While 500 thought leaders from the US and abroad are convening at PopTech 2009 to “reimagine America,” Bono, in a much discussed op-ed column in Sunday’s NY Times, reminds the world of the “idea of America” – and defends the president who has set out to reinvigorate it:
“From a development perspective, you couldn’t dream up a better dream team to pursue peace in this way, to rebrand America.“
The re-branding efforts seem to bear fruit: “In the same week that Mr. Obama won the Nobel, the United States was ranked as the most admired country in the world, leapfrogging from seventh to the top of the Nation Brands Index survey — the biggest jump any country has ever made.”
“The Nobel Peace Prize is the rest of the world saying, ‘Don’t blow it.’”
Whatever you may think of Bono, it takes guts to be so flat-out idealistic and make yourself an easy target for cynics. See Andrew Keen’s (“The Cult of the Amateur”) response on Twitter:
“Bono is wrong. America needs to learn to be a country rather than an idea.”
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