First published on 18.11.2012. In many ways the Republic of Korea (or South Korea) is on a roll in terms of its positive global image. In soft power terms, it has found an unlikely source of attraction in Psy —…

First published on 17.09.2012. Publications sometime hit on an important topic that leaves more questions than answers. A good illustration is the release over the summer of a study from the PR firm Burson- Marsteller on “Twiplomacy.” How diplomats respond…

First published on 24.07.2012. We commonly talk about the management of order in international relations. In the Cold War era this was a natural phenomenon due to the degree of stability and rules imposed by East/West bipolarity. The US’s (surprisingly…

First published on 14.05.2012. Campaigns to boycott major international sporting events have a very mixed record. Most athletes see themselves as the first victims during such occurrences, as their opportunity for reward suffers. Certainly athletes were the big losers during…

First published on 19.04.2012. The intense controversy over the praise accorded to Fidel Castro by Ozzie Guillen, manager of baseball’s Miami Marlins (in an interview with Time magazine) illustrates the wide-spectrum of reactions to the intrusion of figures from the…

First published on 20.03.2012. The “Stop Kony” video phenomenon and George Clooney’s ramping up of his activities on South Sudan appear at first glance to have some significant commonalities. In both cases a US-activist initiative grabbed attention with respect to…

First published on 11.01.2012. The announcement by Yossou N’Dour that he intends to run for the presidency of Senegal has received a huge amount of well-deserved attention. By any standards N’Dour is a major hybrid musical/activist celebrity. Not only is…