While government officials have been rushing to relate achievements of various sectors with “improving Korea’s image globally,” many citizens still remain unsure of just where the sources of nation branding come from or what the term even means. The Presidential Council on Nation Branding (PCNB) is hoping to enlighten citizens on this issue through the “Korea Nation Branding Convention 2011”.

As the pro-democracy rebels expand their control over Tripoli, they will need to forge a new Libyan identity – one not based on the empty nationalism of Pan-Arabism, common geography, shared history, or even Islam. No, to avoid this North African nation splintering along tribal lines or to prevent another dictator, Libyans must reimagine themselves as citizens.

While stereotypes of Colombia remain stuck in the 1990s, that country has moved on. The northern coastal city of Cartagena, long a vacation spot for Colombians, has blossomed over the last five years into a major culinary and cultural destination. Many of its best restaurants have opened in just the past two years, some by chefs fleeing economic collapse in the so-called First World.

The Takshashila Institution, in collaboration with the Public Diplomacy Division of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Hewlett-Packard have announced the launch of "India Impressions", an online international photography competition, to capture perspectives of an emerging India by engaging the photographer community. The competition will be conducted on Flickr, a popular photo sharing platform.

A well-defined and accurate national identity is, in many ways, a defined national strategy and as the world's focus has shifted for a moment toward its own economic woes and unrest, South Sudan and nations around the globe in a similarly early or developing stage, will need to muster as much internal strength, of character and otherwise, that they possibly can.

Harpa—the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center—is too new to be in guidebooks. But as Iceland’s latest attraction, it’s a sign that this country, which essentially went bankrupt during the global financial crisis, is crawling back onto its feet. Harpa adds a cultural dimension to Iceland’s appeal...Visitors are coming not only to see performances, but also to shop and to eat.

For long, India in the imagination of the world remained the land of the Taj Mahal, Khajuraho temples...Innovation, seen as a core dimension of economic change, was not a word associated with India. A newly published coffee table book titled “The India Idea”, challenges this viewpoint.

Popular Japanese culture has often baffled the western world. But now local authorities are taking lessons from Japan on how to use popular culture, regional history and local produce to promote regions across the country. The Japan Local Government Centre, which boasts an office in central London, is working to share the lessons of Japanese local authority projects with their counterparts in the UK.