NATO has come to understand how important a modern and responsive public diplomacy strategy is for the organization. They have grasped that NATO’s image, for good or for worse, rests in their own hands. Ultimately, however, a strong and positive brand can never be constructed through slogans and logos alone.

As with most cultural festivals that go global, Oktoberfest has branded, packaged and exported Bavaria’s culture of drinking beer at long trestle tables, playing oompah music, eating pretzls and pork-knuckle, and wearing Lederhosen and Dirnln, the frilly women’s dresses.

He blames the media for creating a "witch's brew" by shaping "political, socio-economic, religious, perceptions" in the Middle East. But perhaps most surprisingly, Imam Feisal goes so far as proposing that the media not report on suicide attacks, an argument that naïvely underestimates the power of new digital media outlets, like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter.

Chinese writer Lijian Zhang along with Pakistani writers Mohammed Haneef and Ali Sethi will be the prime attractions of the Kovalam Literature Festival early next month in Thiruvanthapuram.

Pope Benedict XVI began a controversial visit to Britain on Thursday by acknowledging the Catholic Church had not acted decisively or quickly enough against priests who molested children. He said the church's top priority now was to help abuse victims heal.

Is music really an international language? If it is, then many western governments seem to be dead set on preventing its spread. While massive global mobility and migration are sending music trends worldwide like never before, musicians are finding that when it comes to touring, making international connections is becoming more, not less, difficult.

From a Strategic Communications and Public Diplomacy perspective, evaluation has become increasingly important with forthcoming reports and even spending decisions, for example, in the UK.

Haystack, a company that has created software designed to circumvent Iranian government censors, has stopped testing its program amid criticism of faulty security. Haystack founder Austin Heap said in an interview Monday that concerns about how his much-touted software program works and whether it's secure were “valid.”