Simon Anholt, one of the world's leading authorities on place branding, proposes a basic methodology for developing brand strategies applied to countries and the Nation Brands Index, a study that measures and analyses the reputation of 50 states, begins this thematic dossier with a question that is rarely asked by researchers in the fields of soft power, public diplomacy and nation branding: Why do we study, measure or discuss the image and reputation of countries? Does it really matter what people think about a country? (Anholt, 2025) The thematic dossier Place Branding and Public Diplomacy - Special edition on Ibero-American States, edited by researchers Ana Margarida Barreto (ICNOVA, FCSH), Fabiana Mariutti (University of São Paulo), João Freire (ICNOVA, IPAM) and Nuno Correia de Brito (ICNOVA, Polytechnic Institute of Leiria), features six articles by Portuguese and Brazilian researchers on the concepts surrounding Place Branding in its different guises, namely City Branding, Destination Branding and Nation Branding, applied to the context of Ibero-American countries, an area that deserves to be considered because of its particular cultural, social and economic characteristics.