Chinese leaders spend considerable time and energy in assuring the international community that they have no reason to be afraid of China’s “peaceful rise”... Many countries, however, equate China’s growing economic might with greater political influence and are less accepting of the benign image that Beijing now wants to portray to the world.

Brand USA, the new tourism marketing entity responsible for promoting the United States to world visitors, unveiled the USA’s first-ever comprehensive marketing campaign today during a press conference at International Pow Wow, the largest U.S. travel trade show held this week in Los Angeles.

In good promotion and marketing, including "soft power" projection, the starting point is the nature of the product itself...China now devotes increased resources to promotion – the rapid overseas expansion of CCTV is one example. But resources will not be effective unless they are integrated with the product.

The State Department supports Brand USA, a public-private partnership with the mission of promoting increased international travel to the United States, and applauds the unveiling of its initial marketing campaign. We welcome its efforts as part of the President’s tourism initiative to support economic growth and job creation.

Simoyan’s major preoccupation is stating how Nigeria and her citizenry can harness her potential greatness, which has essentially been unexplored. For the successfully positioning the country in the League of Nations, according to her, it would require a major long-term commitment by Nigerians and the government."

The key to sustaining a positive and competitive global brand may be to convince a sceptical world that Pakistan has abandoned the use of terrorism as a national security and foreign policy tool. The negative global perception will not change overnight, but the perception that the nation is at peace with itself and the rest of world will help.

But overall, Tanzania has a poor image for starting a business, obtaining permits for construction, registering properties, payment of taxes and dealing with bankruptcy issues. Branding Tanzania should address these shortcomings and improve them.

"Is it our abundance of agricultural produce or the millions of oil barrels we export annually? Is it the contributions of Nigerian technocrats home and abroad or the ignominy of having corrupt officials? Or maybe we are simply known for our poor development...