With the establishment of its first academic research center on public diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University and a well-publicized International Forum on Public Diplomacy in 2010, China has been taking some major steps forward as it tries to, in Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying’s words, “effectively present its image to other countries” and overcome a lack of experience “in handling relations with the media and the public in foreign countries”.  T

The State Department's public diplomacy position "isn't about marketing," according to its current occupant, former Discovery Communications CEO Judith McHale, as much as conversations and connections, often enabled by digital and social media.

Since the fall of communism, nations around the globe have worked not only to distinguish themselves, but to market themselves as well. Now cities are the new nation-states, and competition for markets and dollars is fiercer than ever. Urban centres face enormous opportunity – and pressure – to sell what makes them unique.

Fatuous, clichéd or selective depictions of Bangkok by visiting filmmakers are so commonplace that foreign residents quickly stop registering them. What did puzzle me at first was why Thais weren't more upset by The Hangover Part II, and why the government of Thailand — which, as a major tourist destination, is rightly obsessed about its global image — allowed it to be filmed there.

Dev Patel, the Hollywood star, is to front a £100m advertising campaign promoting Britain to young, Asian tourists ahead of the Queen's diamond jubilee. Actor Rupert Everett and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver also appear in the adverts. Designed to lure more overseas tourists to the UK, the adverts are being complemented by short films from each celebrity, shot in a location of their choice.

...a team of four international Chinese sports personalities, including Yao Ming... took part in an image branding film for China that was telecast by CNN and shown in Times Square in New York."We would like our athletes to shine, to draw more eyeballs and help us in our marketing," Lu says.

Tunisia has little to lose in a go-for-broke strategy to bring back visitors. Like Egypt, its bigger neighbour to the east, the Arab Spring has garnered it a lot of Western admirers but has frightened sight-seers and beach denizens.

Before the re-branding Nigeria project initiated by Dora Akunyili, former minister of information and communication, Nigeria, analysts say, behaved as if the nation’s branding did not matter. The picture the international community painted about the country was that of corruption, money laundering, embezzlement, drug trafficking, mismanagement of abundant resources and other scary vices.