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.

The Indian Embassy has taken to Sina Weibo, the popular Twitter-like microblogging service from China, in an attempt to portray India’s modern image and promote Indian culture and tourism to Chinese youngsters. Since Sina Weibo boasts a hundred million users...it provides a perfect platform for the Indian embassy to remove the earlier misconceptions and present a modern image of India.

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.

Over the summer, there were numerous instances of sports diplomacy in practice throughout the world.

What do American comedy shows, such as South Park, an animated cartoon sitcom, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a parody of news broadcasts, have to do with public diplomacy? Well, more than you think.

The Saudis awarded a more than $1 billion contract for a spire that will soar two-thirds of a mile high, to be named the Kingdom Tower. The plans make Saudi Arabia a front-runner in the race between the oil-rich Gulf nations for glitzy, architectural trophies that dot their desert territories...The projects are seen as status symbols to show off economic success.