“Soft power” challenged Korea’s traditional development paradigm. From the 1960s, authoritarian governments had placed absolute primacy on economic growth. Social and political development was de-prioritized as the entire nation was hitched to an economic locomotive that would convey Korea to the terminus of “advanced nations.”

On July 6, the USC Center on Public Diplomacy's research team in Shanghai released a video focusing on the Spanish pavilion.

As a world-renowned thought-leader on value creation through brand equity, [Martin Roll] was one of the earliest supporters of the Branding Korea Initiative and was particularly interested to share his thoughts on the challenges faced by Korea’s global brands...

With tourism revenues hit by the economic crisis and the disruption to air travel caused by the Icelandic ash cloud, the EU will on Wednesday propose more than a dozen initiatives to encourage member states to work together rather than just promoting their own tourist haunts.

From Obama and Hillary, to Kobe and Michelle (Kwan), the U.S. Pavilion features some of the most recognizable celebrity “brand ambassadors” for the country.  But the most visible presence belongs to the student ambassadors.  This video blog highlights their experiences at the Expo.

Japan beat Denmark today, though it was unlikely that many Asians rooted for the Asian team in the match. Regional loyalties in Asia are threadbare, say academics, which means there is little 'Asian identity.'

“We are not a member of the E.U., but we are a European country.” So spoke President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia in an interview with Western journalists last week, on the eve of the G-20 summit and a key meeting with President Barack Obama in Toronto. His words are worth thinking about.