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This book explores how gender equality, a central part of the Nordic imaginary, is used in the political communication of Nordic states. The analyses presented move beyond conventional images and discourses of Nordic gender- and women-friendliness by critically investigating how and to what extent gender equality serves nation-branding in the Nordic region. Nation-branding is an unescapable part of globalisation, which is a market-oriented process dominated by the West and predicated on the creation of winners and losers. Hence, efforts to strengthen the national brand or reputation of specific Nordic countries with the aid of gender equality as a political and symbolic value inevitably help to reinforce already established global hierarchies where the Nordics play the role of moral superpower. This book comprises scholars from various fields of specialisation, and provides evidence and understanding for the growing interaction between gender-equality policies and nation-branding in all five Nordic countries. It does so by exploring a variety of policy fields and issues including women's rights, foreign policy, rape and legislation, female quotas and business policies, in addition to the index industry. The rise of the global indexes has reproduced forceful images of the Nordic countries as frontrunners of gender equality, which indeed help the Nordic countries to further position themselves as 'best at being good'. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Nordic gender equality in political science, sociology, law, criminology, political psychology and history, as well as those interested in nation branding, Nordic studies and exceptionalism. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003017134, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Notes on contributors -- Foreword / Cynthia Enloe -- Introduction / Eirinn Larsen, Sigrun Marie Moss and Inger Skjelsbæk -- 'The gender-progressive Nordics' : a matter of history / Eirinn Larsen -- Variations on shared themes : branding the Nordics as gender-equal / Katarzyna Jezierska and Ann Towns -- Applying the brand or not? challenges of Nordicity and gender equality in Scandinavian diplomacy / Sigrun Marie Moss -- Keeping Sweden on top : rape and legal innovation as nation-branding / May-Len Skilbrei -- Trouble in paradise? Icelandic gender-equality imaginaries, national rebranding and international reification / Irma Erlingsdóttir -- Protecting the brand? the hesitant incorporation of gender equality in the peace nation / Inger Skjelsbæk and Torunn L. Tryggestad -- A useful tool? images of the Nordics in Swiss quota debates / Stéphanie Ginalski -- Silenced at the border : Norwegian gender-equality policies in national branding / Cathrine Holst and Mari Teigen -- Not so exceptional after all? Nordic gender equality and controversies linked to the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women / Anne Hellum -- Creating gender exceptionalism : the role of global indexes / Tori Loven Kirkebø, Malcolm Langford and Haldor Byrkjeflot -- Afterword : gendering the brand? / Halvard Leira.

in many daily forms of media we see the nation being represented by or alongside images. These images of the nation inform the way we see both others and ourselves. This thesis attempts to understand the way the nation is visualized, a topic that has been largely overlooked by theorists of nationalism. The visualization of the nation is explored by researching two national tourism campaigns in Croatia. Croatia was chosen as a case study in which to examine the visualization of the nation due to its recent accession into the European Union alongside the country's economic dependence on tourism and its current attempts at rebranding. In order to achieve the aims of this research I ask two main research questions: 1. How is the nation visualized in Croatia through tourism advertising and by whom?, 2. How is this visualization received by members of the nation? These questions were answered by combining three methodological steps which consisted of a visual analysis of the images of the campaigns, interviewing those involved in creating the campaigns and other members of the design or tourism community, and finally photo elicitation interviews with members of the Croatian public. This research found that Croatia is often peripheral within these tourism campaigns. The nation is represented passively with the main focus of the advertisements being the experience of tourism. Croatia is merely the backdrop that these tourism activities are being advertised through. This passive representation of Croatia is a consequence of an industry that is focused on increasing tourism numbers and that relies heavily on marketing data. The representation of Croatia is not the aim of these tourism campaigns. The passive image of the nation is additionally the consequence of Croatia's uneasy relationship with presenting something as national. National pride is often equated with violent forms of nationalism and therefore visual representations of the nation are often eliminated from the positive marketing images of the tourism campaigns. Both members of the nation and the industry downplay the importance of tourism advertising arguing that these images are solely for the tourist and therefore they are largely insignificant. However, I use du Gay's (1997) concept of the 'circuit of culture' to argue that tourism advertising is not just influenced by national identity but rather it is also influencing national identity. These tourism campaigns contribute to the construction of national identity. Therefore, this passive image of the nation is not just for tourists, it is part of a circuit of identity construction that reaches far beyond the target audience. Overall, these tourism images are simplistic and reductive imitations of the nation while national identity is complex, inconsistent, and often contradictory. Branding and design often aims to condense identity into easily recognizable and quickly communicated images making any attempt to brand the nation inherently lacking. While this reductive identity is useful when branding a company or product, when applied to the nation ethical questions emerge about who has the right to construct the nation's image. I argue that this new phenomenon of commercialized branding that is now a responsibility of the nation is evidence of the changing role of the nation from a modern construction to a postmodern brander. This opens up questions about the democratic nature of these tourism images and consequences of nation branding efforts that continue to represent the nation in reductive and passive terms.

