The Economist Launches Online Debate n Brand America
Tuesday 17th February 2009
For Immediate Release
The Economist launches an online debate on the future of 'Brand America.' Have recent events tarnished the world's biggest brand for ever?
Today, The Economist announces an online debate on the future of Brand America. The proposition for this debate is: "This house believes that Brand America will regain its shine." The debate will take place from February 17 to 27, 2009. Mark Medish, Visiting Scholar and Senior Advisor at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Kishore Mahbubani, Dean and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy NUS, will contest the proposition. Readers are encouraged to participate in the conversation, contribute opinions and cast a vote for or against the proposition. The winner will be decided by popular vote on Friday, February 27th.
Change was central to Barack Obama's Presidential campaign. However, it remains uncertain whether change can be applied to the American brand as a whole. The election of Obama signals to the world a return to core American values that have been shadowed in recent years. However, competing nations have used this opportunity to shine and have established their own brands around the globe. Will brand America be salvaged and regain its shine? Or has its brand been tarnished to an irreversible state?
"As Barack Obama assumes the presidency, he inherits a battered America from George Bush. Has America's image suffered irreversible damage? Or can Mr Obama restore it, once the glow of his honeymoon has worn off. Join The Economist and our expert contributors as we debate perhaps geopolitics' most urgent issue", says Christopher Lockwood, US editor of The Economist.
Throughout the course of the ten day debate, expert Guest Participants will lend colorful commentary to the lively discussion, including:
* Keith Reinhard - Chairman Emeritus of DDB Worldwide and President of Business for Diplomatic Action
* Benjamin R. Barber - Internationally renowned political theorist, and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos where he is President of CivWorld
* Parag Khanna - Director of the Global Governance Initiative and Senior Research Fellow in the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation and author of The Second World
* Jeremy Hildreth - Head of place branding, Saffron; co-author of Brand America: The Mother of All Brands
* Peter van Ham - Director of Global Governance Research at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael in The Hague, and Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium)
The Economist Debate Series
For more information please contact:
Dayna De Simone
Brand Communications Manager - Americas
The Economist
phone 212.541.0540
mobile 917.291.2726
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