When the Arab Spring confronted the White House and State Department with the need to choose between embracing change and loyalty to the region's old guard the Obama administration chose change, albeit in the slowest and most cautious manner possible.

In a couple of recent postings I have tried to elaborate the notion of a nation brand, to identify some of the salient issues surrounding the relationship between public diplomacy and branding, and to illuminate the more subtle distinctions.

METI hopes to facilitate the global entry of some of Japan's small and midsize companies, while luring their creative foreign counterparts here to give them a competitive edge. It is hoped that the increased presence of Japanese cultural products will attract more international travelers and boost domestic tourism, METI said.