This book explores how gender equality, a central part of the Nordic imaginary, is used in the political communication of Nordic states. The analyses presented move beyond conventional images and discourses of Nordic gender- and women-friendliness by critically investigating how and to what extent gender equality serves nation-branding in the Nordic region. Nation-branding is an unescapable part of globalisation, which is a market-oriented process dominated by the West and predicated on the creation of winners and losers. Hence, efforts to strengthen the national brand or reputation of specific Nordic countries with the aid of gender equality as a political and symbolic value inevitably help to reinforce already established global hierarchies where the Nordics play the role of moral superpower. This book comprises scholars from various fields of specialisation, and provides evidence and understanding for the growing interaction between gender-equality policies and nation-branding in all five Nordic countries. It does so by exploring a variety of policy fields and issues including women's rights, foreign policy, rape and legislation, female quotas and business policies, in addition to the index industry. The rise of the global indexes has reproduced forceful images of the Nordic countries as frontrunners of gender equality, which indeed help the Nordic countries to further position themselves as 'best at being good'. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of Nordic gender equality in political science, sociology, law, criminology, political psychology and history, as well as those interested in nation branding, Nordic studies and exceptionalism.

This paper discusses four nation branding post-communist campaigns initiated by the Romanian Government, from a cultural semiotic perspective, as developed by the Tartu-Moscow-Semiotic School. In so doing, it focuses on analyzing advertising and national identity discourses inside the semiospheres. Moreover, the paper investigates how elements of neoliberal ideology are addressed in the governmental campaigns, considering the "marketization of public discourse" (Fairclough, 1993). Nation branding in post-communist Romania is a distinctive phenomena, compared to other countries, especially from Western Europe. In transition countries, nation branding is often mentioned because of the constant need to reconfigure national identity by dissociating from the communist past (Kaneva, 2012). In Romania, nation branding is also a public issue discussed in the media, connected to the ways in which the international press portrays the country or to the migrants' actions. In this context, Romania's nation brand represents a cultural space and the campaigns mobilize cultural symbols as systems of signs necessary for the existence and functioning of advertising discourses.
Using a semiotic analysis linked to the field of cultural semiotics (Lotman, 2005/1984), this article analyzes four nation branding campaigns initiated by the Romanian Government (Romania Simply Surprising – 2004, Romania Land of Choice – 2009, Explore the Carpathian Garden – 2010, and Discover the Place Where You Feel Reborn – 2014), considering elements such as semiotic borders, dual coding and symbols. The results show that the campaigns are part of four different semiospheres, integrating discursive practices both from advertising and public diplomacy when communicating the national image to the internal (citizens) or external (international) audiences.

Purpose: The objective of this research is to propose a framework which is apt to assess how a nation branding campaign could promote cultural identity by ultimately curbing political polarization. Design/Methodology/Approach Methodology summary: By relying on a multidisciplinary approach that blends theoretical constructs from different fields the methodology is based on a mixed-method approach whereby the qualitative data stemming from a set of interviews with key-informants is coupled by a survey of Colombian citizens in order to gain in-depth insights over the impact of nation branding on political polarization. Findings: From the findings, it emerges that a campaign based on nation branding and targeting domestic citizens could curb political polarization within Colombia, by also fostering cultural identity. Research limitations/Implications: The study considers only Colombia. To fully assess the robustness of the framework it would be useful to extend the analysis to a broader range of countries and to a wider set of domestic issues. Practical Implications: The research not only provides in-depth insights on how nation branding can be used effectively in order to curb political polarization but also practical guidance on how a nation branding campaign effective can be effectively designed. The findings are relevant to policy-makers that have the opportunity to implement informed and educated nation branding campaigns not just overseas, but also to strategically address important domestic issues by engaging the domestic stakeholders. Originality/Value: While country branding has been extensively investigated within the context of international business, we have a relatively limited understanding of its domestic impact. In contrast to traditional country branding literature, this paper aims to theoretically advance our understanding of nation branding and its effect on political polarization, as well as gauging its impact on cultural identity.

In the 21st century, states use nation-branding techniques to safeguard their national interests. They employ public diplomacy strategies to maintain their international image. Through branding techniques and public diplomacy strategies, nations can build a positive image among the committee of nations. It is argued in this paper that the international image of Pakistan is required to be improved, and there is a need to shun the notion of negative characteristics associated with terrorism, religious extremism, Talibanization, and allegedly branding as a failed state. There is also a need to study the mindset for conducting various surveys about Pakistan's image and its sponsors. The main argument of this research work is that Pakistan has all the variables required for nation branding and building positive public perception. To improve its international image, Pakistan has to adopt innovative nation-branding techniques and public diplomacy strategies.

Bibliography Entry
Kayani, Saima Ashraf, and Muhammad Saif ur Rehman. 2022. "Employing Nation Branding and Public Diplomacy: Strategies for Pakistan." Margalla Papers 26 (1): 34-46.