Simon Anholt, a member of the U.K. Government’s Public Diplomacy Board...said Korea was showing significant progress in national branding after realizing that branding is not about trying to force people to buy its new self-image, but to show the world it is willing and has changed.

Even with its demographic and geographic limits, Qatar has several assets that turn out to be in short supply elsewhere in the Middle East and to be of strategic value, given the tumult in the region. First, it is home to al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language news network that has transformed how Arabs get their news. Al-Jazeera gives Qatar “soft power” well beyond its size.

Hosted by Brand South Africa and the Brand Leadership Academy and featuring several high-profile local and international speakers... "Africa is richer than you think, and it is certainly not a 'media dark' continent.."

The public diplomacy division of India's ministry of external affairs is launching a major initiative aimed at encouraging individuals and countries to think of India in interesting, pervasive and positive ways. This is being done through a global video challenge themed "India is...Global Video Contest."

A Win-Win Game for Players

Today, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy released a Media Monitor Report on "Expo Shanghai 2010 - Flaunting Nations' Beauty through the Practice of Nation Branding".

"...I also attended Brand Africa Forum in South Africa. The keynote speaker was a certain Simon Anholt, a nation-branding consultant. He has branded 33 countries in his career... he criticised countries, trying to brand their countries by running commercials on some media channels.

"One of the messages we want to spread through the forum is that corporate brands are very important in developing nation brands and nations' economies," says Miller, adding that it is through telling these stories that Africa can be "positioned as the next growth frontier in terms of investment and business".