Most of the focus on China’s soft power has emphasised infrastructure projects spearheaded by Beijing as a way to forge good relations with countries it deemed to be of strategic importance. But China has come to recognise the intangible benefits of a well-burnished public image abroad – goodwill and influence roads and railways alone cannot buy.

We need to tell our story, which has been hijacked and trampled upon – that most inspirational story of Zionism. The story of the Jewish people coming back to their own land has been swept away. We need to reclaim it.” Aharoni, while agreeing that BDS can’t be ignored, cautions against using all of Israel’s hasbara (public diplomacy) ammunition in battling the accusations and campaigns against it.

Politicians, senior managers and PR experts listened to dozens of leading speakers at the conference. The main aim – to discuss the future role of communications in promoting brands , exchanging of ideas, strengthening civil society and even saving your reputation!

The discussions on television and opinion on newspaper pages have direct impact on the minds of the people. The media can really act as ambassador of peace if the content is positive. The media should make an endeavour to look for ways to help common man in both the countries shed animosity. 

Of all the islands in the Caribbean archipelago, Jamaica is probably the one that is the most effectively branded, Rihanna and Barbados notwithstanding. […] Interesting then, that the island has chosen not to rest on its laurels; rather, it is striving to reinvent itself via the first ever Brand Jamaica Symposium, which was held in July at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

Since the real estate mogul made a shocking surge to the top of the Republican presidential polls in the U.S., Europe has fixated on the unapologetic showman, churning out a steady stream of news coverage and commentary. But Trump-ism — his brand of politics-as-entertainment, in which a scathing one-liner is always better than a boring policy idea — may yet become the next big American import to Europe, after McDonald’s and Mickey Mouse.

Let’s move away from these products and focus on how soft power actually incorporates ethical standards of behavior and important societal norms that resonate with others in the world. These fundamental norms should not surprise us: liberal ideas of individualism, economic incentives, democracy and human rights. Implementing these liberal values over many decades has led the U.S. to our dominant global economic and political position.