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“If a country wants to be more admired, it has to become more admirable”, says the founder of the Good Country Index.

On the initiatives aimed at changing the culture of governance worldwide as well as on how Armenia can best present herself to the world in this context Panorama.am has spoken with Professor Simon Anholt – leading expert on managing national identity and reputation. Mr. Anholt is the founder of The Good Country Index (which measures what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity) and the Global Vote initiative (which allows anyone in the world to cast a “vote” in the election of any country).  

Below is the interview with Professor Anholt.  

- Mr. Anholt, you have created a unique concept and culture of Good Countries  and in that framework you have recently launched the Global Vote initiative. How do you envision the future of these projects and their ultimate impact in the best case scenario? Do you think this can influence the politics of individual countries to make the world a better place?

- The ultimate aim of the Good Country is to change the culture of governance worldwide – from basically competitive to basically collaborative – since I believe this is the only way we will be able to tackle the huge, global challenges that currently face humanity, as well as achieve peace and prosperity.

The purpose of the Global Vote is an equally broad and equally long-term change in the culture of elections. The idea is that I always ask every candidate in every election I cover the same two questions:

“If you become President, what are you going to do for the rest of us, outside your borders?”

“What is your vision for your country’s role in the world?”

In this way, we gradually train voters, media and politicians to ask and answer these questions spontaneously. Each country I cover is like another square in a patchwork quilt of a new world flag. The aim is to make those questions hang in the air at every election, so eventually if a candidate says nothing about their international intentions (which is currently the norm), their failure to do so will become the most noticeable thing about their campaign, and will count heavily against them.

And yes, I think that this and the other projects of the Good Country – there will be many more – can and will have an influence on the politics of individual countries and make the world work better. That’s the whole point! 

- Armenia features No: 90 on your Good Country Index. What sources did you mostly use for compiling data on Armenia?

- The same sources we used for every country in the Index. These are the following:

1. Number of international students studying in the country; 2. Exports of periodicals, scientific journals and newspapers; 3. Number of articles published in international journals; 4. Nobel prizes; 5. Patents created; 6. Creative goods exports; 7. Creative services exports; 8. UNESCO dues in arrears as percentage of contribution (negative indicator); 9. Freedom of movement (i.e. visa restrictions); 10. Freedom of the Press; 11. Number of peacekeeping troops sent overseas for UN missions; 12. Dues in arrears to UN peace keeping budgets as percentage of contribution; 13. International violent conflict (negative indicator); 14. Exports of weapons and ammunition (negative indicator); 15. Internet security; 16. Charity giving; 17. Refugees hosted; 18. Refugees generated (negative indicator); 19. Birth rate; 20. UN Treaties signed; 21. Ecological footprint (negative indicator); 22. Reforestation since 1992; 23. Hazardous pesticides exports (negative indicator); 24. CO2 emissions (negative indicator); 25. Consumption of ozone-depleting substances (negative indicator); 26. Open trading across borders; 27. UN volunteers abroad; 28. Fairtrade market size; 29. FDI outflows; 30. Development cooperation contributions; 31. Food aid; 32. Pharmaceutical exports; 33. Voluntary excess donations to the WHO; 34. Humanitarian aid donations; 35. International Health Regulations Compliance.

Each of these criteria is measured relative to the size of the country’s economy. (Here is the detailed list of measurements)

- If there is a company or an individual in Armenia who wishes to collaborate with you or join the Good Country party how can they do it? 

- I warmly welcome all suggestions for collaboration: people only have to write to me using the contact form on the website and I will respond. There is also a form on the site for registering with the Good Country.

- Over the last twenty years you have worked on advising country leaders on how to change their national image. Have you looked at the case of Armenia from this perspective? If yes, what are your observations and recommendations for better promoting Armenia’s image internationally? What would you say Armenia’s most competitive asset is (history, first Christian nation, people, etc.)?

- No, I’ve never considered Armenia in this context. However, I don’t believe in the idea of ‘promoting a country’s image internationally’. I think tourism, products, sporting and cultural events, and to some extent investment opportunities can be promoted using marketing techniques, but the overall image of the country cannot be influenced by communications. Many countries have tried this over the generations, and none has ever succeeded. If a country wants to be more admired, it has to become more admirable.

- GK Tribe Global has branded Armenia as “An Eternal Source of Inspiration” with a slogan “Armenia rewards the bold”. Do you think this formula will work?

- No. I don’t think anybody pays attention to state propaganda, and it’s an inexcusable waste of taxpayers’ money since it has never been proved to work for any country. Frankly if this sort of thing were possible, I’d be living in the Third Reich today and not the European Union, because nobody understood nation branding better than Goebbels.

- Armenia, as a nation which has survived genocide, is now making an effort to position itself as a champion of humanitarian values – the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide as well as the Pope’s recent visit to the First Christian Nation have been paving the way for this. Given their history, what do you think can the mission and role of the Armenian people (spread all over the world) be in a Gooder world that you envision? 

- That sounds like a more intelligent approach than silly advertising campaigns that treat nation-states as if they were a domestic appliance or a tube of toothpaste: it suggests that Armenia may be thinking more about what it could offer the world instead of simply bragging about its successes or qualities, which interest nobody.

However, everything depends on whether the real intent is to make a sincere and lasting contribution to humanity, or simply to right historical wrongs. If it’s the first, then this may ultimately be beneficial to Armenia’s international profile and standing in the long term (this kind of exercise takes decades and generations, so patience and wisdom are required); the second will simply perpetuate discord, which is exactly the opposite of building a ‘gooder world’.

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Simon Anholt is an Honorary Professor of Political Science at the University of East Anglia. He is the author of five books about countries and their role in the world.