Despite priding ourselves as a friendly, hospitable nation with a warm and vibrant people, Jamaica is increasingly branded as one of the most homophobic societies in the Western Hemisphere. Within the current global context, defined by the spread of information, culture and trade, Jamaica's 'quality brand' would appear to be at risk.

“Our strategy is to focus on domestic and regional growth,” she said. But aside from the hard economic power, she added, the creative industries and the soft power of culture are also on the rise. “Indonesia has the potential to grow its creative industries and it also adds to national pride,” she said. “The challenge is how to make it grow.”

For all its efforts to enhance the soft power, China has had a limited return on its investment. The development of soft power need not be a zero sum game. All countries can gain from finding attraction in one anothers’ cultures. But for China to succeed, it will need to unleash the talents of its civil society. Unfortunately, that does not seem about to happen soon.

“To elevate Korea’s national branding, we must spread our traditional assets to the world.” Lee said in the introduction of the book. “Economically, we are one of the global leaders, as the seventh largest exporter in 2010. But our image, or our nation branding, is far from matching this economic status.”

PCNB Chairwoman Lee Bae-yong and other culture experts have co-authored a new collection of essays titled “Brand Korea: Discover Korean Culture” on Korea’s cultural strengths, with a focus on Korea’s traditional arts, humanities, historical figures...

In his second Sporting Chances programme Farayi Mungazi focuses on the common image of Australia as a sporting nation. He looks at the role of sport in shaping the country's national identity and asks whether sporting success will always be part of Australia's soft power.

Shanghai is sparing no effort to develop itself as a center for international finance, economic activity, trade and logistics in China. According to the latest report, The International Image of Shanghai, among its four goals, the position of Shanghai as an international financial center was best known by foreigners.