Image management

I'm working on an index for a book all about how people's perception of the northern parts of the planet - Alaska, Canada, Iceland - have changed through time, both for people living in northern areas and for people living outside those areas. The efforts of politicians, artists, scientists and authors to influence that perception are quite interesting. 

Americans have always been very aware of the need to control their image, from the Revolutionary War through Manifest Destiny that encouraged people westwards and of course ever since World War II, jealously guarding the idea that we are a super-power, a world leader. This image has really begun to falter recently, obviously, but still many want to believe, want to keep it intact.  

I've always been a little surprised that Icelanders aren't quite as aware of their power to control their own self-image, seeming more inclined to take on the ideas others have of Iceland. So I'm actually kind of proud of David Oddson and Geir Haarde, since it seems Iceland is the first country to take a stand to look out for its own in the midst of this financial crisis.  To draw on the same metaphor Bubbi Mortensen used in his new song about the crisis, that Icelanders are "one big family." Not seeming to care that the international community is standing outside aghast, incredulous. Icelanders believe what they are doing is right, and their logic is hard to argue with.