyili, former minister of information and communication, Nigeria, analysts say, behaved as if the nation’s branding did not matter. The picture the international community painted about the country was that of corruption, money laundering, embezzlement, drug trafficking, mismanagement of abundant resources and other scary vices.

Nations are brands because people perceive them as brands. Few Ghanaians have time to learn what most countries are really like, so we navigate through the complexity of the modern world armed with a few simple clichés about places. The writer wants to know: What about Ghana? What are we going to use as a brand to attract people from outside Ghana?

We have two types of freedoms related to the Internet; freedom to access Internet and freedom of expression on the Internet. World leading economies have thrived on information systems and making them accessible to all citizens, therefore increasing their participation in the economy. A connected society is going to be more prosperous and stable.

The United States in 2003 committed $15 billion over five years to the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Although not labeled as such, this is public diplomacy as it should be done. It is about service, not advertising. It improves (and protects) people’s lives, and as a result wins friends and serves the diplomatic interests of the United States.