In recent years, the discipline of nation branding has become a new frontier in how nations position themselves to compete for global share of, amongst others, attention, tourism, investment and skills. Cities have become an integral pillar in building strong competitive nation brands because a nation is, after all, a collection of cities - or city brands.

Expo 2017, held this summer in Astana, opens up a lot of opportunities for Kazakhstan: from modernization of the energy sector to a breakthrough in tourism and from the optimization of transport infrastructure to the strengthening of international cooperation. One of the expo’s most important achievements, undoubtedly, will be the promotion of Kazakhstan’s national brand.

The Google search “Benjamin Netanyahu” yields 16,100,000 results – but “Gal Gadot” yields 20,700,000. [...] It’s no secret that Israel has an image problem. Gadot’s newfound celebrity is possibly the best international publicity for the Jewish state in years, and is a perfect example of soft power.

Japan on July 17 pledged US$1 billion (S$1.37 billion) over the next two years to back the United Nations' development agenda, raising its profile as one of the world's largest foreign aid donors. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a meeting at the UN that the funding will go to help children and youth worldwide, in particular to promote education, health, disaster response and gender equality.

“In the area of security and defense, France and the UAE are fighting a common battle against terrorism and extremism, both on the ground and in the minds,” said Ludovic Pouille, the new French Ambassador to the UAE. [...] About the joint initiatives of France and the UAE, he said: “I am thinking in particular of the joint Franco-UAE initiative that led to the organization last December in Abu Dhabi of the international Conference on Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage.," the envoy said.