Correspondence: Bessma Momani, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue W., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada. E-mail: bmomani@uwaterloo.ca

¹is an Associate Director and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Canada, and is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo, Canada, where he teaches International Political Economy, Global Governance and the Practice of Diplomacy. In 2009, he was Visiting Fulbright Chair at the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California, and has been a Visiting Professor at Australian National University, Stellenbosch University and Harvard University. His recent books include Global Governance and Diplomacy: Worlds Apart? (Palgrave, 2008); Emerging Powers and Global Governance: Lessons from the Heiligendamm Process (WLUP, 2008); and Celebrity Diplomacy (Paradigm, 2007).

²is an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada, and Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI), Canada. She is the author of IMF-Egyptian, Negotiations, co-author of Twentieth Century World History, and co-editor of Canada and the Middle East. Dr Momani has published dozens of papers in political and economic journals that examine the International Monetary Fund, economic liberalisation in the Middle East, petrodollars, regional integration of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and trade relations with the Middle East.

Received 10 February 2009; Revised 10 February 2009.

Abstract

International relations and diplomacy scholars have focused increased attention on countries' attempts to re-brand their image, but this attention has typically offered a top-down approach. The study of progressive Middle East countries' attempts to re-brand their image has been absent from this literature. A number of countries in the Gulf (Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar) and beyond in the Middle East (Jordan and to some extent Egypt) have tried to refashion their negative images and project themselves as places that are open for business and investment, and that offer political stability and liberalism. The Arab Business Council and the Young Arab Leaders, both World Economic Forum initiatives, are emblematic of the attempt to re-brand the Middle East through new patterns of networked engagement. Unfortunately, re-branding needs 'to be lived' beyond embedded negative images. The failures of re-branding in the Middle East are highlighted by the inability of Dubai Ports World and Al-Jazeera English – both companies from progressive countries in the Gulf – to penetrate the US market. In particular, the latter cases stand out, despite continued attempts to re-brand the region; even the progressive countries in the Gulf and Middle East have a long way to go before changing their image.