PD Hub
![Photo by Rona Proudfoot | CC BY-SA 2.0](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/2624684293_619510cf23_o.jpg?itok=5Os8JnFl)
This article is a timely assessment of the cultural, political and sentimental factors that shape and influence the meaning and deployment of flags across history, with examples of flags used during the Arab Spring, to those seen in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and present day Mozambique, New Zealand, and Vietnam.
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This new editorial by Nicholas Cull explores the interplay of nation branding and public engagement at the "slow motion soap opera of international image making" known as the World Expo.
![Photo by doigstar1 / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/6444940799_a93e899ce2_o.jpg?itok=ovpDdU6A)
This article illustrates how states and state-sponsored actors are utilizing six pathways of connection to communicate and engage with foreign publics, with examples that include President Obama’s visit to Brazil, a Chinese cultural exhibition in the United States and the European Union’s Youth in Action program.
![Image from AK Rockefeller via Flickr Creative Commons](https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/sites/default/files/styles/275x168/public/uploads/7219441626_1cdf04136f_o.jpg?itok=b3c3678F)
In this August 10 video from C-Span, Margot Shorey, a U.S. State Department expert on Boko Haram, and Leo Keyen, a Voice of America journalist, discuss U.S.-led strategy to combat the Islamist terrorist organization operating out of West Africa.