soft power
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Africa/Middle East
West Africa wants its money back from France, the UAE's "Poetry Idol" and Japan's aid to Africa.
Uniform approach
Outsourcing has a bad name but there’s a growing move for nations to outsource services. When properly harnessed, it could raise standards and redefine what makes a country. This is who we would employ.
Africa/Middle East
Borrowed tiaras and Lebanese couture: we decipher the dress code of Queen Rania, plus why Africa wants to teach the French president a lesson.
Power dressing
High-profile security lapses have damaged Russia’s Federal Atomic Energy Agency. To fix its PR, it launched a hunt for Miss Atom. But can a beauty contest overturn an ugly reputation?
Top of the world
Amid rising Arctic tensions, Monocle's tour of the High North stops in Greenland to reflect on a lost opportunity by Canada to assert its influence and shape the region's future.
Future states
Pentagram's Paula Scher rebrands America, arguing that a poor global image demands new symbols, a humbler name and abandoning "enforcing" freedom for something more honest.
But who are you?
As corporate brands become more powerful than countries, there's much work for agencies keen to rethink a nation’s identity. *Monocle* explores the complex construct of how nations are made.
Country codes
Brand pioneer Wally Olins gives an insight into how nation branding works. From Spain's vibrant colours to Poland's shades of grey, he explains why every country should have a creative director.
Finn blue line
The Åland archipelago in Scandinavia is a model harmonious ‘nation’ without full independence. Prosperous and Swedish-speaking, these Finnish islanders were happy until the EU arrived, challenging their unique arrangement and way of life.
Observation
The Unravelled Kingdom: We turn our attention to the UK's national brand, a topic close to Monocle HQ, examining its current state as issues of nation building and branding come to the fore.
