Hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup was supposed to provide an unalloyed boon to Brazil’s global image. Yet tournament preparations have highlighted many structural weaknesses in Latin America’s largest country, and predictions that the World Cup will deliver enormous economic benefits should be treated with skepticism.

Hasbara training is an imperative for the Jewish community. Israel and the Jewish people face enormous challenges today, among them existential physical threats, lies about Israel, and anti-Semitism.

The timing probably couldn’t have been much worse. Almost a year to the day until the 2012 Olympics Games begin in London, the world was treated to images of rioters smashing storefronts and setting buildings ablaze in the capital and beyond.

Since the East West Nation Brand Perception Index was first published in 2008, Burma has steadfastly remained in the bottom fifth, and in the second quarter of this year dropped to 176, two places below that of North Korea.

The steepest decline in American prestige took place during the Bush years, and President Obama doesn't look like he has the wherewithal to reverse the trend. Overleveraging of credit led to a housing bubble in the US and then to a full-blown financial crisis that enveloped the world in 2008.

Few Americans know, or much care, about the opinions foreigners hold of the United States. This was displayed during the ignorant and solipsistic debate over when or whether the United States will pay its debts, which concluded Tuesday with a promise that it will soon be renewed.

As his country is ripped apart by a bloody civil war and rebels fight to topple him, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is trying to hire a public relations firm to improve his image. Gaddafi is looking for a spin doctor to issue daily press briefings on his 'moral' and 'legal' claims to power, as hundreds die trying to end his 42-year regime.

Iranian leaders have tried to portray democracy movements in the Arab world as inspired by their 1979 Islamic revolution.. However, a new poll by the Arab American Institute shows approval of Iran's role in the region plummeting since 2006...